Deleting DV tape

[malisamson]

Hello I have just made backups of my DV tapes and now i wonder whether I can delte them, make them clean...
I know that I can just let the camara capture a blank screen over the normal capturing but is there an easier way?

[Barnabas]

Just record over them.

[malisamson]

ye I know, but it's that the only thing to do?

[LOWTECH]

Just record over in ...doing anything else is just unwanted extra work.

But if you do require to clear the tape, record over it with the lens cap on, or stick it in a box.

The use of a magnet device I remember was on the market a few years ago to wipe VHS tapes. No idea what it was called, searching may come up with some thing..........

[indijay]

You know what, I was thinking same - to reuse the tapes but one veteran offered me a wise advice - keep them when they don't cost more than 3-4 dollars and the memories stored on those tapes are priceless down the line 5-10 years.

Backup media (like DVDs) can always go bad or even obsolete then this may come to your rescue.

[LOWTECH]

indijay, I quite agree with you, I have have kept many tapes over the last 20 years. Family and TV progs that are no longer transmitted.

History to me as I have grown up, and to show certain items to younger members of my family. I have put some onto VCD in my early transfering years, and now need to redo them like others I have done onto DVD.

Retaining the originals on tape, IE. mini dv tapes and VHS 3 & 4 hour tapes that I have.

Tape is cheap, history and memories as you say are priceless......

But the original posting was to erase and reuse the tapes... I did that at first to my regret.

[jtoolman2000]

There is no "deleting" in tape. You simply record over them. Of course the more cycles of record and eventually the heads will literally wear then oxide off the tape. So there is a limit. I personally keep everything I ever shoot. I do keep a few cassettes to screw around with and use and reuse them till the begin to look slightly bad, then to the trash they go.

[BogieV]

Often professionals 'strip' the tape (that is same proposed by LOWTECH).
Just leave the cap on and record in the speed you'll be using the tapes - that will give you 'clean' tape but most importantly you'll have uninterepted frame code on it.
If you just use them recording new material over the old one and play with the tapes you might get sections with the old picture (and the old code) that might mess with your capturing application.
Negative: You shorten your cam heads life - if you have cheaper cam use it for that purpose (as well as for playback deck, etc.)

[Cornucopia]

If you mean "stripe" the tape, yes, that is what PRO's often used to do with edit masters. That had more to do with having:
1. A continuous control track with black etc., and
2. Sequential timecode

Once this was pre-written on the tape, one could use that tape correctly for doing all your Linear Edits as Insert Edits (it required for insert edits). Otherwise, you'd have to do Assemble Edits only/1st.

Note: This is not pertinant to Non-Linear Editing, nor is it really needed any more with digital tape.

Don't know where you got "strip" from, other than some Freudian slip.

*PRO's will rarely reuse tapes, but if they do, they use a Deguasser (=bulk eraser magnet). Different strengths are required for the different tapes, with the newer/hirez/highdensity tapes being the hardest to degauss (requiring the strongest magnet) and VHS, Audio cassettes, Reel-to-reel being the easiest.

If you don't have one of those, the lens-cap-on method is probably best for you. With digital signals, you may have to go over the tape a couple of times to completely erase the signal.

Scott

[garry]

After capturing old VHS footage, my tape broke.
I thought, yep I'm right, I've saved it & converted to digital so I might as well throw that 1986 VHS footage out.

Checked the disk out a few months later & not even ISO buster can get into it.

I'm awaiting a new ISO type program one day that may open up my memories that could of been salvaged with a bit of sticky tape.

I also fork out the $27 each time for a new tape.

[Cornucopia]

"Sticky tape" is probably the wrong kind and would have ruined your VCR as well as your tape (too thick, too sticky & oozy).

You should use "splicing tape".

Sorry you threw out the tape, I could have fixed it in 5 minutes for $5-10.

Don't know what you did to the disc. I've never had ISOBuster fail to read a disc that wasn't rediculously scratched up.

Have you tried the disc in other drives?--that often works when nothing else does.

Scott

[lenti_75]

SAVE THEM.....this is the best advise I could give. why delete the memories when a tape is $2 online ????

[SingSing]

What about using a piece of magnet ?

[BogieV]

Cornucopia, I agree with your remarks - what I ment is stripe - everybody excuse my Engrish!

One thing I just think has credit is that no matter the format is digital and we are talking about NLE (non linear editing) some capture software might get mixed if there is interuption in the code. Personally I haven't had problem with that with Vegas so you may omit this point either.

[rayzray]

....

*PRO's will rarely reuse tapes, but if they do, they use a Deguasser (=bulk eraser magnet). Different strengths are required for the different tapes, with the newer/hirez/highdensity tapes being the hardest to degauss (requiring the strongest magnet) and VHS, Audio cassettes, Reel-to-reel being the easiest.

If you don't have one of those, the lens-cap-on method is probably best for you. With digital signals, you may have to go over the tape a couple of times to completely erase the signal.

Scott

i have a deguasser for cassette tapes,, maybe VHS tapes too;; if,, i just move my deguasser for a longer period of time (closer circles too);; will it erase a DV??

[lordsmurf]

Degauss them.

[bobkart]

http://easycdduplication.stores.yahoo.net/model8000.html

Oops, too expensive, how about this one:

http://www.datadev.com/qm230.html

[Cornucopia]

i have a deguasser for cassette tapes,, maybe VHS tapes too;; if,, i just move my deguasser for a longer period of time (closer circles too);; will it erase a DV??

there are different strengths (cassette being one of the weakest, VHS a little better). DV and HD tapes are some of the most TIGHTLY packed signals, and being digital, it's FULL_ON/FULL_OFF (or FULL_POS./FULL_NEG.). This is the HARDEST kind to erase. So what you'd get would probably be partial erasure (with a degausser), which could lead to old program interference if the new recording isn't quite as strong. Strange, rare, but it could happen.

Degaussing, and then striping before reusing is probably not a bad idea if you've just got to have continuous code throughout. Of course, once you record new material on there, unless you do it via "insert mode", it'll have discontinuities again. Plus you would have run the tape through the record heads an extra time already (during striping). You'll have to weigh the pros and cons yourself...

Scott

[rayzray]

I see,, i tried it with my unit and it only partially erased it,, like you said..

i used an onlder DV tape just in case.. i was curious;; i may just throw the tape away..

i've bee using the more expensive DV tapes anyhows;; the Pro ones (i really wanna get a HD cam recorder..

[ZAPPER]

Kind of an old thread, but what the heck I'll jump in anyways.

Lable them with a date and subject, put them in box in a nice dry closet not too hot not too cold and call them your "Master Copies". (calling them "Masters" gives them even more value) (I think "Source" is the proper name, if it really matters)

The point is Keep them. While cheap is a relative term, I don't think that I have ever paid more than $5 for a tape and I have only a few that are actually completly full (I tend to panic when I get close to the ends and put in a fresh tape)

The other thing is to "Log" or catalog the tapes and their contents for future referrence. I am sure there are programs out there and you could do it a thousand different ways on the PC, but I just use a looseleaf binder with a form that I copied/modified. Include the tape name/number, date, start/time code, Subject, people ,event or what have you.

I am most likely only a couple of tapes behind in logging and I don't really go into real detail of the subject. I use only one page per tape and leave a few spaces between entries in case I ever decide to flesh out the log. I have never filled a whole page.


On a side note. I heard an interveiw one time, that was kind of directed at the "new" electronic media. More precisely, about digital cameras. In the old days when photos where on film, the film was filed away in general. But the advent of digital cameras lead to alot of overwritting of material. The case that was presented as an example was, and no political overtones here just somewhat famous people, when Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski hugged at whatever event it was, there were lots of flashes going off. But at the time it was no big deal, just the Pres and some unknown intern, big deal. So a few years later it turns out that there were only a few shots of this left, because many didn't think it was an image worth saving. I understand that there is a slight difference between a memory card from a still cam and a cassette tape, but the point is, once an image is made, it should be kept. Everything has historical value, maybe not to you or me right now, but in ten years who is to say. That one shot of granny waving off the camera at Thanksgiving will become priceless in time and so on.

[rayzray]

thanks for the reply..
you got me thinking;; that yes,, i should keep "some" of these as "Masters" for persanal use..

But,, mostly i use the DVs as a source to add visuals into my simple but complex DVD projects..
thus,, i re-use them over and over again (you can see the interest i had about deghausing (sp) them..

i have about 30 of the DV's for "Pick-ups";; and i make an imediate DVD out of them.. this is why i joined this forum.. i have "Problems" but i do great at this for what i got..

sometimes i do a more "adult-like" project and then one day do a "Kids" project on the same tape;; and i get nervous that a kid or mother would want to see what i recorded right away;; and i would rewind to the wrong place and voila;; "The Embarassment".. Erasing the tape wudda been great for me..

ps.. i don't know where to start on this forum.. i DO sooooo much video work now;; with little knowledge of the tech part;; and am a "Pro" at the audio;; lol;; well i think so..

an example of what i would do is::
go somewheres and put video on my DV/camcorder;; ei,, a grandchild;; a house;; a builing or school;; then,, take a music video off MTV;; put it on a DVD-RAM;; and superimpose the DV scenes onto another DVD,, kinda like making a new music video WITH my grandchild IN it and some farmiliar scened too.. i can switch from the DV and FOUR other DVD scened onto my DVD project with my Sima SFX9 Video Effects Mixer.. so where do i start??

[ZAPPER]

rayzray


Well there you have the case for saving and logging all of your shots. Maybe you won't use the basketball being dribbled in the current production, but next winter you may want some footage of the summer time events or so on.

As far as some mommy looking at the birthday clown shots and then the tape skipping to the birthday suit shots, well, maybe you should just use a new tape for each project.

The only thing that I edit out of a source tape is when I manage to leave the cam running with the cap on and me running my mouth. It happens more than I like to admit.