Dv Recording Questions (newbie)

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I own a DV camera (jvc 805) and one quirk that I have is that in order to maintain a correct time stamp on the video, I need to rewind the tape, then fast forward to just before the recording was stopped. I then have to record-pause in order for the tape to pick up the timestamp. This is annoying as I cannot just pick up and shoot video without messing up my timeline. Is every DV camera like this, or do new ones phase this out? If you know of any specific models that do not do this, please let me know.

Thanks a lot

-- Tom Read (tpr0350@rit.edu), September 17, 2002

Answers

This is just the nature of writing timecode to a blank tape. If a camera can't find any timecode on that particular portion of the tape, it is going to start counting from zero. Seems like a logical thing for it to do, right? Some cameras will have some sort of 'end search' feature on them, so you can find the end of your last recording. This has some limitations of its own, but I think that you will quickly get used to simply being more aware of timecode breaks, and avoiding them.

However, if it continues to be a nuisance, there is one really simple way to get around it: Black the tape. What this means, is that you leave the lens cap on, hit record, and come back in about an hour, when the tape runs out. Now, you will have a tape that is has consistent timecode on it. This way, when you go to record whatever it is you want to record, you can tape over the black, and the camera will always have consistent timecode already laid down, and it won't matter where you start or stop the camera.

-- Justin Burris (ahreckin@hotmail.com), September 18, 2002.


Thanks for the reply. I searched the board after I posted the question and found out about "Blacking out the tape". I appreciate the reply. =]

-- Tom Read (tpr0350@cs.rit.edu), September 18, 2002.

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