My own worst enemy...

[Mimpi2]

Ok, So after filming an amazing clip, I was so transfixed that I watched it on the camera (rewinding tape, press play etc) a whole bunch of times, as well as showing friends until it got the better of me...

That particular part of the tape is now dropping frames as I attempt to capture it.....

Have I totally destroyed the data on the tape, or is there the possibility of cleaning it somehow so I can capture it properly?

 

[sonnyboo]

Try digitizing with another camera. or run a head cleaner on the camera you have.

 

[PaulGriffith]

You might just have dirty heads. Clean the capture device, then try the capture. Still bad? Try a different player. Still bad? Tape is bad, sorry.

As a general rule, we don't even rewind the tapes in our tape-format cameras. We use decks with stronger heads to rewind and playback. Even then, the weaker formats (like mini DV) we record, rewind in deck, playback/capture once, then store the tape. They're too susceptible to dropouts after the record and playback cycle. The DVcam tapes are much better, we'll even recycle them a few times.

 

[Mimpi2]

Thanks guys.... I've given the heads a clean and subsequently been able to capture the clip...

admittedly it's no longer quite the same quality as what it should be, but serves the purpose and is a hell of a lot better than losing it entirely!!!



cheers.

PS. I'm sure working with a deck would be much better, but for this coin strapped lad, its not really an option... yet...