Tape versus SD

I'm thinking of replacing my miniDV camera with a HD version and am wondering about the expert views on which medium is in our future. I liked miniDV because it provided me with an inexpensive way of archiving my raw footage. On the other hand, I wasn't fond of the time-consuming capture process.
I apologize if this is the wrong forum group, but I respect the views expressed. here.

Unfortunately, I feel that tape is at the end of its lifespan for Video recording. I also like it, and for the reasons that you list. The real-time Capture was a bit of a drawback (really bothered some, more than others), but I used that time to make notes to help me in the editing later.
The tapeless workflow is here to stay, IMHO. More NLE (Non Linear Editor) programs now support tapeless (though there are still specific digital media files that will not be accepted by all NLE's), and pretty seamlessly.
Of course, I predicted the total demise of DVD-Video, once BD was sorted out. That did not happen, and for various reasons.
Good luck in your decision,
Hunt

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Tape versus hard drive HD camera

I know this subject has been beaten to death, but I just wanted to make sure of my decision. I've heard that tape is better because various editions of FCS may or may not have problems dealing with video recorded on a hard drive video camera. I've also heard that the quality is better with tape. And that you also might lose your footage if the hard drive goes kaput before you download the footage. I've decided to repair my 2 year old camera (over $560) because I love it to death. By the dealership is giving me flack about it because I can buy a hard drive camera for a lot cheaper. Am I right in keeping my tape based camera?

I've recently sold my tape based camera and have moved to cameras that use P2 cards. I love it! I can either log each clip with in and out points, or just dump everything onto the hard drive. The workflow is much faster for me.
It feels good to not be "consuming" plastic and everything else that comes with tape. In fact--there is a "green your film production" movement within our micro-industry of wildlife filmmaking. One of the suggestions is to get rid of tape based systems.
Which reminds me--anyone want a Sony DSR DV tape deck?
But honestly I jumped from a DV camera (Canon XL2) to a Panasonic HD camera...so the quality jump helped lessen the sting of nostalgia . Kind of like going from film SLR to digital SLR. I kinda miss the dark room.
I certainly understand, though--if you were like me it wasn't just the camera--it was all the lenses that went with that tape based camera, the (once) expensive tape deck that connected to the computer, etc. etc.
I'll tell you though--ten years ago I was spending almost $50 per tape for HD CAM. It feels good to not incur that expense any more. You certainly second guess pushing the trigger when tape is not cheap--and then there's film... We won't go there...
Really, it just depends on your projects, who your intended audience is and what makes sense for your film budget. We could all drown in debt trying to keep up with this technology. The problem is, it's all so cool! Good luck!

How many reuses on DV tapes?

How many times can I re-record on the same DV tape with my camcorder without losing video quality?

Rather than considering the number of times you can use a tape versus video quality, you should be thinking about the heads in your DV camcorder, for the quality of your video is more directly related to the condition of the recording head.
Using a tape more than once is generally not a good idea. With each use, microscopic pieces of the tape formulation will rub off onto the heads. Using a tape more than once will result in greater numbers of particles being shed as the tape wears, thus clogging the head to the point where video quality will decline and the cam heads will need a tape cleaner passed over it more frequently.
Head cleaning tapes themselves are way more abrasive than a tape, so minimizing the need to use the cleaning tape should be a priority for long head life.
I will use a tape twice, once for original footage and again if I wish to archive a finished movie back to tape. I won't reuse a tape for more original footage. I also recommend buying quality tape online, as you can get better deals buying in bulk quantities. Don't buy cheap tape and don't buy different brands of tape. Not only can it clog your heads faster, but you will suffer drop outs which can really screw up your movie.

Erasing a tape - full erase or "short" erase - does it matter?

Microsoft DPM Forum,
What would cause one to use a Full Erase for a tape versus a "Short" erase?
Does a short erase erase just the header information where a full erase erases everything from the tape cartridge?
Also, should a full erase be done on new tape cartridges prior to use with DPM?
Thanks in advance,
Joe

Hi,
As per the
IOCTL_TAPE_ERASE control code.
Erases the current tape partition, either as a TAPE_ERASE_LONG (in other words, a "secure") operation that overwrites data with a pattern or as a TAPE_ERASE_SHORT (in other words, a "quick") operation that writes an end-of-recorded-data mark at the current
position.
The tape drive needs to support TAPE_ERASE_LONG or it will fail.
There is no need to erase a new tape before using it.
Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. Regards, Mike J. [MSFT] This
posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Mike,
Ok, thank you for the answer!
Joe

Titles don't scroll across screen anymore

On my new 30 GB iPod, the song titles scrolled across screen during playback but after I did a restore they now only appear static and are truncated if to long for the display screen. I rstored because I mistakenly thought there was a problem with the iPod when I tried to use it attached to my work computer - firewall issues. I can't find a configuration to enable that "feature"...

I'd like to see this change as well.. I sent in a request through the iPhone feedback form.
I understand the difficulty in trying to implement this though.. since track selection is a one step process on the iPhone (tap) versus a two step process on the iPod (wheel-select then exectute), you'd have to have all the long titles scrolling at the same time, which would look rather chaotic.
Maybe it could be done on the iPhone by having the title scroll if you tap-hold on the title.

Quality of Hard Disk Camcorder versus DV Tape camcorder

Hi. I have a Sony Camcorder that works with DV Tape. I am thinking of buying a new one with internal Hard disk. I saw in the threads that is more difficult to import to I movie from a HD Camcorder, but my question is about quality: How does the quality of the HD Camcorder compare with the quality of the DV Tape? Thanks in advance
Powerbook G4 1.67 Mac OS X (10.4.8) 2 GB RAM

HD = High definition.
HDD = Hard disk drive.
The video on a HDD is highly compressed compared to a miniDV tape, so some quality is lost. Then you lose some more when "unpacking" the compressed video for editing.

Worth the effort? 8 bit AVCHD 1080p 4:2:0 versus 1080i 10 bit uncompressed

Hello,
I am i homing in on a final MacBook Pro versus Mac Pro decision to enable both real-time capture (argues for portable) and final cut - color - motion work flow.
i have a new sony HXR 5NU that provides me with 25 Mbps 1080p AVCHD 8 bit 4:2:0 from the camera or 10 bit uncompressed 1080i 4:2:2 via SDI or HDMI. The latter would involve a MacBook (not lugging a 45 pound Mac Pro around on the set) and an external MOTU HD Express HDMI or or a Matrox O2 LE.
The key question is if the extra information is significant in terms of final look, constructing quality masks, etc. I believe the answer is yes as it relates to simply comparing 8 bit 4:2:0 versus 10 bit uncompressed 4:2:2. Seems the answer is murkier with the trade-off of 1080i (the uncompressed signal) versus 1080p from AVCHD.
I do not know the internal workings of the camera, it is possible that it is 1080i off of the sensor electronics and a pull down is happening with the avchd encoder which means that it is not really a trade-off.
Any opinions?
Otherwise I just focus on getting the best out of my camcorder's avchd output using a waveform monitor and go for a Mac Pro in Post.
Any thoughts on this?
Wayne
Portland

Thoughts or opinions? Remember, you asked for it.
You haven't done the math.
You do seem to realize there might be some kind of quality difference between 4:2:0 AVC and 10 bit uncompressed, which is a good thing, but haven't dealt with the larger issues.
First off, while FCP might deal with AVC without too much fuss, it is not an approved codec for use with COLOR, and you will be dealing with a transcode at some point.
If you are dealing with some kind of sub-cinema format camera, which is producing AVC, then the practical reality is that its sensors are indulging in a serious amount of voodoo, and if your project is going to involve anything like a lot of greenscreen, then you are also buying yourself a certain amount of downstream pain, since the bandwidth that an actual 10-bit 4:4:4 camera produces is what you might really want. But that brings us to the real math.
Your first paragraph contains the phrase:
MacBook Pro versus Mac Pro decision to enable both real-time capture
Uh.... I guess you'd also be looking for some other kind of AJA/Io or whatever interface to work with the MacBook Pro, since it only supports USB and FireWire natively, neither of which will support 10-bit Uncompressed, or some other kind of slot34 device. I expect you really meant "on-set" capture, rather than real-time, since the only other way into a MacBook would be a P2-type card interface. In addition, real time Uncompressed 1920x1080 is very demanding no matter whether it is 24/30 frame, 8- or 10-bit. I'd be surprised if any Mac laptop could hack it. Its harder to do than HDV.
If you are recording on tape, then you can bet that the recorded format is segmented, which is a special, non-temporally related form of interlace, that allows a progressive frame to be recorded on a format that is maxed out at 1080i. Pull down is a term reserved for use with generating redundant frames to bridge a rate difference -- most notably "24" fps to "30" fps, which you don't mention. But which would be another significant hurdle.
I used to have this handy-dandy chart that listed all the bitrates and storage requirements for uncompressed formats SD, HD, 2K, etc., but it isn't in my field of view at the moment. 10-bit Uncompressed 1920x1080 at 29.97 takes up about a TeraByte per hour... do you have that much storage for field work? It isn't RED. It also requires a transfer rate in the Gigabit range, so in a practical sense it really requires a fibre-channel interface.
I'm kind of thinking you will eventually wind up with a ProRes workflow. You could get away with a laptop and AJA interface doing that.
jPo

Easiest solution for adding Fibre Channel Tape Backup to Xserve RAID setup

I'm interested in getting a Fibre Channel LTO-3 tape library such as the Exabyte 221L for my Xserve RAID/Xserve G5 setup. I realize there are SCSI LTO-3 solutions that are less expensive than FC, but I'd prefer not to have to add a SCSI card to my Xserve, mainly because I'd have to pull the video card and run the server headless (horrors!). However, I understand that I must get a Fibre Channel switch to allow the LTO library, the Xserve, and the Xserve RAID to communicate... you can't just daisy chain FC devices. The least expensive switch I can find is the new QLogtic SANbox 3050 for about $1800. For my situation, in which these will be the only FC devices I'll probably ever use, does this switch sound appropriate? The specs on the switch can be found here: http://www.qlogic.com/products/sanbox/sanbox_3050.asp.
Xserve RAID & Xserve G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

For simple environments like yours, it's trivially easy. You must plug everything in, and you're good to go... as simple as a network switch.
Now if you start adding multiple hosts (i.e. plug in a second Xserve or G5), you need to be careful, because in the default configuration everything is "wide open," so every device can see every storage LUN. This would actually be problematic, as systems could (actually, would) corrupt each other's storage. When you get to this point, you'll need to look at either zoning the ports on the switch, or using LUN masking on the Xserve RAID to allocate specific pieces of storage to specific hosts.
But for now, just get the switch, plug everything in, and you're off.
BTW if you mark "answered" for me, versus for the thread overall, it helps me out a bit in this forum ranking system, whatever it is.
Cheers.

How do you import from a dv tape camcorder in PE 13

Can't find a way to import dv tape into PE 13

Mervynm
Thanks for the reply...previously I wrote
Besides properties of the source, we could get into project settings and rendered versus unrendered Timeline. And, we would also explore
if there is a direct relationship between the title file and the video file going fuzzy.
Please look into the above as it relates to these fuzzy previews. Also, assure that your video card/graphics card is up to date according to the web
site of the manufacturer of the card. Right click the Edit area monitor, select Playback Settings, and select Highest instead of Automatic to see if
that makes a difference.
If you purchased direct from Adobe, are within 30 days of purchase, and want your money back, then please click on the following link to make
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If the link does not hold its set, then you will need to navigate to the Chat Panel using the above titles as guides.
We will be watching for further developments as your schedule permits.
Thanks.
ATR

HDV Tape Based Camcorders

I'm in the market for a new camcorder and have just purchased a copy of FCE HD3.5, as a first time purchase of any Final Cut product I didn't go for FCE4 first off as I have a miniDV camcorder at present.
In starting to look around the www I was surprised to find that Sony have phased out some (if not all!?) of their tape based HDV cameras; what are people's thoughts on this?
I don't particularly want to go to a memory stick or HDD type camcorder as I don't really think this method of storage has been proved long term (harddrive versus catagorised tape backup) so therefore prefer the idea of tape, but, at the same time this will be a one off purchase for quite some time and I don't want to feel left behind in a few years time.
Luke

Hi
I know we have to have Progress. But for me, if I can lose, every so often the details in my address book. I know that at sometime I will lose an important video file.
I have just done a big Wedding video with two HD DV cameras. Edited over nearly two weeks to the satisfaction of the Bride. Burnt the DVD's and have all the original tapes and the edited back to tape. All stored in a sealed plastic container.From experience with tape over many years. I know this will be able to be viewed for many years,
It may be difficult these days to play a wax cylinder.But vinyl can still be played and very well. Cd's might be more convenient, but there is still a better fuller sound on the vinyl
So to progress to storing on a hard drive, will not be a reliable storage over a long time. Nor is the storing onto normal dvd's the answer as many that I have done over the years, have been reported back to me that they shudder, usually near the end of the video
Still I did not think that it would be possible to make a digital camera. be so reliable and generally do a better job than I used to do with film. So perhaps and I hope I will be proved wrong, but for now I'll stick with tape. Thanks. Dave

HT204389 how do i get siri to send me a reminder in a voice versus calendar

how do i get siri to send me a reminder in a voice versus calendar
I know I double click to see the icons at the bottom of all the applications that are open and running, but how do I close them so they do not keep using my battery power?
Thanks so much!

debra141 wrote:
how do i get siri to send me a reminder in a voice versus calendar
You can't. Siri will launch the reminders app when you instruct her to set a reminder.
I know I double click to see the icons at the bottom of all the applications that are open and running, but how do I close them so they do not keep using my battery power?
Tap and hold down on one of the icons in the recents tray and all of the icons will wiggle and they will also have a red minus sign in the upper left corner of the icons. Tap the red minus sign to close the apps. Tap the home button again when you are done.
Almost none of the apps that you will find in the recents tray are actually running and consuming battery power. I only close apps when the iPad starts to act a little funky - simply for troubleshooting purposes. I could have 50 or more apps in the recents tray at any one time. I get about 10 hours of use every day out of a full 100% charge of my new iPad's battery.
Read this about how Multi Tasking works in iOS.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4211

Can restore backupset files from tape library to disk?

Hi,
I need to explain my scenario/position:
We backup our database every night to disk this command:
configure channel device type disk format "/backup/%d_%T_%s.%U";
backup filesperset 4 database;
After backup job is done create a lot of backupset files in /backup directory. And after we backup this backupset files to tape library, this command:
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' PARMS 'ENV=(NSR_SERVER=legato, NSR_CLIENT=dbserver)';
backup device type 'SBT_TAPE' backupset completed after "sysdate-1" format '%d_%T_%s.%U';
we backed up all backupset files to tape library (SBT_TAPE). And delete backupset files on disk.
Here my questions:
How can i restore these backupset files to disk? I dont mean, restore database,datafiles, tablespace etc. I mean restore original backupset files to disks?
Database version:9.2.0.6 and we use rman catalog database.
Thanks..

I'm not sure why manual managment is risky. If you no longer have the music in iTunes (or any other back-up), what difference does manual versus automatic management make? I for one will certainly be the last to argue against backing up files. But I don't see where this is related to how a person chooses to manage their iPod, either manual or auto.
Scenario 1: Restore iPod, now iPod files are gone, iTunes is empty for whatever reason. Manual versus auto: irrelevant. There's nothing there to manage until iTunes is replenished anyway.
Scenario 2: Restore iPod, iPod files gone, iTunes still loaded. Manual versus auto: matter of personal preference.
Scenario 3: iPod is OK, but iTunes is empty for whatever reason. Manual versus auto: ON AUTO, PLUG IN YOUR IPOD AND LOSE EVERYTHING ON IT. On manual, everything on iPod is still safe. Right?
Sceanrio 4: iPod is OK, iTunes is OK, business as usual. Keep adding songs in iTunes. Manual versus auto: matter of personal preference.
Scenario 3 is enough to keep me away from auto. I bow to the opinions of all you experienced folks out there, but I've read so many posts from the iPod veterans suggesting to the newbies that they use auto management and back-up their files. I agree with the back-up suggestion, but I whole heartedly disagree that auto management is better and manual management is risky. I don't understand why manual would be more risky than auto. In fact, it seems to me that auto would be more risky.
I like manual: things aren't happening out of my control. I control what's on iPod, I control what's in iTunes. If I want to add to or delete from one or the other but not both, I have that freedom. I see no risk.
Can someone explain to me if I'm misunderstanding or missing something?

Unable to capture from DV tape

I was given a Mini DV tape and when I try to capture it starts the first few seconds and stop with the following message:
"Capture encountered a problem reading the data on your source tape. This could be due to a problem with the tape. Capture has been aborted and your clip has been saved."
Any ideas what might be wrong and how I can resolve it?
Thanks.

Hi Steve,
There are several causes that can lead to that problem.
Just copy and paste the error message in the search area of the forum on the right hand side of this page and you will get a number of useful hints.
Best,
G.

I have had my IPAD2 for quite a while but haven't activated my cellular data for about a year. I am now trying to activate and when I go to cellular data, turn it on and try to tap view account i just get a message that says "connection to server lost".

I have had my IPAD2 for quite a while but haven't activated my cellular data for about a year. I am now trying to activate and when I go to cellular data, turn it on and try to tap view account i just get a message that says "connection to server lost". I could swear the last time I used cellular data you would see the signal in the upper left corner and I only see "no service" there, I am in a location where I know I should have service. Is there something I should do to my IPAD? I tried resetting, I tried clearing cookies and history in Safari (after reading a post n these discussions). I don't know what to do next. My IOS version is 6.1.3. I did go into Network from the general tab and I see it says "SIM not provisioned". HELP and Thank you in advance.

Hello Theresa818,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities!
It sounds like the cellular data will not activate for some reason on the iPad.
I found this article that will help you resolve this issue here, named iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular Models): Troubleshooting a cellular data connection, found here http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4249
Check for a carrier settings update.
Update your iPad.
Toggle the Cellular Data setting off and on under Settings > Cellular Data.
Restart your iPad.
Tap Settings > General > About. Locate the Carrier entry and make sure that your carrier is correct.
If your SIM card has SIM PIN enabled, try turning it off: Tap Settings > Cellular Data > SIM PIN.
Make sure you're in an area of good coverage. If the cellular data connection works in another area, contact your carrier to report the original affected area.
Reset network settings: Tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
Restore the iPad as new.
If none of the above steps resolves the issue, make an appointment at an Apple Retail Store, contact your carrier, or contact AppleCare to troubleshoot further.
I know you may have done one or two of the steps here, so you can skip those.
Take care,
Sterling

How do I add tap to tweet to my notification center on my macbook pro?

My friend has the same MacBook Pro as me and she has the 'tap to tweet' option in her notification center while I don't. How do I add it?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Open System Preferences > Mail, Contacts and Calendars, press the + button and add the Twitter account. Then, Tap to Tweet will appear on the Notification Center. This only works with Mountain Lion and later

Tape versus SD

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