archiving / backup question (sorry for repost)

newbie123 wrote on 8/5/2003, 7:51 AM
sorry for the repost, i posted this into the wrong forum before.

o.k.
with the help of this forum i have completed my first major project. all are happy with the end result and now i am at the point where i want to get the raw avi footage off the computer and get ready for the next project. Here are my issues / questions

1) i plan on backing up my footage onto dv tape. i am confused about whether or not there is a quality difference between the 60 minute tapes and 80 minute tapes in sp mode (i've never seen an 80 minute but have heard of them) are the 80 minute tapes of lower quality than the 60 minute tapes, ie thinner?

2) all else being equal, is there a true quality hit between the sp and lp modes on dv tape. to my mind there must be but that is just a belief i have as opposed to other people's personal experiences.

please, do not suggest i buy a humongous hard drive. that is my plan for the near future but for right now it is not feasable. my eventual intention is to have removable hd tray that will allow me to have multiple drives as my backup medium.

thanks.

Comments

BrianStanding wrote on 8/5/2003, 10:30 AM
1) 80-minute tapes are somewhat thinner than the standard 60-minute Mini-DV tape. Both lengths are based on SP speed. In theory, the thinner 80-minute tape is more likely to break or tangle than the 60s, so you may want to make a backup copy to be completely safe. I've used both 80 minutes and 60 minute tapes sucessfully with little problem.

2) There is no image quality difference between LP and SP. However, LP tapes are MUCH more prone to drop outs, tracking problems, etc. LP tapes often will not play in any camera deck other than the one it was recorded on. Stick with SP, and save yourself some headaches.

Finally, are you talking about simply creating a "print-to-tape" master of your edited piece as it appears on your timeline, or do you also want to back up ALL your media files used in the project? If your project originated on DV, and you captured via the SoFo Video Capture application, you may not need to do the latter.

If you save the .veg file and the .sfvidcap file, Vegas can usually recapture all footage from the original DV tapes. To test this, move all your media files into a new directory, leaving the .veg and .sfvidcap files in the original directory. Re-open the .veg file. Does Vegas ask you if you want to recapture all media? If so, you can safely delete the media files from your hard drive, and just archive the .veg and .sfvidcap files.

Hope this helps.
riredale wrote on 8/5/2003, 12:37 PM
I might be living on the edge, but I record everything in LP on miniDV 60's. In hundreds of tapes and many, many tape passes I have come across exactly one (1) dropout, and I don't know if the dropout would exist or not under SP mode. Back a few years ago when I was using Studio7, I made extensive use of the "preview" capture, which really exercised the tapes during final capture. No problems.

On a half-dozen occasions I have supplied an LP master to a duplication facility. There was one time that the tape was not being read properly. The facility substituted a different machine, and the problem disappeared. Similarly, I have never had any difficulty with tapes recorded on other miniDV camcorders.

In summary, I am left to conclude that, while the margins are narrower, a properly-calibrated machine does fine withe the LP speed. But, again, I may just have been lucky.
newbie123 wrote on 8/5/2003, 1:12 PM
thanks for the great feedback.

the original footage i copied from was hi 8 and ran it through my camcorders passthrough for capture in vagas. I plan on only putting back to dv tape the finished final product for use as an emergency backup. for right now though, it looks like i might just try and cut about 8 minutes off the project or use the lp mode.

chock this up to yet another lesson learned. When creating a film for people, make it under a hour or well over an hour so you don't feel guilty about using an entire second tape for cya.

i have to say i feel uncomfortable with the notion that an 80 minute tape is thinner. why can't they just add more tape to the casing (must be a physical size limitation, but it still pisses me off)

who know, maybe i hit the lotto and can buy hd to store all the projects on in uncompressed avi.

thanks
jeffy82 wrote on 8/5/2003, 2:24 PM
From a cost perspective, the 80min is much more expensive, but sometimes is necessary if you're recording an event that you know will run longer than 60min and you don't have a 2nd Camera. I still don't know why Sony & others make it SO difficult to change tapes, especially when its on a tripod.

As far as the LP vs. SP, its a personal call.
The facts are:
SP uses 10 micron tracks (wider track -- more forgiving)
LP uses 6.7 micron tracks (narrower track -- less forgiving)
LP recorded tape WILL NOT play in a DVCAM or DVCPRO VTR.

Another thing to consider is that the alignment of any camcorder heads can shift ever so slightly over time. This would effect both recording as well as playback. So it is entirely possible that at some point your newer LP tapes will only play back in that particular camcorder with the misaligned heads. Just hope it that it never gives out.
BrianStanding wrote on 8/5/2003, 3:38 PM
If it were me, I'd just use the 80-minute tape, and print to tape twice, so you have a backup tape. Store the second tape away somewhere where you're never tempted to use it, and only pull it out if your first tape deterioriates.

That should be plenty safe enough.

If you have DVD capability, you could also make a DVD as another backup.