lost timecode help

jimmyz wrote on 6/13/2004, 8:59 AM
On my tape the camera doesn't see any video after the first 3 minutes. It shows the same timecode as if there was nothing recorded. Is this why you stripe tape ? What are my options since this is my sons graduation. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to try the tape on another camera and see if that helps.

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 6/13/2004, 10:15 AM
you can see video from the camera, but Vidcap won't capture it because it's missing timecode?
The main reason for striping DV tape is so there are no timecode holes, but that's slightly different than what you are asking about here.
If the cam plays, you might try sending it to an analog to dig device, using the analog out on the camera.
You also might try capturing with Vidcap with DV Devices turned off, and manually start/stop the camera. Vidcap will capture what ever is coming in, but Device Control requires t/c.
Did your battery die in your DV Cam?
johnmeyer wrote on 6/13/2004, 10:36 AM
On my tape the camera doesn't see any video after the first 3 minutes. It shows the same timecode as if there was nothing recorded. Is this why you stripe tape ?

No, you do not need to stripe the tape in order to see the video. Striping is a completely unecessary step for most purposes. If you press the play button, and no video appears, then there is no video on that tape.

If you are certain that you didn't accidentally press the start/stop button on your camera twice (which puts it into pause when you think you are recording, and vice versa), or that you didn't have some other camera failure, you might try playing the tape in a different camera. It is possible that the video was poorly recorded (because of bad tape, dirty heads, some camera malfunction, etcl) and another camcorder might be able to get enough signal to display the missing video.

However, lack of a prerecorded timecode will not cause the video to disappear.
jimmyz wrote on 6/13/2004, 10:54 AM
It doesn't play in my camera. Maybe it is dirty heads but the video
definately was recording. Its many different start and stops with big rec in viewfinder. So if the camera can't pick up the timecode it should play anyways ? It shows blank on my camera so I'll go next door and borrow another. I'll keep you posted and thanks for the prompt replys.
Spot|DSE wrote on 6/13/2004, 11:33 AM
John probably has called it right on. It's common that folks *think* they hit record when they really paused it. If you don't see vid, don't see timecode, it's likely that the event isn't there. It's pretty rare that a cam would record without inserting T/C, even if the date/time battery is dead.
jimmyz wrote on 6/13/2004, 11:53 AM
The tape has nothing.....
Tried on my neighbors camera and it shows dashes instead of zeros on the time code. Then tried a new tape and hit record, the motor spins the tape counter shows tape left decreasing but the time code stays at zero. Even with the screen showing REC. The tape I used has video shot last weekend
displayed with no problem then Thursday's graduation of my son, and Saturday's 10th birthday for my other son shows nada. Why is it always the important video.....( I do recall the counter moving )
Thanks again for all your help
Is there any other way to check the tape to see if something is there?
Spot|DSE wrote on 6/13/2004, 11:59 AM
Is there any other way to check the tape to see if something is there?
Not that I'm aware of. One of my relatives was given his second PhD recently. My Smart Media card chose that day to take a dump and die. It's painful to loose those important moments, but it can happen with any technology, I guess.