Hello Everyone!

I have finished with my first miniDV tape and wondered how I go about
re-using it. Do I treat it the same as a video/audio cassette and
simple record over the existing content? Or do I need to erase it
first? I have looked through my DCRHC35E Handycam Instruction Manual
but it says absolutley nothing! I am not sure and know that this is
the place to get the info required.

Thanks - melianbriggs

On 5 Feb 2007 12:45:41 -0800, "melianbriggs"
wrote:

Hello Everyone!

I have finished with my first miniDV tape and wondered how I go about
re-using it. Do I treat it the same as a video/audio cassette and
simple record over the existing content? Or do I need to erase it
first? I have looked through my DCRHC35E Handycam Instruction Manual
but it says absolutley nothing! I am not sure and know that this is
the place to get the info required.

You *can* just record over it.

However - my recomendation is to record 'black-level' on the
complete tape. It lays down a basic timing signal that helps with
subsequent recordings.

Regards,
Harry.


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In message om,
melianbriggs writes
Hello Everyone!

I have finished with my first miniDV tape and wondered how I go about
re-using it. Do I treat it the same as a video/audio cassette and
simple record over the existing content? Or do I need to erase it
first? I have looked through my DCRHC35E Handycam Instruction Manual
but it says absolutley nothing! I am not sure and know that this is
the place to get the info required.

You don't have to erase before reusing a tape.

However, the End Search and Edit Search functions *may* not work
properly unless the tape is first erased before reusing.
--
Tony Morgan

On Feb 5, 10:20 pm, Tony Morgan wrote:
In message om,
melianbriggs writesHello Everyone!

I have finished with my first miniDV tape and wondered how I go about
re-using it. Do I treat it the same as a video/audio cassette and
simple record over the existing content? Or do I need to erase it
first? I have looked through my DCRHC35E Handycam Instruction Manual
but it says absolutley nothing! I am not sure and know that this is
the place to get the info required.

You don't have to erase before reusing a tape.

However, the End Search and Edit Search functions *may* not work
properly unless the tape is first erased before reusing.
--
Tony Morgan

How do I erase? I know it sounds a bit newbee - but thats what I am
and there is no instructions in my user manual!
Help!

On Feb 5, 9:46 pm, Harry Broomhall wrote:
On 5 Feb 2007 12:45:41 -0800, "melianbriggs"

wrote:
Hello Everyone!

I have finished with my first miniDV tape and wondered how I go about
re-using it. Do I treat it the same as a video/audio cassette and
simple record over the existing content? Or do I need to erase it
first? I have looked through my DCRHC35E Handycam Instruction Manual
but it says absolutley nothing! I am not sure and know that this is
the place to get the info required.

You *can* just record over it.

However - my recomendation is to record 'black-level' on the
complete tape. It lays down a basic timing signal that helps with
subsequent recordings.

Regards,
Harry.

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----http://www.newsfeeds.comThe #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

What is "black level - and how do I do this? It sounds like I record
with the lens cap on or something to that effect!
Sorry, I am a proper novice. Surely it's not that obvious. Nothing
seems simple when it comes to technology!
Regards - melianbriggs

"melianbriggs" wrote in message
oups.com...

snip

What is "black level - and how do I do this? It sounds like I record
with the lens cap on or something to that effect!

Yes, put the lens cap on, assuming that it is a true light-proof cap
[1] and put the camera into record.

[1] some camcorders use a translucent white lens cap.

What is "black level - and how do I do this? It sounds like I record
with the lens cap on or something to that effect!
Sorry, I am a proper novice. Surely it's not that obvious.

I'm afraid it is that simple.

Many people recommend "striping" a tape before its first use - laying down a
continuous timecode for the length of the tape to make subsequent capture
easier.

If you don't mind using Windows Movie Maker to capture your DV it seems to
cope with the "ambiguous" bits of tape where there's no footage recorded -
it just pauses the capture until something worthwhile comes along. My
regular capture program just stops capturing at the first chunk of
unrecorded tape.

"melianbriggs" wrote in message

How do I erase? I know it sounds a bit newbee - but thats what I am
and there is no instructions in my user manual!

As you worked out in your other post.

If you capture the entire tape at each capture session, it' not something
you need to worry about.

":Jerry:" wrote in message
reenews.net...

"melianbriggs" wrote in message
oups.com...

snip

What is "black level - and how do I do this? It sounds like I record
with the lens cap on or something to that effect!

Yes, put the lens cap on, assuming that it is a true light-proof cap [1]
and put the camera into record.

[1] some camcorders use a translucent white lens cap.

Forgive my ignorance, but why does the translucency of the cap make any
difference? As far as I was aware, you were just laying down a timecode for
the duration of the tape. The actual content (audio and/or video) was
irrelevant.

When Tony mentioned "black level" I thought there must be more to it than I
understood...

Many people recommend "striping" a tape before its first use - laying down
a continuous timecode for the length of the tape to make subsequent
capture easier.

It was a very good advice for the analog recording (regardless just audio or
video as well) to decrease the S/N levels, but for digital... I'm not sure
that it's required. Also I wouldn't kill my camcorder just overwriting these
tapes again and again. Finally who knows how the "black" record that should
be done will relate to the next record that should be done over it.

The ideal scenario in my mind should be different, I did it many times for
my audio and analog video tapes many years ago before the digital century
came. There is a special throttle (like a magnet) wide or almost flat,
depending on its construction) powered with the AC wall outlet 110, 120,
240, 50-60 HZ. It produces the magnetic field around enough to destroy any
records on the tape just in seconds. The trick is to avoid any residual
magnetization after this procedure. To do that it's pretty enough to move
this variable magnet around the tape closing it little bit with each new
loop to the closest distance, after a few seconds same but backwards finally
moving away to a meter or longer before it can be shut off. Hopefully I
explained the whole process correctly to let you understand what I was
doing. It's not very easy without a picture. I learned this trick from
professionals many years ago. They were able to record excellent audio tapes
without any noise. When I bought this device and tried it myself I found
that there is a huge difference if I used the original tape from the store
or demagnetized tape. Also there is another usage - to make any tape clean
just in seconds.

Just D.