Blackburst Tapes

J

jakeswit

New member
I'm not sure where to post this, so here goes:

I am getting prepared to head to Ecuador on Saturday to begin principal shooting on a documentary. I am not a film student, but rather a theatre director and a bit uncertain of certain technical aspects of the art. I will be shooting on a Panasonic DVX100.

I have recently been told I should "Blackburst" all of my tapes (100+ hours) by running them thru my camera to lay timecode down.

What are people's thoughts on this?

Also, if I run thru a secondary camera that doesn't shoot 24p, will this timecode affect my image when I ultimately shoot on the DVX100?

Thanks for your thoughts.
 
I'm not sure why you would do that. I know there are recommendations to fast forward through the entire tape. They do this because old tapes sometimes stick. Running it through will ensure that it doesn't.

Tape stores the data magnetically. This is digital information. So whatever is recorded over will be gone. If you do decide to do it, it should be safe to record over.

I've used tapes that originally had SD/60i footage, which I tape over with HD/24p footage and didn't have any problems.
 
Doing so will prevent timecode breaks which can be a PITA if you're editing that much footage.

However, 'checking the gate' (or, in video terms, just making sure that you are lined up and have the currently running timecode on frame prior to hitting record) works just as well if not better.
 
what would it entail exactly to make sure the time code is running? Is it better to have a continuously running timecode, or one that starts and stops with recording?
 
You're better off having a continuously running timecode. When you turn on the camera, it should say where the timecode for the tape at its current position. Sometimes you won't if you've captured the footage and manually looked for the end of the section.
 
Black burst is sync while blacking a tape is simply striping it.
No need, imo. Just wears the camera down needlessly.
 
NinjaVsPenguin said:
You're better off having a continuously running timecode. When you turn on the camera, it should say where the timecode for the tape at its current position. Sometimes you won't if you've captured the footage and manually looked for the end of the section.
Click to expand...

I think he meant "continuously running" as in "Free-Run", while you mean "continuously running" as in "Regen" - right?

Because Free-Run TC (i.e. the timecode keeps running like a stop-watch even if you turn off the camera) is only useful in multi-camera setups or when it's crucial having the TC linked to the time of day. If you stop the camera, you will get a TC break and programs like FCP will definitely take a lot longer recording the footage and you will get hundreds of single clips.

The most useful TC setting is usually Regen(erate) which means the timecode will be continuous throughout the whole tape, even if you don't pre-record the tape. If you want to take out a tape and later record to it again, be sure to record some color bars or black picture at the end, so you'll have room to start the recording again in regen mode (with continuous TC)

I have also been told by teachers (mostly older news editors/cameramen) that you need to pre-record all tapes with timecode before using them. I have never actually done it and never seen a reason to do it...
 
FBAS said:
I think he meant "continuously running" as in "Free-Run", while you mean "continuously running" as in "Regen" - right?

The most useful TC setting is usually Regen(erate) which means the timecode will be continuous throughout the whole tape, even if you don't pre-record the tape.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I meant "regen". I've had tapes where my TCs broke, and it was a nightmare w/ premiere, especially when I was searching for stuff.
 
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