Red X while recording...PLEASE HELP!!!!

mastermind

mastermind

Well-known member
I was shooting at a REALLY important event and got a red x come on screen intermittently while shooting...I get home and check my footage and all i get is blue....no video at all.....i did get about 3 minutes in the beginning and that footage was ridiculously interlaced...more like 4 big horizontal divisions across the image. Whats happened???? is this dirty heads which i'm suspecting? if so will i need to get them cleaned professionally and will a head cleaning tape be ok in the interrim?

I know i have read about this a couple years ago on here but couldnt find anything through a search.

Oh yeah and i was lucky that the footage was actually for one of my DVD productions and not for a client so i'm the one who lost out on my very valuable footage but atleast avoided the disaster it could have been had it been for a client.

thanks for any input.
 
thanks, its what i thought but just wanted a confirmation. About the head cleaning tape. is that ok as a temporary solution or do i really need to have them shipped in to get them cleaned? I'm in CAnada so is there any way to get it done up in canada? for anyone who may be up in canada and had to get it done. I'm in Toronto specifically.
 
It's a temp solution. Look at the top of this particular forum in the Technical section for the thread on cleaning your DVX.

Also, make sure you are only using Panny MQ tapes....
 
Help!

Help!

So, let's say we now all know about the red flashing X and what that means.

But I've had a recurring problem lately and need some advice. I'm in the middle of an on-going job and I keep getting the flashing red X when shooting. BUT I have cleaned the heads several times with the above-mentioned head cleaning method and I still get the X flashing again after a tape or so. This has gone on for two shoot days so far. I even resorted to using my previously unopened tape head cleaner today. Still got the same results.

I noticed that it started with a new box tapes so I'm thinking maybe I got a bad batch of tapes. Or maybe it's the play back head is getting dirty. Does anyone know what triggers the flashing red X?

I've never lost any footage because I usually can stop shooting and do a cleaning. I thoroughly cleaned the heads this weekend but after one tape today it started flashing again.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated as I am constantly shooting and will soon be travelling out of the country with the rig. Camera has 132 hours and been well maintained.
 
Could there be a burr somewhere in the transport path, that's causing oxide to come loose from the tape base and accumulate...?
 
I wish I knew but nothing out of the ordinary seemed to have occurred before it started. Are you thinking maybe I should get out the magnifying glass? I would even know how to spot such a small abberation much less know how to repair it.
 
I have had this happen three times to me... once during my last shoot... I simply took a minute and ran the head cleaning tape through, and it fixed it for the rest of the shoot.. footage was not damaged or anything... this also happened when I shot something LAST December and I did the same thing, and everything was fine...
 
In shoots during the few days it has happened about 6-8 times. Each time I have cleaned the head and everything was fine until a tape or two later.

I also failed to mention that this tape stock is about a year old. It has been in a variety of temps as it flew in tha baggage compartment of planes and stored in hot climates. That in itself may be the issue. I'm getting new stock today and I'll see if that helps.
 
I had the same problem in the middle of a production shoot. The playback on the DVX showed horizontal blacklines. However, when I got back to our post room, the footages were good on our DV deck, even the capture to our NLE was OK.

The happened a couple of times even after I cleaned the heads. So I have learned to trust my equipment is ok even as the red X showed up don't panic. Press Rec Check and see if the footage is OK, even if the are some horizontal distortion, it means nothing was lost.

I think that the DVX tape head checking is overly sensitive, as long as you have done the regular maintenance, the cam will work fine. The DVX is a very robust machine and should withstand quite a lot of wear before breaking down.

There's a thread here that tells you how to clean the DVX.

Happy shooting ! ! !
 
tbanucci said:
Also, make sure you are only using Panny MQ tapes....
Click to expand...

Not entirely accurate. It's just that you only use the same type of tape and not mix any. I've used only Sony Premiums with my DVX...not a single problem. I had problems with Panny tapes in my XL-1 a long time ago so I stuck with Sony when I got the DVX. Now I only use Panny MQ in my new HVX. Use whatever tape you have always used. Just don't switch. Yeah..I feel the Panny MQs are better, but I wouldn't dare put them in my DVX now.
 
So my problem was resolved by a new batch of tapes that I used this week. So I presume my batch of five was somehow compromised. But as I mentioned above, the tape had been stored poorly and been in and out of the cargo in overseas flights.

A lesson learned.
 
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