Storing mini dv tape?

evolvnyc

evolvnyc

Well-known member
I'm considering buying tape in bulk to save $ (4.99 each from EVS!) for a full length doc I'm shooting... 100 tapes to be shot over maybe 2 years, is there any reason not to do this? I assume most tape sits around in a warehouse for a year, so no different in my apartment, right? Thanks.
 
if you do it right you wont have any problems. Here's a few tips and things to consider:

When storing tapes, you want to make sure you store them in a vertical position, like Library books. Make sure you buy a tape rack. www.tapestockonline.com sells a 24 tape rack I believe for around 15 dollars. When storing tapes for a long time, whether they are blank or not, it is a good idea to occasionally "fluff" them. To do this, just get a deck, and go through your tapes and fast forward/rewind them all the way through. Make sure they always stay rewound to the beginning of the tape. This keeps the tension of the tape over time. If you don't feel like FF/rewinding all your tapes every 6 months, you could probably get by without doing it. I would make sure and do it to all of your recorded footage regardless at least every 6 months. This will ensure that the magnetic material on the tapes stays fresh, and it will make your footage last longer. Other than that, just do the usual "store in a cool dark dry clean place" and you should be fine.
 
Vertical is a confusing way to describe it. Like library books is clear, but not at all like using the tape rack you mention. I would think that storing them flat (like if you were stacking them on a desk or like in a tape rack) is best, because gravity does not work to press tape together. If you store them on short end (like a library book), gravity pulls on the tape unevenly, in some cases pulling two surfaces together, in orthers not.
 
if it were me (and it's not), i would at least split the order in 2. while i know "every penny counts," that doesn't represent a huge savings, so why add hassle and risk to a project that you are devoting so much time to. probably not a big risk, but doesn't seem worth it to me. one other factor to consider, are there temperature and humidity fluxuations in your apartment?

2 years just seems like an awfuly long time. and it only takes 1 bad tape to cause problems.
 
I think you could turn that tape rack on its side to facilitate storing the tapes library book style. The reason I said to store them that way is because that is usually the way I have seen it done in various tape archive shelves. I could be wrong, and it very well could cause problems, as I haven't had digital tape long enough myself to see any consequences of storing tapes in such a manner, but that just seems like a traditional method, and I haven't heard of any negative effects from doing so.
 
That is how I have my tapes, PDX. I have worked for many video agencies, and they all stored thousands of Beta/Digibeta tape like library volumes. I believe that your advice is sound.:thumbsup:
 
Rush said:
That is how I have my tapes, PDX. I have worked for many video agencies, and they all stored thousands of Beta/Digibeta tape like library volumes. I believe that your advice is sound.:thumbsup:
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See, and I think they stored them that way just because that is how they fit best on the shelf for easy access. :) If there was an easier-access way to store them, I would buy the theory that it is about longevity. But harried, underpaid tape clerks just want it fast and easy, and they will be gone long before storage becomes an issue. :engel017:
 
True, I don't disagree. :cheesy: It's funny, I always thought that storing them flat made the most sense too, but the end-result was that we never had tapes fail. Maybe with beta it didn't matter as much as DV. You can use three Beta 90's to make an I-beam :grin:
 
I have a theory on why most houses store in "library book" fasion. When Dealing with film, you can never leave a canister or magazine on the wrong side or the film "cones", which is, it slides toward gravity and creates a cone making it unstable.

over time, a dv tape on it's back, may very well be subject to the same problem, only with tape. that is, the gravity could loosen the rolls and leave room for degredation.

just a theory.
 
thedroog said:
. that is, the gravity could loosen the rolls and leave room for degredation.

just a theory.
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Too obvious. The electrons leak out. :thumbsup:
 
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