I'm just wondering what the differences are in different length miniDV tapes. I'm looking to buy bulk Panasonic miniDV tapes. I've been shooting on the "ME DVM60" tapes (it's 60 mins in SP mode, which is what I shoot in, and 90 mins in LP mode- what's the difference between the two? I'm guessing picture quality? I use Avid Xpress DV to edit and am upgrading to Avid Pro HD if that matters).
Anyway, I have no problem with those tapes at all, they're fine for me.
But, since I jut started looking to buy bulk miniDV tapes I'm seeing lengths like 33 mins and 63 mins and 80 mins (in the Panasonic line). What do these different lengths suggest? Why such different and obscure lengths of miniDV tape?
Also what exactly does "ME DVM60" mean? I'm guessing 60 is referrinf to the length of my tape in SP mode.
Haha, sorry, I've asked a lot, but please let me know if any of you know the answers to any of these questions!
I was told "miniDV is cheap, use 60 min mode".
Seems like good advice to me. On my set we end up using roughly one tape for each day of shooting anyway so it works out nicely. If I have to use a tape and part of the second (rare) I'll still put a new one in the following day. It helps me keep track of everything.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
Never use LP mode unless aliens from outer space land in front of you to hunt for Sasquatch and you only have five minutes of tape left... you'll probably be able to play it back on the camera which recorded it, but the odds are low of it playing on anything else.
Hmmmm... alright, thanks guys.
Anyone else have any extensive knowledge of miniDV tapes etc.?
(not trying to be/sound sarcastic)
Well, I've never used LP mode because I'm afraid to so I can't speak from personal experience, but I think it may relate to the issue of MiniDV vs. full-size DV tapes.
Full-size tapes are larger and are 120 minutes instead of 60. They use the same compression profile as MiniDV and therefore gets essentially the same picture quality. However, the data is less densely packed on the tape, this format is far superior for archival uses as it results in fewer data rate errors on older tapes.
I would guess that LP mode on MiniDV packs the data even more densely on the tape, which could be dangerous as standard SP mode is already pushing the limits. You would be risking dropped frames, all sorts of crazy artifacting, and tapes that may become completely unreadable in a year's time. You may be able to get away with this on brand new tapes that you then immediately capture, but it's probably not worth it.
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Exploding Goldfish Films
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Exploding Goldfish Films
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only use short play, long play doesnt put the quailty onto the tape. I use Sony Platnum and they do me fine always buy the buy tapes.
Im buying avid xpress is it only 1 cd?
Is it easy to use?
DVM60
Digital Video Media 60 mins.
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quote:
Im buying avid xpress is it only 1 cd?
Xpress Pro HD was several CDs, though I think only one of them was the Avid software: the rest were tutorials and add-on software (e.g. DVD burning).
quote:
Is it easy to use?
Reasonably, once you get used to it.
Avid Xpress was about 10 cds, half of which were for PC and the other for Mac. About 2 or 3 of them were needed for installation.
