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Hi,
I noticed a wide choice of smiles, very helpful
Jerry, I think that any review of 6 months old is actually not precise in our fast changing life.
What actually is possible, is to see the timecode on DV Raptor screen. You can use this timecode, transferred by firewire, to do batch captures.
Date code is used to make indexing. It is also transferred by firewire.
In DV RAPTOR, run Raptor Navi, insert tape, and select automatic indexing. Choose normal speed. After 1 hour you'll get all your tape indexed by clips recorded between start/stop button pushes (date code value jump is used for this).
Then, save index file and import it into Raptor video application in batch capture mode.
Push Capture and you will get all these clips captured in separate files. The accuracy is one frame. It takes some time, because positioning of tape is done relatively slow.
However, finally you get all clips on hard drive. Of course, you can edit the batch list to skip some files or modify their duration. Everything is done based on timecode and datecode recorded on tape while you shot video.
There is a problem here - the timecode must be continuous. The empty tape does not contain timecode. If you make empty piece on tape between clips, the timecode starts from zero. I am not sure what happens in this situation with batch capture. Probably, you have to take care about it manually.
It is possible in principle to make tapes with pre-recorded timecode from beginning to the end. In that case the timecode is not modified later. Actually I can do this in my typical shooting from beginning to the end of tape without any fast forward or backward moves.
Returning to tape lifetime and the suggestion to use D8 as analog capture card.
My typical shooting contains about 100 clips per 65 min (actual tape duration) tape. When I do batch capture and indexing, the tape is used multiple times in all possible transportation modes. So, single batch capture procedure is probably equivalent to 4-5 hours of plain recording/playback in terms of mechanics wear.
Add here at least two (three is more realistic) hours of start/stop shooting, switching camcorder ON/OFF, loading tape, unloading tape inside camcorder, ... and multiply by two.
Finally, you have up to 5 + 6 =11 hours camcorder mechanical wear per one hour of DV captured on PC.
I assumed that "pulsed" operation is x2 worse than plain recording/playback.
Finally, you have 2 hours per hour for analog captures, and 11 hours per hour for optical shooting.
So, making one hour of digitized analog tape is equivalent to 15 minutes shooting/capturing video in terms of mechanics wear.
You see that common 1-to-1 explanation of wear simply does not work.
Note, all these explanations were given for DV camcorder, I did not mentioned what kind of DV was in use. It is because Raptor cannot distinguish between mini-dv and D8 - both work equally.
Hope this is an answer about "mini-DV supremacy" in batch and other time code related operations.
Chris,
Your assumption that only the cost prevents many of us from using Canon XL1 or similar camcorder is reasonable. However, the weight/dimentsions and other circumstances are also important. To use camcorder in summer vacation trip, it MUST have reasonable weight and size for this particular task. I agree that mini-dv is better suitable for travelling, but the cost and availability of tapes makes it less convenient than D8.
We have to take into account safety too. Not all countries are safe if you travel with very expensive camcorder. This is true all over Europe.
The possibility to find your rented car with broken window and stolen camcorder becomes higher with Canon XL1, because it is more difficult to hide it well. Hiding large size camcorder in a car may also damage it easily. Carrying it always with yourself can be too difficult.
Reasonable price/size/quality camcorder, such as small 1CCD mini-dv or D8, is better suited for me.
So, we always have to choose appropriate device, taking into account all these considerations.
Grigory
I noticed a wide choice of smiles, very helpful
Jerry, I think that any review of 6 months old is actually not precise in our fast changing life.
What actually is possible, is to see the timecode on DV Raptor screen. You can use this timecode, transferred by firewire, to do batch captures.
Date code is used to make indexing. It is also transferred by firewire.
In DV RAPTOR, run Raptor Navi, insert tape, and select automatic indexing. Choose normal speed. After 1 hour you'll get all your tape indexed by clips recorded between start/stop button pushes (date code value jump is used for this).
Then, save index file and import it into Raptor video application in batch capture mode.
Push Capture and you will get all these clips captured in separate files. The accuracy is one frame. It takes some time, because positioning of tape is done relatively slow.
However, finally you get all clips on hard drive. Of course, you can edit the batch list to skip some files or modify their duration. Everything is done based on timecode and datecode recorded on tape while you shot video.
There is a problem here - the timecode must be continuous. The empty tape does not contain timecode. If you make empty piece on tape between clips, the timecode starts from zero. I am not sure what happens in this situation with batch capture. Probably, you have to take care about it manually.
It is possible in principle to make tapes with pre-recorded timecode from beginning to the end. In that case the timecode is not modified later. Actually I can do this in my typical shooting from beginning to the end of tape without any fast forward or backward moves.
Returning to tape lifetime and the suggestion to use D8 as analog capture card.
My typical shooting contains about 100 clips per 65 min (actual tape duration) tape. When I do batch capture and indexing, the tape is used multiple times in all possible transportation modes. So, single batch capture procedure is probably equivalent to 4-5 hours of plain recording/playback in terms of mechanics wear.
Add here at least two (three is more realistic) hours of start/stop shooting, switching camcorder ON/OFF, loading tape, unloading tape inside camcorder, ... and multiply by two.
Finally, you have up to 5 + 6 =11 hours camcorder mechanical wear per one hour of DV captured on PC.
I assumed that "pulsed" operation is x2 worse than plain recording/playback.
Finally, you have 2 hours per hour for analog captures, and 11 hours per hour for optical shooting.
So, making one hour of digitized analog tape is equivalent to 15 minutes shooting/capturing video in terms of mechanics wear.
You see that common 1-to-1 explanation of wear simply does not work.
Note, all these explanations were given for DV camcorder, I did not mentioned what kind of DV was in use. It is because Raptor cannot distinguish between mini-dv and D8 - both work equally.
Hope this is an answer about "mini-DV supremacy" in batch and other time code related operations.
Chris,
Your assumption that only the cost prevents many of us from using Canon XL1 or similar camcorder is reasonable. However, the weight/dimentsions and other circumstances are also important. To use camcorder in summer vacation trip, it MUST have reasonable weight and size for this particular task. I agree that mini-dv is better suitable for travelling, but the cost and availability of tapes makes it less convenient than D8.
We have to take into account safety too. Not all countries are safe if you travel with very expensive camcorder. This is true all over Europe.
The possibility to find your rented car with broken window and stolen camcorder becomes higher with Canon XL1, because it is more difficult to hide it well. Hiding large size camcorder in a car may also damage it easily. Carrying it always with yourself can be too difficult.
Reasonable price/size/quality camcorder, such as small 1CCD mini-dv or D8, is better suited for me.
So, we always have to choose appropriate device, taking into account all these considerations.
Grigory
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