Originally posted by PMartel:
We edit in timecode, in control-track and any other way that occurs to us and the darn machines continue to slip... Part of the problem stems from the camera changing timecode each time we hit record or whenever we change batteries or tapes while shooting.
I don't think that's
part of the problem. I'm guessing that's the
whole problem.
DVCPro requires unbroken timecode to edit smoothly. There is a menu setting in some of the cameras that allows you to choose whether the camcorder deck syncs up on the existing timecode on the tape (without having to hit the return button), or just starts recording from the last timecode it remembers. If you set it so that it syncs up, it takes a second or two longer to start recording, but you get unbroken timecode. If you set it so that it doesn't sync first, it starts recording almost immediately but leaves a timecode break that gives you editing headaches later.
I can't recall the actual name of the menu setting, but it was in the 700, 810, 910 and HD cameras that I have used. You will have to go through your manual to find it and change it. If I remember correctly it had an obscure name and location, so you'll need a little patience. Once you change it, however, you'll find editing a whole lot friendlier.
Originally posted by Jane Boulen:
Guess what... after a while they do slip in time code. Our DVC Pro shop is living proof. All of our machines are slipping in either mode.
I have had shooters swear to me on numerous occasions that their decks were slipping in timecode. Almost every time, they were unable to demonstrate the problem to me when I stood in the edit bay and watched them edit. Photographers are notorious for just assuming they know what the problem is and NOT taking the time to scientifically track it down. That's why engineers get so frustrated with us, because when we make a claim about something being wrong with our gear they can't be sure if it's
really the problem we tell them or just an unjustified assumption on our part. Like them, I can't believe it until I actually see it.
Furthermore, an engineer at one of my stations who was trained by Panasonic explained that it should be impossible for the deck to slip in timecode. When in timecode, the decks lock on to the specific timecode number that exists on the tape as the point at which they begin recording. If they can't sync up by the time they reach that point, they are designed not take the edit at all. That's the source of all that backing up and trying again.
The decks slip in CTL because the CTL numbers move in relation to the timecode. When you shuttle the tape in CTL, the deck keeps track of where you are by counting frames instead of actually referencing the timecode laid on the tape. Sometimes it loses count. If you zero the control track counter at a specific timecode and run the tape back and forth several times, you'll notice on many decks that the the zero point is no longer at the same timecode. That's the source of slipping in CTL, and some decks are worse than others.
Earlier I said that shooters were
almost never able to show me that it was slipping in timecode. There was one exception. We were using external controllers that had their own menus to control the decks. In the menu for the controller we found a "frame delay" option that had been set to delay the edit point by three frames. This had originally been done (and was necessary) when we were editing from DVCPro field tapes to MII archive tapes during our conversion to DVCPro. Once we went completely to DVCPro, the frame delay should have been changed.
The way we discovered this was through careful observation, and we found that the slip was exactly the same each time. Seems like a simple observation, right? Wrong. It took four months before someone realized the slip was consistent and then only after a concerted effort after hours to find the problem.
BTW, that frame delay setting is in the menus in some of the decks also, so it's just a matter of time before some bonehead changes it and screws everyone else.
Finally, these problems are not exclusive to DVCPro. SX also slips in CTL and gets confused in TCR if you have breaks or glitches in the timecode. It seems that often when I hear people complain about DVCPro's problems, their complaints actually stem from their own bias against the "inferior" Panasonic product and their own unwillingness to learn to think the way the gear thinks.
