CompuServe Messages

"Do you do much editing with Hi8? Will it hold up during a normal edit session?? Or would I be wise to take a generation lose and move to SVHS for editing ??" Very good questions. Yes, I do a lot of editing with Hi8 and I'm as confident about it's durability as I am with SVHS for what I consider 'normal' editing. I put about the same amount of wear on my tapes as most pros would, though I may do it differently. Most pros rely on match-frame edits, which are start-stop intensive, but edit to a single SVHS or Hi8 master and make final copies from the master. I, however, have traded off match-frame edits for multiple edit sessions using my camcorder originals: I have the computer sync the 2 sources and keep them rolling for the length of the production (or the scene), which the computer triggering switcher transitions at certain timecode points. (I do mostly event videography, and corporate from time to time.) So the edit session is mostly like a playback, but I do not edit to a master… I edit directly to customer copies to preserve quality, so the customer gets a product with one less tape generation than the average editor provides. I believe that the single worst thing you can do to a video signal (besides shooting in low light) is to put that signal on a tape: Put the signal onto tape as few times as possible. I do one other thing which helps the tapes. I believe that tape damage is most often caused from excessive shuttling while trying to log/alter edit decisions (IOW, before even a single customer copy has been made). So instead, I copy my sources to a VHS "preview" tape, with one source nested as a smaller PIP image and the larger image displaying the camera's timecode readout (the tapes have to already be synced). Then I can shuttle the preview tape in any old VHS VCR to my hearts content and not have to worry about tape or deck wear. -Chris CNR Media Services