CompuServe Messages

Sorry Michael, I assumed too much. No you won't be putting the PAR in "assemble" mode, rather your VTR. This is a feature of professional decks as opposed to consumer grade, although some pro-sumer decks allow you to do this. A good example of a VTR which can do this is the EVO-9650 with which you can do "insert" and "assemble" edits. Here is a quick primer on the difference between the two. Most home brand VTR's do "assemble" edits, which is why you get a glitch when you start and stop recording. Newer decks have a feature called "flying erase" heads which allow you to roll back into previously recorded video and start recording with no picture break-up. But this is still an "assemble" edit. Some even hold a still image in memory from the last frame and allow you to continue the action from there. The difference basically between "assemble" and "insert" is that with "insert" you have a continuous control track and or time-code and that when you edit you're just inserting images in the video or audio portion of the tape. This does not break control track or time-code which are recorded on seperate channels. "Assemble" on the other hand is recording video, audio, control track and time-code if you've got it, all at the same time. With frame by frame you need to do "insert" edits which means that you have to have pre-stripped the tape with time-code. But because the PAR plays back in real-time, you can put your VTR in assemble mode, and even with a home deck that allows you to do audio only recording, you can lay down the animation in real time and go back and insert audio only, as the control track and or time code has already been laid. However it gets more complicated the more precise your start and stop time for audio needs to be.