To stripe or not to stipe...
 

I'm hoping to get some feedback on the issue of timecode striping. I have read on several posts that many people say striping is unnecessary with DV/HDV, but in my experience capturing to Avid Xpress from an unstriped tape is a major pain because of timecode resets. Thus, I've always striped my tape (in a Panny deck for use with GL1).

But now, I have this new XH A1 and a Sony HDV deck and don't want to put any unnecessary wear on either of them. Can anyone suggest an alternative to striping that won't leave me with timecode resets on the tape? Will FF/REW new tapes do the trick?

Stu

Hi Stu. I never stripe my tapes. Apart from the wear and tear, it is a huge waste of time.

To avoid timecode breaks you can use the End Search function, provided the tape has not been removed from the camera.

If you have the (good) habit of removing the tape or of changing tapes, it is a good idea to record a few seconds of black (lens cap) at the end of the last shot, before you remove the tape from the cam. Then you just need to find this black section which has timecode recorded, and restart from there. Basically it is similar to striping, but much more selective.

Richard

i dont stripe unless im reusing an old tape for some such dodgy project which doesnt warrant a new tape...
however..

with new tapes, i ALWAYS wind the tape fwd and then back to start simply to allow the tape spool to be tensioned according to whatever camera im using.
Im yet to have a dropout by doing this, and i used to do it all teh time with the Z1

I still do it for the DVX but i use a camcorder as the DVX only has one usage meter and it calculates even if all your doing is winding
There should be two, one for tape head and one for the tape transport, but there is onlyu one on the dvx..

which brings the question.. what does the A1 have?

I never stripe my tapes, and this has become a big debate on other boards and in other situations (mainly the classroom). If the camera you are using doesn't have an End Search function, and the people using the tapes are going to forget to check for timecode breaks, then stripe the tape. If the camera has an End Search, or the operator is trained well enough to avoid TC breaks on his/her own, then don't do it. I look at striping a tape as recording on a used tape. It's only black, but I still want a fresh tape in the camera. It also puts extra wear on the heads of the camcorder you are striping it with, and takes a lot longer.

This has been discussed many times on this board. While there is not TRUE consensice, most no longer do it. There are two main reason that I see.

1. It adds wear and tear to the camera and to the tape itself. For all of those who say to use a tape only once and not reuse it, well you just did reuse it if you stripe.

2. Because of tape stretch and temperature changes, the time code you lay down will most likely not match up anyway. I did a test about a year ago and found that it did indeed drift. It is not much, but why bother to do it if it does.

Hope that this helps---Mike

When I've experienced timecode breaks or dropouts, it's usually in the first minute or so of the tape. I will usually record about a minute of color bars or lens cap at the start of the tape (if I have time).

I, too, put color bars on my tape. I have found with NLEs (or maybe the deck) that it needs about 5 seconds pre-roll to start capturing. I record 10 - 15 seconds of color bars, then back up a few seconds and start recording. For a recent multicam shoot I did, I put color bars with the camera, production, and date for 10 seconds at the start of each tape.