Duplication Quality
 

I have some plays, mastered on to mini-DV. Because Mini DV cannot record 2 hours on one tape (yes, I do occasionally use 80 min -shudder-) I usually record Act 1 and Act 2 seperately. This, of course, makes duping onto VHS a hassle due to the need to switch tapes.

I have the JVC Dv/SVHS deck in my NLE system. Would I lose a lot of quality if I either Mastered to the SVHS side or dubbed a 2 hour SVHS Master from the Dv tapes? I could then use the SVHS as the dub master.

What is the collective opinion?

Mike,

Why don't you just pull the two acts into your NLE and make a simple project, then use it to output to VHS?

You can also burn the project to DVD at the best rate, then use the output of a DVD player to dub to the JVC deck via the s-video inputs.

BTW, I have successfully used the 80 min tapes in LP mode to stretch 120 minutes out of the tape with no problems.

I'm not sure of the quality of your specific deck, but I would say comparably, mastering with consumer gear will look crap compared to DV. Stay digital as long as you can and as Ralph suggested, render out your project and then just print to tape.

Aaron

Ralph & Aaron - thanks for the replys. Maybe I wasn't clear on the problem... I record on DV, I do bring them into the NLE and fine tune, add credits etc and then output to DV for the master. But since I need about 2 hours, I still have to output to 2 DV tapes. I can output directly from the NLE to SVHS also.

The problem comes in making multiple VHS dupes (often 100+) I could use an 80 min DV in LP mode, but the DV deck in the duplication rack I have access to does not support LP!

I was wondering about the quality loss in making a dupe master in SVHS then using that to make the VHS dupes.

OK Mike,
Now I'm with you.

Let me toss out an alternative....

I've seen the market switch from mostly VHS to almost exclusively DVD copies. Maybe you should consider shifting to DVD's instead of VHS copies and make the occasional VHS copy from a DVD master. Not the best VHS approach, I agree, but not totally unreasonable quality.

I've used a DVD duplication source who will take a DVD I authored, duplicate it on a printable disc, print the artwork on the disc, put it in a case (for example a simple CD jewel box), and send it back for $3.25 including the shipping. (quantity 50) I overnighted the original to him and received the order exactly 7 days later.

I distributed 50 copies and have had not had a report of incompatibility. If you are interested, the address is jason@jcmediaservices.com

Hi Mike, that's what I thought you meant. Why can't you then just print to tape from NLE to VHS? DO you actually mean you want to take the tapes you make (2xDV or 1 SVHS) to a dupe house and get them to do it?

I wouldn't go SVHS unless you can make super clear copies. My experiences with it are that it's just crap. Now people have looked at my output still and said that's reasonably good - relatively speaking - but to me it's unacceptable.

Aaron