DV Info Net - Demo tape hell

Sharing a tale and a lesson.

I'm up for a post-production gig for a well-known science fiction show. It was an unexpected opportunity and frankly I had issues finding the portfolio material because I hadn't expected it and hadn't been thinking about getting back into post-production. But the opportunity was a good one so I decided to dig deep into my archives for applicable work.

The trouble was, my latest work was from several years ago. It was a science fiction movie for which I did a number of shots (3D modelling, animation).

I only had two days to cobble it together. My best source was a Beta tape and my other source was the entire feature on VHS. I couldn't find the actual movie in any store in Vancouver (it wasn't good) and it was too late to order it on Amazon.

If I had thought it through, I would have paid a tape house to convert my Beta source to VHS / DVD. But instead I went to my VHS. I slotted it into my roomie's VCR which was doing duty as a cable converter. Bad move. The VCR began to EAT MY TAPE. I quickly cut power, got out the screwdriver, tore it apart and carefully extricated the VHS.

I called my parents to use their VCR and drove over. They neglected to tell me that it wasn't hooked up and hadn't been used in ages as well. I hooked it up, powered it up, and found that it had had a tape sitting in it for maybe two years. The VCR had been digesting that tape and was hungry for more.

By this time I was even wondering if my VHS might just die no matter what VCR I found. I called a friend who lived nearby and he said, yeah, he had a VCR in his kids room for Disney tapes.

There was a happy ending. His VCR was working, didn't eat my tape, my tape worked and I was able to mark down the time code of the shots I did. The person who would be reviewing it was okay with fast fowarding through the tape to the parts I did (even though of course an edited reel would have been more professional).

What is the lesson? VHS tapes and VCRs are crap, get old and die.