"Responsiveness" of DV decks vs. cameras
 

Hi all,

(Hopefully I've picked the right forum for this topic... let me know if I should be posting it somewhere else.)

I have never used a DV deck before. At work, we capture our footage over Firewire from our cameras (Canon XL1 & XL2).

Understandably, given that these are cameras and not decks, scanning through the tapes using the forward and rewind functions is not super-smooth... i.e, it takes a few seconds for the camera to catch up if I have pressed a button for it to stop, pause, change direction, etc. This is also true when controlling the cameras over Firewire (on Mac G5's with FCPHD). Moving frame-by-frame using the arrow keys (or, I presume, a keyboard with integrated jog dial) is too slow to bother with. For these reasons, plus the fact that I do not want to torture the camera heads, I generally do not log and capture, but instead capture long segments or whole tapes at a time.

I have used older high-end Betacam SP (BVW-75P, BVW-65P) decks on a couple of occasions. The precision and responsiveness of the controls, particularly when using the jog/shuttle dial, is quite amazing compared to the DV cameras I have used.

With this in mind, I have a couple of questions...

(1) How are DV decks in terms of control precision/responsiveness? Are they more like the cameras I have described above, or more like the Beta SP decks? Or does this vary depending on the price of the deck?

(2) Does the precision/responsiveness vary depending on whether Firewire, RS-422 or the deck's physical controls are used?

Thanks,

-Bon

Bon,

I got to try my hand at the controls of a friend's Sony deck and I can tell you it was the first thing I noticed. Direction change of the tape is almost as fast as you can press the button or turn the jog dial. I guess that's part of why they cost so much.

-gb-

Cheers Greg,

Can you remember whether this was a low-end or high-end model?

Some of the low-end Sony, Panasonic and JVC models seem quite affordable. Combine this with other perks, such as the ability to use full-size tapes, the reduced wear on camera heads, the possibly more reliable timecode (I am a bit suspicious of the XL1 in this regard, although that's a topic for another thread), and the convenience of not having to set the camera up on the desk all the time, and I think that a deck (or two) could be well worth having.

I'd be curious to hear how Sony's new HDV deck is in terms of responsiveness, given the MPEG-2 format. I might try Googling for some JVC HDV deck reviews...

-Bon

This was a Sony DSR-25 and yes, it can work with full size DVCAM tapes. It also has a small LCD for viewing the footage without being connected to a computer. I think he told me it cost around $2500USD but I can't remember if that was used or new.

-gb-

I usually replay my DV tapes with a VCR, to avoid extra wear on my camcorder drives. Also, it's extra bother to hook-up a camcorder for power and A/V connections on my editing desk. My VCRs are semi-permanently connected to other VCRs or into a computer.

However, the lack of control and precision you experience with playback in a camcorder, when you use its own operating buttons, can be avoided. Most camcorders will give better playback, especially regarding frame-by-frame action, by using a good external editing control system. This could be from a stand-alone edit-controler with a wired control protocol or a FireWire
connection. Even IR remote controlers with full functions, will make a camcorder give improved playback. Of course, when using FireWire with a computer, a video capture program should be able to precisely run a digital camcorder's playback. The control messages are sent on the 2-way FireWire connection. All the camcorders I've used had full playback capabilities built into them, but it took the right external control system to work them properly.

The response of the decks does vary with the price and controll connections. I use a DSR11 with firewire and it's good. Not as good as a Beta deck controlled with Rs-422, but not as sloppy as a camera. The DSR25 is a little better.

I'm told response can vary on deck by NLE brand as well. I cut on Avid, and people complain about the JVC decks. Others say the decks run great on Adobe... so go figure.