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A Content Insurance Policy

Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Barry Braverman

Skimping on tape media can cost you more in the long run.

Doesn't it just kill you, those folks who've just spent thousands of dollars on a camera or deck and then insist on buying the cheapest tape media they can find? C'mon, fellow shooters, let's get with the program. A lot is riding, literally and figuratively, on that critical point in your camera where the cobalt meets the road.

In an era of ever-more powerful processors capable of billions of calculations per second, dragging grains of evaporated cobalt across an electromagnet may seem rather crude, but for shooters earning their living every day in this business, the (seemingly) unsophisticated process underlies our professional existence.

The capture and reproduction of a signal from videotape is a process fraught with peril. A lot can go wrong. Dew or condensation can form under humid conditions and instantly shut your camera down. Dust and debris can migrate from the tape's outer edges to the recording surface and impair head contact. When digits get dropped or signals go astray, you suffer. In the worst-case scenario, it can sink a shoot — or torpedo your career.

Moving Toward a Tapeless World

Indeed, this has been the industry trend. Videotape is slowly giving ground to alternative disc- and flash-based media. While a tapeless world may ultimately be a positive thing for shooters, the fact remains that videotape is still the name of the game for most of us. Even if you're shooting today on Sony's blue-laser discs or Panasonic's DVCPRO P2 media, odds are you are still laying off to videotape at some point in your workflow, at least for the time being.

Surveying the DV landscape, we can see that the need for top-quality tape media is more important than ever. If you're jumping on (or about to jump on) the HDV bandwagon, the increased resolution and high compression needed to record the 720p/1080i format means that shooters must have an unprecedented level of confidence in their tape stock. It would be nice to forget once and for all about tape guides, transport rollers, and pressure pads, but practically speaking, we are simply not there yet.

DV shooters face considerable confusion when selecting appropriate tape media. First, there is the dubious consumer ilk you can pick up for two and a quarter at your local Walgreen's. You know you shouldn't be using this stuff for anything serious, but you swear you can't tell the difference, so why not scrimp? Hey, a few bucks saved on tape stock could help pay for a cheap night out.

Then there is designated professional line of tape media. This is the next level up from the consumer grade, and it has served the industry (and myself) well over the last several years. Sony's DVCAM stock is a particular favorite of mine, and it conveniently comes in a mini-size cassette for use with consumer-format DV cameras like the Canon XL2 and Panasonic AG-DVX100.

In March, Maxell expanded its DVCPRO product line with the introduction of a DVCPRO-HD videocassette. The company cites improved “magnetic intensity” of the HD tape’s recording layer via the adoption of Ceramic Armor Metal particles, paired with a more durable binder system. The changes are designed to deliver better reliability when shooting in extreme environments.

The New Kid on the Block

Now DV shooters have yet another choice: a top-grade, master-quality tape. Given the increased cost — about 50 percent more than its professional line and more than five times more than the lowest grade — does master-quality tape offer any advantage to the DV and HDV shooter? Most of us are probably content already with our choice of videotape, especially the better pro-level stocks from Sony, Panasonic, Maxell, and others. In general, we swear by them, rather than at them. An additional investment in higher-grade tape media would therefore appear to be unnecessary. Or is it?

Of course, most of us recognize the folly of shooting on inferior stock. Random dropouts are a real and constant threat because cheap media is invariably poorly slit, leading to an accumulation of edge debris that can occasionally migrate onto the tape surface. Then, particles of dirt can lift a camera's record head from the recording medium, leading to loss of data.

Compared to consumer media, the slitting of master stock is considerably more precise and thus greatly reduces the risk of dropouts. Sony states that its DigitalMaster tape reduces the number of dropouts by 60 percent or more. This has to help paranoid small-format shooters like me feel more secure, especially as I look ahead to the more stringent HDV data requirements. In the coming few years, one thing will be sure: We'll be working our 6mm tape media mighty hard.

With respect to avoiding dropouts, shooters can help reduce the risk substantially by exercising proper handling and storage of the media. Shooting in less than pristine manufacturing plants, for example, or on a beach amid blowing sand and grit, is especially conducive to dropouts, because contaminants can penetrate the camera or tape storage box tossed carelessly into the bottom of a knapsack, the ambient dirt ultimately creeping into the tape cassette itself.

In the digital stocks, Sony recognizes the importance of proper tape protection: The media's rugged storage box is largely impervious to environmental contamination and moisture. Compare it to the floppy plastic jewel box that usually accompanies consumer-grade tapes. The latter is fragile and offers scant protection against the elements.

Indeed, dust and other contaminants penetrating the cassette body is a significant cause of tape deterioration over time, the level of contamination being largely a function of the conditions under which the cassette was originally handled and subsequently stored. The relatively short shelf life of consumer DV media should be of interest to every shooter, because many producers routinely delete the capture files from their hard drives upon completion of a project, relying thereafter on the original camera tapes for archiving and backup protection for the project. If you shoot under extreme conditions, the use of master-quality tape can provide maximum long-term protection against dropouts caused by invasive moisture and environmental contamination.

No Hits, No Errors

When it comes to evaluating the quality of tape media, the standard should be, “No dropouts, no errors.” Many shooters are confused over the difference, so let's set the recording straight. A dropout, as we've said, is the loss of data caused by the lifting of the tape off the record/play head, usually as a result of physical debris. A bitstream error may have multiple causes, including worn record heads and excessive tape noise that can obscure a signal. Whatever the reason, shooters should know that while some video bit errors are correctible, errors in the audiostream tend not to be, leading to the potential loss of a scene containing critical dialogue.

Sony's DigitalMaster tape utilizes Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) technology. The process entails greater expense in manufacturing than the metal particle approach, but the higher density cobalt coatings are critical for reliable DV, DVCAM, and HDV recordings.

Technically, the new DigitalMaster media utilizes a high-density, dual-magnetic layer that increases signal output while reducing noise. (This more accurately increases carrier-to-noise ratio in digital terms.) DigitalMaster's low noise floor should be a critical consideration to every DV and HDV shooter looking to extract maximum signal integrity from the recording medium.

The HDV Advantage

As shooters move increasingly to HDV, we must recognize the peril in the deluge of bits. The inferior base material found in consumer stocks often leads to increased shrinkage and greatly reduced shelf life. An indication of shrinkage is the appearance of blocks on screen during playback; in this case, normal tracking may be impaired. We can reduce or eliminate these read errors by simply using the higher-grade media in the first place.

There's another benefit to using top-quality tape in our productions. As shooters of long-form weddings, award ceremonies, and concerts, many of us run hundreds or thousands of cassettes through our cameras every year. Given this level of use and the advent of even higher bit-density HDV gear, worn camera heads will become an increasingly significant and potentially expensive problem for shooters. Master media, owing to its higher output and lower noise floor, can often soldier on and still reproduce a satisfactory signal despite their worn condition — months, or perhaps even years, after the heads in your camera are ready to give up the ghost.

At this month’s NAB, Panasonic debuts Advanced Master Quality (AMQ) tape, a new line of pro DV media said to be more durable and reliable due to a new surface treatment. The technology involves laying down a thicker, “diamond-like” magnetic coating that’s tougher than earlier versions. The change also improves the interaction with the tape’s dry lubricant to guard against head clogging.

Spending More Saves Money

This seems like an oxymoron but your investment in better quality media may save you money in the long run. As we all know, it's common practice for shooters not to reuse consumer tape due to this type of media's thinner coatings, relative vulnerability to dirt, and substantially less robust overall construction.

Master media gives shooters the practical option (within reason) of recording safely and confidently over previously recorded tapes. While you may not wish to take advantage of this economy, some shooters may benefit from the versatility of being able to record over bad takes. ENG shooters, in particular, may not want to submit every bad camera move and miscue to their station managers, seeing as some of the worst gaffes may find their way onto the air or Christmas reel.

Still, the greatest economy one can realize from using top media is the piece of mind such stock can provide. Many shooters swear they can see no difference among the various brands and grades of tape. They argue that modern media from whatever manufacturer is so good that subtle differences in particle density or quality control is negligible. They'll even mix and match tape from multiple manufacturers — a clear no-no, because the lubricants from one stock brand can interact negatively with competing brands, causing corrosion of record heads and a mass of serious dropouts.

In the end, using the best media you can find is one of the best insurance policies you can buy. As a pro shooter of DV and especially of HDV, the extra few dollars you invest in each cassette today will keep you from spending many more dollars tomorrow rescuing damaged or deteriorated footage — or being treated in a doctor's office for severe depression.

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Barry Braverman is a former National Geographic cameraman with more than 20 years of experience shooting in the nonfiction genre.

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