"Steve McDonald" <bigrocketman3@webtv.net> wrote in message

news:21814-3F741767-145@storefull-2113.public.lawson.webtv.net...

> If you negotiate with the agency that issued the shooting permit

> and explain that your tape came out faulty, they may allow you to

> reshoot that part of it without additional charge. It's worth a try.

> Another lesson is that in videomaking, no piece of equipment or

> recording medium is foolproof. No matter how careful you are, you can

> expect episodes like this to happen. Everyone who shoots video could

> tell you of a good many of their own such experiences. Every time I

> shoot something that has breaks in the action, several times I play back

> short bits, just to make sure that everything is working.

>

> As for this cassette, if you have no luck in getting it to play the

> recording properly, you might try shooting a few minutes of new material

> on it, to see if the tape is really faulty. There might have been some

> temporary malfunction in the camcorder about which you'd want to be

> aware. If so, it might happen again. Perhaps there was some problem in

> the tape transport that misaligned the tracking. If you've used this

> camera a lot, a professional check of all the components of the tape

> pathway and loading mechanism for wear, clogging with dirt and the need

> for lubrication would be a good idea.

>

> Steve McDonald

This is really good advice. I add only that for one-time critical

recordings, one can FireWire-connect a second cheap camcorder

to the main one and simultaneously record a second tape for

safety. This also has the advantage of providing a remote VF

that is sometimes handy...