On 16 Mar 2002 00:26:55 GMT, kstevie@aol.com (KStevie) wrote:

>I hope this isn't too simplistic a question but I am new at this and looking
>for the features that I would require in a camcorder and or editing software.
>Issue I am looking at now: Stopping and restarting the recording. If I stop
>and restart the camcorder will there be any "dead" spots on the video or ANY
>telltale signs that the camcorder was stopped and restarted when viewing on a
>VCR, even if played back in slow motion or frame by frame play? Would I need
>to edit video to get rid of any indication that I stopped and restarted? Or
>could I get one with a rewind to go back a short amount of time and then start
>to record again?

Assuming we are talking about DV-camcorders, simple stopping
and starting produces no breaks, with two exceptions: if
the heads are getting dirty, I have seen one or two frames
with some bits of black and the two scenes in the frame(s);
with some of my camcorders, it is hard to start/stop the
camera without hearing on tape the operation of the
start/stop button. The DV camcorders I'm familiar with
permit moving the tape forward and backward, even to the
single frame level - but this is unnecessary (even with
the auto-rewind-to-check-clip-end feature used) unless
you manually move the tape and introduce a time-code and
visual break, which is black...