Help with Video Distortion / Tracking?

[HowardE]

This is some recent footage I shot... About 10 seconds into this clip, there is some tracking / vertical distortion lines through the shot - RIGHT before the squid inks. This was my first time seeing this live, and i think it's pretty cool to have on video tape... Does anyone know if I can fix this? I tried playing it back through 2 different players... It's shot on MiniDV.

I know the footage looks distorted in general... that is because I reduced it to fit nicely on the board... I am sure that most of you (who are video people) already know this.

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/510/squid.wmv

Thanks

 

[diversteve]

This is some recent footage I shot... About 10 seconds into this clip, there is some tracking / vertical distortion lines through the shot - RIGHT before the squid inks. This was my first time seeing this live, and i think it's pretty cool to have on video tape... Does anyone know if I can fix this? I tried playing it back through 2 different players... It's shot on MiniDV.

I know the footage looks distorted in general... that is because I reduced it to fit nicely on the board... I am sure that most of you (who are video people) already know this.

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/510/squid.wmv

Thanks

Maybe Autodesk(Terran) Cleaner could fix it, it has filters to remove dropouts/clipping and off-axis noise.

You can download/try it for free to see if it works before you buy it. However it watermarks your video so you'll have to buy it if it works. ($549)

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=5562182

 

[meekal]

My SONY PC100 has started doing that.... head cleaning helped get 'past' the distortion. clean head THEN recapture it.... i have sometimes had to try to head clean - recapture 4 or 5 times before i got a 'clean' capture. (yes, i've since sent the camera in for repair!)

or...

i had the same kind of thing happen to 13 hours of FIJI video last year.... almost broke my heart. it was like every couple of seconds....... but alas, I found this article

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/flash-removal-using-a-virtual-clip/

it's a royal pain-in-the-tuckus to do, but it DID work.... nobody that watched the video(s) noticed.

i can send you a DVD of the results (with a small 5 minute vignette showing some of the ORIGINAL [distorted] video. drop me a PM if you'd like

 

[MikeC]

BEFORE you clean heads remember head cleaners are usually rather abrasive and if it is an abrasive cleaner you are speeding up head failure.

If you can, try playing the master tape in another VTR. If it is on that, then it was recorded that way. If it is "clean" in another playback unit, try recapturing it before cleaning heads. Sometimes tape machines do not function perfectly 100% of the time even if they are in "perfect" condition.

BTW, how humid, in your home, was it when you captured the video originally? Yes, humidity can cause issues with the tape transport.

Head cleaning tapes are the devil's tools. They are usually very abrasive and if used incorrectly they will destroy the heads. I have cleaned numerous broadcast tape machines with alcohol and small pads called "Tech Wipes".

 

[HowardE]

BEFORE you clean heads remember head cleaners are usually rather abrasive and if it is an abrasive cleaner you are speeding up head failure.

If you can, try playing the master tape in another VTR. If it is on that, then it was recorded that way. If it is "clean" in another playback unit, try recapturing it before cleaning heads. Sometimes tape machines do not function perfectly 100% of the time even if they are in "perfect" condition.

I tried playing the tape in 2 different players...Personally I fear that it is on the original... However, the camcorder that I recorded it on is in Florida, and I am in Colorado right now. I have a different camera here, and that could be the culprit.

BTW, how humid, in your home, was it when you captured the video originally? Yes, humidity can cause issues with the tape transport.

My Colorado house has an avg rel. humidity of 20% (I have a hygrometer) so I don't think that is the cause.

Head cleaning tapes are the devil's tools. They are usually very abrasive and if used incorrectly they will destroy the heads. I have cleaned numerous broadcast tape machines with alcohol and small pads called "Tech Wipes".

I agree with you on this one...


Thanks for the input.

 

[meekal]

BEFORE you clean heads remember head cleaners are usually rather abrasive and if it is an abrasive cleaner you are speeding up head failure.

amen.... i knew it was bad, but i desparately wanted 'that' piece of footage....

 

[MikeC]

Howard, if you can get your hands on the camera that you used to shoot the video I recommend cleaning those heads, not with a cleaning tape, and then trying to play the video out of that machine. Sometimes a tape will only play correctly out of the machine it was recorded on.

Do you have any other video shot on your FL camera that you have played in CO?? If so, how did that other footage look?

Is the camera in FL new or have you had repair work done on it recently? New heads??

 

[HowardE]

Howard, if you can get your hands on the camera that you used to shoot the video I recommend cleaning those heads, not with a cleaning tape, and then trying to play the video out of that machine. Sometimes a tape will only play correctly out of the machine it was recorded on.

Do you have any other video shot on your FL camera that you have played in CO?? If so, how did that other footage look?

Is the camera in FL new or have you had repair work done on it recently? New heads??

Oddly enough, this little clip, is just about the only segment with the distortion. All of the rest of the footage from this trip (about 4 hours worth) is fine.

I do plan on trying the tape in the camera that I recorded it on... I'll be in FL in a little over a week now.

It seems to me that either it's going to play on the FL camera, or it's just ruined, and I'll have to get another squid to ink me.

 

[MikeC]

Howard, how old is the tape? Has it been used a lot? Is the bad footage say 5 minutes from the begining of the tape? Is the tape a "name" brand or off brand?

 

[simonspear]

Is the bad footage say 5 minutes from the begining of the tape?

This made me think. I had something similar happen right at the beginning of a tape (certainly within the first couple of mins) which ruined a shot of divers decending down a shot line. Now that's nowhere near as annoying as what happened to Howarde's footage but it still annoyed me enough to look what could have caused the problem. I found out that it could have been down to the tape slipping and that it is recommended to fully forward wind and then rewind a new tape before you use it to stop this happening. I've no idea if this is actually the problem, but it 'could' have caused the fault.