Videotape Auto-Assemble demo

This shows an Editware VPE-151 computer auto-assemble of a TV commercial. The purpose was to demonstrate even if the digital machines cost 30% more to use, the final charge wold be less due to the speed of the VCRs. Sometimes a higher rate ends up actually costing less. The D-2 VCRs are Ampex VPR-300 and the analog VTRs are Ampex VPR-80s. Audio was laid down to the master and video-only edits were made. The B-roll was a straight dub of the A-roll.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• VPE-151
• Grass
• Valley
• commercial
• auto-assemble
• video
• D-2
• Ampex
• Sony
• linear
• editor
• television

[Audiovideopark]

Depends on use. Some news is shot on digital cards and edited on computers. Some movies are mastered to hard drives. Delivery at networks is still tape for most programs, usually cassettes, no longer reel to reel. Slo-mo payback for sports is almost always disk. Editing is now done on computers. Much faster than tape and much cheaper than a million dollar editing room.

[Audiovideopark]

Thanks for the kind words.

Each machine had the same video and is controlled by separate video editors that control the playback and record VTRs. The edit decision list (EDL) contains the location and duration of each scene in the spot based on timecode. That enables the editor to search to the scene and then roll the playback and recorder to make the edit. It then goes to the next scene or event. The audio was already recorded to the master. This is linear or On-line editing.

[RCAquadruplex]

Another great video and one of the most impressive things to watch that we did back in the "good old days" of tape editing.

This test would be fun to recreate.... this time using VPR-3s vs. the VPR-300s. I'm actually surprised that it wasn't more of a blowout, as the 80s were really sluggish, even compared to a VPR-6.

If I can get two more 300s up and running....hmmmm. I'm not sure who I would bet on in that race, but it would probably be very close!

[8inlinea]

thanks for the explanation!

are tape machine still in use, or nowadays almost everything is done with computers?

[8inlinea]

I barely know the machines you film in your videos, but I really appreciate that you keep memory of technologies that today are almost completely forgotten. Great work!

but can you please tell us something more about this video? I see that it's a comparison between an analogue and a digital machine, but I don't know if I understood correctly: the machine links the different takes stored in the reel, discarding those that weren't selected as good ones?