JD Marlow Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Hi everyone, I have a large batch of old Betacam SP tapes that were used for jobs of the past. Now I no longer need them and they are cluttering up my office space. Anyone have an idea as to the best way of recycling them? I don't want to just chuck them in the garbage. -JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted May 13, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted May 13, 2008 I have a large batch of old Betacam SP tapes that were used for jobs of the past. Now I no longer need them and they are cluttering up my office space. Anyone have an idea as to the best way of recycling them? I don't want to just chuck them in the garbage. Hm, best give them away to some young video/filmmakers who are in need of tape stock? I mean, these are normally reusable after erasing them. Or some non-profit that does its own films... don't know which ones do that... Greenpeace? Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Marlow Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 Hm, best give them away to some young video/filmmakers who are in need of tape stock? I mean, these are normally reusable after erasing them. Or some non-profit that does its own films... don't know which ones do that... Greenpeace? Cheers, Dave Thanks Dave. If I were to erase the tapes -- what's the best way? Just Black them and record over the whole thing with a blank screen? How many times can a Beta SP tape be used effectively before real generation loss? -JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted May 13, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted May 13, 2008 If I were to erase the tapes -- what's the best way? Just Black them and record over the whole thing with a blank screen? How many times can a Beta SP tape be used effectively before real generation loss? I'll pass those on to the experts. But AFAIK recording black would be a good start. And a generation loss is what happens when you dupe analog material, so I guess you can't really speak of that here. Reusing the tapes two or three times shouldn't be much of a problem I guess. The stuff is pretty durable after all. I just wouldn't use them as camera tapes! :D Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie Bartlett Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 (edited) Depending on how many tapes youre talking about I'd be weary of recording black onto them. 1) It will be time consuming and dull... ... and 2) It will add valuable hours to your tape heads. Dont want that SP dying just yet! A few should be fine but i wouldnt want the job of blacking 100 or so. Is there client sensitive material on the tapes, and if not do they really need to be erased or could they just be passed on? As David said a college or community programme would benefit greatly from them... or the classifieds section of this site as long as someones willing to pay postage. Edited May 13, 2008 by Ollie Bartlett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member John Sprung Posted May 13, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted May 13, 2008 Sell them off to: www.mediadistributors.com They clean, degauss, inspect and re-sell tape stock. -- J.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted May 13, 2008 Premium Member Share Posted May 13, 2008 Depending on how many tapes youre talking about I'd be weary of recording black onto them. 1) It will be time consuming and dull... ... and 2) It will add valuable hours to your tape heads. Dont want that SP dying just yet! Yep, that would be the case. But thinking about this, any really strong magnet should do the trick. Just put your tape in close proximity and check whether the data is gone. I think that's the way the pro tape erasers do it as well. Just keep that magnet away from other sensitive stuff! Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Marlow Posted May 14, 2008 Author Share Posted May 14, 2008 Yep, that would be the case. But thinking about this, any really strong magnet should do the trick. Just put your tape in close proximity and check whether the data is gone. I think that's the way the pro tape erasers do it as well. Just keep that magnet away from other sensitive stuff! Cheers, Dave Thanks for all the responses guys. I'll have to think about what to actually do, considering the material on the tapes. The tapes are B-Roll from Car Manufacturers that I edit short online spots for. Since I no longer need the source footage I've just been building up piles of tapes that I no longer need. It would be nice to be able to sell them off...I'm not really sure who would benefit from having old car manufacturer B-Roll on Betacam SP tapes. -JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now