Tape speed

S

Stevebol

New member
It's been quite a while since I've had a 4 track cassette recorder so I'll be bugging you guys with newbie question for a few weeks.Is there a way to sync(record at the same time) a cassette recorder and a camcorder? I'm guessing not,so How much can I expect them to be off? I'd like to record with the camcorder and the cassette at the same time and substitute the camcorder audio with the tape audio in the computer.I'm not sure how to get the audio into the comp but I'll try an RCA-1/8" jack first,before messing with my laptop audio interface.Anybody tried this?

Thanks,
Steve
 
It seems I'll have to experiment with this.It's no big deal.I was wondering about quality blank cassettes.I haven't been able to find any brand except Maxell hi-bias typeII 60 minute that is suitable for a 4 track. Unless someone knows of another brand I guess I'll go with that.From what I remember back in my Porta 1 days the Sony tapes sounded great but they no longer make a tape geared for a 4 track.
 
Synch will rarely stay anywhere near correct when you are rolling both recorders "wild" (without sync.)
I work in broadcast TV, and even the 'big dogs' we use need timecode at all times or else it's off to the races and goodbye lipsync.

Theoretically, you would need a black box to interface the two. The camcorder would send out its composite video signal (which I am guessing is the only output available on your 'corder) and the box would have to make a reference signal for the 4-track, based on the video signal. That reference would then be recorded on one of the 4 tracks of the PortaStudio.

I can't say I have ever heard of such an interface for home video camcorders, but maybe with the new firewire plugs and such, somebody could cobble something together that could lock the two machines, in the absence of conventional timecode control.

Not a lot of help, I know, but just so you have an idea.
Be prepared for a lot of tweaking in the PC to keep the tracks aligned with the video.

Good Luck,
C.
 
I'll figure a way to make it at least appear synced.I want to do songs for Youtube and I'm using Vegas Movie Studio for editing.If I'm off say,by 3 seconds for a 4 minute song I can possibly cut to another scene a few times to compensate,and delete or add to the original video file.It will probably come off as cheezy but I just want it to sound good and it is just Youtube.

Thanks for your help.Much appreciated.
 
If I'm off say,by 3 seconds for a 4 minute song
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I tried doing more-or-less what you're talking about as a poor teenager in the 1970's for mickey-mouse multitracking, and, since the sync playback was done soon after the recording and served its purpose before any of the conditions changed (including room temperature), it was off by only a small fraction of a second after 3-4 minutes.
 
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