Tutorial – Striping a Digibeta

Before laying back to Digibeta you would generally need to stripe the tape first.

If you are using new stock then you need to first make it ready for use, this involves assigning timecode to it. UK television programme deliverables start at 10:00:00:00 but it is preceded by calibration bars and tone (B&T) and a clock detailing the programme, episode name/number and programme number. B&T generally start at 09:58:00:00 if you are using legacy. New mode timecode starts at 09:59:30:00 with the clock starting at 09:59:50:00

To cover all eventualities It is advisable to strip your tape from 09:57:30:00.

To do so on the Sony Digital Betacam DVW A500 deck:

Set the TC Generator to INT & PRESET (see pic 1)

Next you will need to patch the deck to view through the monitor so you can spool through the Decks menus:

You need to patch the decks super output to your monitor so you can view your options. Set your monitor to accept the decks output.

Press the Menu button and use the wheel to jog through options, then you need to set the menu option as follows:

710 set to Black Burst (BB)

808 set to Silence.

To choose these options you hold the jog button and select the correct option with the wheel. Release jog button to select.

Press menu again to exit.

To set Timecode:

* Press the hold button and hold the jog button while choosing the time with the wheel, release jog button and turn the wheel to move between the times. Hold and spin wheel again to select time. Press set to set the timecode.

Next you need to set the video and audio tracks that you want to assign black burst and silence to:

To do so hold down SIF on Audio CH1 to light up all the channels. Next hold the Video Input Select SIF to select all video tracks (Pic 2).

Underneath the deck panel set the TC Generator:

TC                              REC RUN                                                                   Auto

When this is set up and the Digibeta is fully rewound (rec inhibit is not pressed in) you can now press play and record together.

ERROR LOGGER

*After striping a tape it is advisable to check the error logger for any channel condition errors.

To see the error logger whilst viewing through the monitor hold Entry and press Menu, this will bring up the list of errors.

Pic 3

If there is something your unsure about note the timecode and the error and speak to someone in the know. Once you are happy with everything press the reset button and menu again to exit error log.

Thanks and all the best