Figure 14-45.—Videotape formats.
Keep in mind that secondary movements must have
a valid purpose. Do not make them arbitrarily.
Tertiary Movement
Tertiary movement results from a sequence of shots
from two or more cameras. When two or more cameras
are used the director can select from a variety of
pictures to determine what picture will be telecast and
at what time. When more than one camera is used, the
director can easily emphasize, de-emphasize or show
action and reaction in rapid or slow succession.
VIDEOTAPE EDITING
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Recognize the
fundamental procedures of editing videotape.
When videotape technology was in its infancy, there
was only one way to eliminate unwanted shots —
physically cut the tape and splice it back together. This
method produced edits that were crude at best, because
videotape recording is strictly an electronic process.
Today, the complicated process of cutting and
splicing videotape is all but a forgotten art. Now you can
edit videotape quickly and cleanly through the use of
videotape editing systems.
VIDEOTAPE FORMATS
Before we examine the actual videotape editing
process, it is important for you to understand that
videotape comes in several different formats. Currently,
there are a number of videotape formats used in the
broadcast industry, including 3/4-inch U-Matic,
l/2-inch VHS, l/2-inch Beta and 8mm, also called Hi8
(fig. 14-45).
There are different schools of thought as to which
formats are broadcast quality and which are not, but it
is universally accepted that the 3/4-inch U-Matic and
l/2-inch Beta are industry standard. These formats are
the ones most commonly used at NBS detachments.
Keep in mind that VHS tapes cannot be played on
Beta videotape machines, and vice versa (even though
they both contain l/2-inch videotape). Likewise,
3/4-inch U-Matic tapes can only be played on 3/4-inch
U-Matic machines and Hi8 tapes are compatible only
with Hi8 tape decks.
VIDEOTAPE TRACKS
The electronic information found on a videotape is
on the following four tracks:
l Video
l Audio
l Control
l Time code address
Video Track
The video track takes up about three-quarters of the
space on a videotape. It is recorded as a series of
diagonal lines by one or two rapidly spinning tape heads
on the head drum of the VCR.
14-35
