Sony Umatic: Difference between revisions
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In May 1995 the 3 Umatic players referred to by number, simply VT1 to VT3 with the recently aquired (S)VHS machines unlabelled. | In May 1995 the 3 Umatic players referred to by number, simply VT1 to VT3 with the recently aquired (S)VHS machines unlabelled. | ||
By Autumn term 1996 the convention had changed, and VTA/VTB were the edit machines, with VTC the standalone Umatic machine. VTD was the [[JVC SVHS]] and VTE the VHS - a sort of cascade of likely picture quality from A to E. | By Autumn term 1996 the convention had changed, and VTA/VTB were the edit machines, with VTC the standalone Umatic machine. VTD was the [[JVC SVHS]] and VTE the VHS - a sort of cascade of likely picture quality from A to E. This lead to the aluminium switch box that selected between video from VTC and VTE going to the station being known as the VTC/E switch, a title that survives today despite the lack of a VTC or VTE in the station. | ||
When the Umatic edit machines were sold off following the introduction of digital editing the letters were not reassigned to avoid confusion to existing members (though no doubt confusion of new members) - so only VTC to VTE existed. | When the Umatic edit machines were sold off following the introduction of digital editing the letters were not reassigned to avoid confusion to existing members (though no doubt confusion of new members) - so only VTC to VTE existed. | ||
[[Image:19950529_goodricke-studio_emma-winter.jpg|thumb|160px|right|Letters or a numbers round]] | [[Image:19950529_goodricke-studio_emma-winter.jpg|thumb|160px|right|Letters or a numbers round]] | ||
Later the completion of the [[JVC SVHS]] edit suite prompted a reshuffle, so VTA/VTB became the edit machines again, VTC stayed at the lone Umatic, VTD was missing, and VTE was the VHS still. | Later the completion of the [[JVC SVHS]] edit suite prompted a reshuffle, so VTA/VTB became the edit machines again, VTC stayed at the lone Umatic, VTD was missing, and VTE was the VHS still. | ||
Revision as of 15:13, 10 June 2007
The Umatic edit suite comprised an edit player and recorder, controlled by the edit controller (Sony RM440).
At the time, a second stand alone player/recorder was available but largely unused, other than being used to rewind tapes since it was much faster at rewinding as it didn't need to read the timecode off the tape - reducing head wear.
A JVC SVHS machine and semi professional VHS player, with a dodgy play button, completed the edit areas in the station.
Names and numbers
In May 1995 the 3 Umatic players referred to by number, simply VT1 to VT3 with the recently aquired (S)VHS machines unlabelled.
By Autumn term 1996 the convention had changed, and VTA/VTB were the edit machines, with VTC the standalone Umatic machine. VTD was the JVC SVHS and VTE the VHS - a sort of cascade of likely picture quality from A to E. This lead to the aluminium switch box that selected between video from VTC and VTE going to the station being known as the VTC/E switch, a title that survives today despite the lack of a VTC or VTE in the station.
When the Umatic edit machines were sold off following the introduction of digital editing the letters were not reassigned to avoid confusion to existing members (though no doubt confusion of new members) - so only VTC to VTE existed.
Later the completion of the JVC SVHS edit suite prompted a reshuffle, so VTA/VTB became the edit machines again, VTC stayed at the lone Umatic, VTD was missing, and VTE was the VHS still.
A brief flirt with numbers was used when the mono VHS tape copying machines were purchased in 1999Unverified or incomplete information. An explosion of drama barn and other society recordings meant that many copies of tapes were required. As these were typically in SVHS format only one copy could be made at once: a tiresome process. Tape suite 1 to 3 (TS1-TS3) allowed up to 4 copies in total to be made simultaneously, and their precareous position earned them the nickname "The Stack" instead of "Tape Suite". This was lucrative business - a £1 blank tape could be turned into £5 or £10 of revenue in a couple of hours.
New heads
The age of a machine does not necessarily reflect its picture quality. Indeed the YSTV Archive contained a great many poor quality tapes, logged in Tapelog, which slowly rubbed off excess dirt onto the more frequently used players.
For the Umatic machines this normally lead to a complete loss of picture overnight rather than a gradual decline, and a simple wipe with cotton wool and Mr Muscle window cleaner restored the picture just in time for the evening's programming.
Finally in 1999 and 2000 some whole new heads were purchased, the VHS machine had slowly been losing tracking and £20 was spent on a new drum. Likewise the only remaining Umatic machine had taken a punishing, so £160 was spent on a new drum for this. The infrequent replacement of the heads meant it wasn't worth buying head alignment tools, and both machines were simply lined up by eye by spinning the drum by hand and looking for excentricity under a bright light.