This article looks at the overwhelming positive reasons for a move to tapeless production - however, that would only be half the story. When it comes to tapeless, many people assume there is no downside. No technology is without a downside. This article will talk about both and aims to introduce some of the popular solutions available today. Keep in mind that tapeless is another word for what is known as Digital Asset Management or DAM. If you are on the fence about a move from tapes, this article is the perfect starting point.

Advantages of Tape Based Productions

Tapes have one big advantage that even today still shine through. Tapes are very durable. Some tape collections can be decades old and still work. CD and DVDs were originally believed to last forever. After a period of time, we began to see CD and DVDs degrade and stop working. They also required certain optimal storage conditions that were rarely met. The one crucial drawback with CD and DVD is simply the all or nothing factor. If a CD or DVD is old and is scratched or damaged in some way the data on there is lost, usually for good. A tape on the other hand can be damaged slightly or worse but the undamaged portion can still be played back.

Disadvantages of Tape Based Productions

Degradation - Tape degrades over time sometimes portions of the tape can be so badly degraded that the content is unrecoverable. Depending on how many copies you have this can become a serious issue.

Storage - Tapes take up a lot of space and will fill shelves quickly. Tape retrieval from this storage area can be a hassle. Depending upon how well the tapes were labeled it can take a long time to find something you know you have but do not know where it is. A constant updating of the library is essential.

Advantages of Tapeless Production

Stable recordings - If properly taken care of, digital media will not suffer from the same sometimes-bizarre jittery behavior that can often occur when using tapes. To be fair indeed, tapes can make a great way to record, and have for years. We have all had a tape that may have been brand new and for some reason or another midway through the tape may fail to record something. Of course, this is not brought to your attention until after the shoot when you go back and review the tape.

Reliability - Once recorded you can quickly make copies of what you shot on site. Often times once backed up elsewhere you can reuse the same cards and hard drives over and over again without loss of quality. Digital transfers do not degrade, no mater how many copies of the original are made.

File based recording - Using the file structure is new compared to the old thinking of dumping everything on a few tapes and spending hours going through and logging tapes. Files make indexing and retrieving a file easier. Naming of files is entirely personal and can be quickly changed.

On-site editing - Instead of having to wait till after the shoot to edit, you can easily take the files and begin editing them on a laptop using any number of available editing tools. Since editing is completely digital now anyway, you no longer have to wait to import anything you shot from a tape. Being able to edit on-site during a shoot means you can see if you will need to add something and redo the scene while you are still on-site instead of finding out later that you are missing a good cutaway or a shot does not work.

Cost Reduction - There are two major costs associated with Tapes. First, of course, is the cost of the tapes themselves. Tapes are expensive and you need to buy many of them because you never know how often you will need them. Since you can only really use a tape once for reliable video production that means you need a new tape every time you take your camera out on a shoot. This of course brings on the question of what do you do with all of those tapes that you have only used once. That is the second major cost associated with using tapes. Storage is indeed a cost incurred by anyone that needs to store tapes for future retrieval or use. It is not uncommon for major production facilities to have a large storage area only for the storing of their tape collection. Now you have another cost associated with tapes and that is the cost of logging and retrieving of content. Tape management can become an unruly and difficult job to say the least.

Media Management and Archiving

Three types of copies - When you deal with media management you really need to start thinking about what you shot in terms of three. Simply put there are three types you need to always be thinking about:

First is the Master Copy. The master copy is the one that should never be worked on or edited from. This one is your ultimate copy. I know what you're saying - there is probably a lot of stuff on your master that you do not need. While it is easy to say that now you never know exactly when you may need something from the original shoot that you no longer have because you deleted it. The master copy should be backed up to make the second copy and not touched again except for retrieval.

That brings us to the Backup Copy. The backup copy should be the one you go to when your working copy fails or you over-edited the working copy without backing that copy up. In any case, your backup copy is the one you will keep around during postproduction referring to it as needs arise. The backup copy is basically a copy of your master but that is kept on site to be worked on if the need arises.

The working Copy is the copy of the master or backup that is used for editing purposes. This is the one that can be touched up if need be. This is the last rough copy you have before the finished product. This copy can be worked on immediately after filming or better yet on-site during a shoot. You have little worry about over editing since you have a backup.

So you have all of this content indexed but what is the best way to manage it?