Cutting my teeth with U-matic


Ryan Schweitzer

E-mail: geeklabs*hotmail.com

Machines: JVC CR-6060U, JVC CR-850U, Minolta Hi8 camcorder, Toshiba consumer VHS VCR

Hi,

I first learned to edit videotape using a pair of Sony VO5850's with an RM-440 edit controller at the local public cable access station here in Bismarck, ND, USA, back around 1991.

And my first VCR I ever had was an old circa-1978 JVC CR-6060U in 1993 that they let me loan from the junior high school I was going to, that was not getting any use (it was '93, and VHS had obviously taken over, they had this deck for about 15 years before). I didn't get a VHS deck until 2 years later for Xmas from my parents! :)

That deck went south long ago, but I managed to get a hold of another CR-6060U, which was given to me by a friend of mine. I still have it, as well as a CR-850U, which I'm borrowing from work for some old 3/4" u-matic tapes I've gathered over time to digitize & edit on my non-linear Premiere-based video editing PC (actually a dual-CPU Compaq ProLiant server w/ a built-in RAID array, with a Truevision Bravado capture card) I'm currently working on. I also have a Minolta Hi8 camcorder and an plain-jane consumer Toshiba VHS deck for editing/production purposes as well...

Submitted Wednesday, February 5, 2003 at 02:02:45