Hyundai Assembly 3 - Head Assembly & Specialty Tools

I have bad news. The big camera's playback heads bit the dust from extensive prolonged use. I wore out the tape drive. No manner of cleaning tapes can fix what it's been through. I've talked many times about how much footage goes into one of my 15 to 30 minute videos, and for every hour of video footage I've shot, the camera does double-duty because after shooting, it has to be played back in real time during capture. I've done more than 130 videos this way, probably over 2000 hours of use in the harshest of environments, and it just couldn't handle it any longer. I shot several more tapes beyond what's in this video that I can't even import because the play heads failed. I don't know if any of that video even stuck to the tapes?

The lost footage from the last video was an early and un-recognized sign of what was soon to come. I know I joked about it, but in reality it's really not very funny at all. I can't afford a backup for a piece of equipment like this, so it's something I don't have. As bad as this news might feel to you, I feel it 21,000 times over and I mean that. This couldn't come at a worse time and expense for me, and at a point where my production was really starting to wrap up on this project to move on to bigger and better things. It's the only camera I have that can do what I do here on this channel, so I'm forced to stop production for now.

Even though my camera is huge, 7 year old HDV technology, these things still sell for several thousand dollars used because they record un-compressed video unlike every other flash storage based solution available at twice the price. 3CCD 1080/60i HD cameras that shoot to tape have advantages that you can't affordably achieve with solid-state media. I have to use un-compressed footage to do what I do here or else there's nothing left of the video quality after 7 exports and a final mpeg compression. The Sony Action Cam can't do it, we learned that in a previous test video. Even if it could, it can't do close-ups and everything's fisheyed. Buying a low-end 4K camera is impractical because I can't efficiently or effectively edit that video without a $9,000 computer. Jafromobile is just not that big of a channel, and I do this completely un-sponsored and at my own expense with the help of a handful of friends who volunteer their talent, time and information. It's the epitome of low-budget and what it earns still doesn't come close covering the channel's equipment and expenses as they occur.

People have urged that I do a kickstarter, but I can't bring myself to ask for that from the community. I don't sell a product or offer services so there is no profit margin. I can't accept money for something that happens only at the speed of my available resources. To me, this channel is my proverbial gift horse to all of you.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/don't_l...

I know what you're thinking and I realize this is a grim conclusion to this video. It sounds like I'm down for the count, but don't rush to the down vote button just yet. As of the upload date of this video, I'm paying out of pocket to fix a ridiculously expensive 3CCD 1080HD broadcast quality video camera so that these projects can resume, and so that I can bring the final assembly steps to you in the same quality you've grown used to seeing here on Jafromobile.

If I wear out a camera every 3 years, then so be it. This is love, and no expense is too great. The big camera is being fixed by its manufacturer, and I'm expecting the repair to cost as much as replacing it. I sincerely hope that's not the case. Hopefully my production only has to take a short break. Once production resumes and I can import these tapes, I've got some really awesome stuff coming up and I hope every last one of you is here to see it. I may have a few other backlogged nuggets I can upload, and as always I'm happy to discuss this in the comments and provide updates on the repair as I get them.

Update: Awaiting quote due by 5/16 according to the repair agreement.

5/9/2014 9:17:00 AM DELIVERED NEWPORT NEWS, VA US
5/9/2014 5:36:00 AM DESTINATION SCAN NEWPORT NEWS, VA US
5/9/2014 12:04:00 AM ARRIVAL SCAN NEWPORT NEWS, VA US

5/12/2014 - Repair paid in full $440. Far less than I was expecting. I'm glad they still make parts for 7 year old professional equipment. Thank You Canon, USA! Repair should be complete within 7 business days from receipt of payment. The quote only took them 24 hours and they quoted a week just for the estimate, so at this rate I should be back up and running once again very soon. Thank ALL of you for your kind words, HUGE generosity, and all of the moral support. I swear I have the best subscribers on YouTube!