Fostex VF80 owner manual Before Operating

Basic Features of VF80

Before Operating

This section describes the basics that you should know before you start operating the VF80.

All users, including those who are familiar with using tape-based Multitracker and those who are new to Multitracker, should read this section thoroughly to understand the functions of the VF80.

Recording method

Remain indicator

The VF80 uses a hard disk as a recording medium, instead of a conventional tape.

You can start recording sound sources from any point on a disk as long as the point is within the range of 24 hours in ABS time. Also you locate any point within the range. You may think of the VF80 as incorporat- ing tapes on which 24-hour time information is striped.

ABS0						REC END		23h 59m 59s
00m 00s		05m 00s		10m 00s		15m 00s
								......
	recorded area		unrecorded area		recorded area		unrecorded area

You can record at any point within 24 hours in ABS time.

You can record in any area within 24 hours in ABS time. ABS 0: The beginning time at 00H 00M 00S

REC END: The end time of recording (in the example above, 00H 15M 00S)

unrecorded		5 minute recording 5 minute recording			24 hour recording
	recorded area		recorded area	unrecorded area (remain)

With a tape recorder, the maximum recording time depends on the tape length, regardless of the amount of unrecorded areas. With the VF80, you can use the media more efficiently because no disk space is used for unrecorded areas.

Program

You can use up to 99 "tapes with 24-hour time infor- mation" with the VF80. Each "tape" is called a "Pro- gram".

A program exists independently on the hard disk, therefore, you can freely record, playback or edit each program without affecting other programs.

You can give a name (program title) to each program, so you can easily identify a program.

"Program title" with its program number appears at the top left of the normal screen as shown below.

Program number/title ("01" is the program number while "#0001" is a default title)

The remain indicator shows how much recording time is left on the current hard disk.

The VF80 program is managed by a 24-hour time counter, however, the actual recording time left de- pends on the available disk space.

The remain indicator appears on the LCD during re- cording (or on REC standby), showing the rough re- maining time if you record on a mono track.

Note that if the remaining time is 100 hours or more, the indicator shows the available (remaining) disk space in MB.

The remaining time is 13h 28m 15s.

The remaining value is calculated on a mono-track basis. That is, the value indicates recordable time if you record on a mono track. You can calculate the recordable time when recording on more than one track easily by dividing the time by the track num- ber.

In the example above, if you record on 2 tracks, the recordable time is about 6 hours 44 minutes (13 hours 28 minutes 15 seconds divided by 2). Or if you record on 8 tracks, the recordable time is about 1 hour 41 minutes (13 hours 28 minutes 15 seconds divided by 8).

The VF80 manages up to 99 programs on the hard disk. Each program includes not only the recording data but also various setting information which con- sumes a small amount of disk space. Therefore, note that the remaining time shown on the screen is a rough value.

Always check the remaining time left before starting recording, to ensure that you have enough disk space to work with.

10