A video tap is an accessory for a motion picture camera used to provide a video feed from the camera lens. Video taps are used to allow the crew to see what is in the camera's frame without having to look through the viewfinder, as well as allowing video to be captured that can be used to create an immediate rough cut, if needed. Since a video tap normally attaches to a camera's existing viewfinder using a beam splitter, the video appears dark and frame rate flicker is visible. Sometimes the tap will include frame lines and burned in timecode.
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