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DVCPRO 720p60 –> 1080i 29.97 Dropframe & Non Dropframe Sync Issues
I have about 160 reels of footage shot at 720p60 DropFrame. After the studio decided to shoot this way it came around that we would then be sending it out at 1080i and other media for the season was being sent in at 1080i aswell. So with all of the 720p60 footage we set up a few Panasonic Aj-Hd1400 decks, which have a nice SDI upcoverter built in. Set them up 422 with the SDI upconvert going to 1080i 29.97. Then the issues started to rise. Originally when the 720p DF footage was captured it was done through firewire and SDI, but the issue was between FCP and the codec. The codec was never meant to be drop frame, but the cameras would all allow you to setup that way. So all of the footage got shot, it got logged and then captured at 720p60. What wasn’t know or made clear was that 720p can be shot in drop frame, but Neither Apple or Panasonic had made the software or decks able to handle it. When it gets captured it then converts itself by default of FCP to a non dropframe TC base. So once the media is then in FCP it’s TC is in nondrop frame, but when you want to use the same logging info to say recapture the media at 1080i DROPFRAME, you then get the issue of the century…. You must then look back at your original logging info and see it in the offline state, you’ve logged it in 720p60 dropframe, the TC is in the dropframe state while it’s offline. When you go to capture this footage at 720p60 it then automatically changes to non dropframe. WHAT! This is because of the 720p60 codec only being designed and supported as a non dropframe codec. But when you look at your original logged in and out points to the captured media in and out points it’s shifted because of the conversion between nondrop and drop. Then if you use the same logging information to say recapture that 720p60 footage as 1080i 29.97 you must go and make sure that you change each clip from nondrop frame to DROP FRAME, and make sure the duration is set to be 60@30, this can be done by right clicking on the media in & out sections. But after you’ve done that, then the recapturing should have it’s TC converted to a drop frame state, so now you can use the information that came from the 720p60 nondrop media and convert it to a dropframe state for your capture to be in sync with your recapture of 1080i 29.97 in a drop frame state. SOOO after all that, my issue now is setting up 160 tapes to recapture, but I don’t want to have to manually click on all these clips to change to drop frame and 60@30. So if any of you HD guru’s out there have been this deep into the mess let me know!
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2 Replies
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Do you have a capture card installed on your system?
If you have an AJA Kona 3 at your disposal, this card can do your cross-conversion on the fly for your output. That means you can edit your project completely in 720p60 and output to 1080i29.97.
As for the timecode issue, have to tried to check your footage using Quicktime? You can open a clip in Quicktime and look to see what the timecode is set for. The conversion of timecode is a serious problem that we all face. Something you migh want to try is to look at your Easy Setup. There is a major difference in DVCProHD and DVCProHD Varicam.
Something else to keep in mind, 1080i29.97 and 1080i60 (59.94) are the same. Most of the time, HD is refered to in fields, not frames. BUT broadcast video is still in terms of frames, thus 1080i29.97. Most cameras, now, can record true 24p but only a hand full of cameras can record true 60p. So, in order for us to help you any further we need to know if this video is Varicam or not. What was the camera used to record this footage?
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
http://www.schazamproductions.com -
Well the system has multiple machines set up on an XSAN, each machine has a KONA 3 or LHe. The thing with having different media and just upconverting it at the end is the render times between. There are heavy filters, key framing, and effects put onto this video so we want to keep our library in one format as much as possible. I’ve figured out the sync issues between the dropframe and nondropframe, my issue is the changing of format of multiple clips from dropframe TC to nondropframe TC. The only way that I have been able to do it is by right clicking each clip and each field which gets pretty tedious with 160 reels to go through. This media is from one season, we’re already on out second, and have another 2 shows starting now, one with a couple thousand tapes so if we have multiple formats coming in from the field then we have to figure out a better way of changing this footage over, without re logging and capturing it. Any ideas on that note?
Dan
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