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Need advice about editing from two different cameras
Hi everyone.. I have video footage from two cameras.. One claims to be h.264, 1280×720, 29.97, and the other is h.264 1920×1080 23.98…
For my first step, I converted both of these with quicktime to Apple Intermediate Codec, 29.97, 1920×1080 with the HDV 1080i preset.
I am also syncing the video footage to audio from a CD… So, as soon as I put these two videos into FCP with the separate audio track, the audio is totally out of sync.
Further, when I open the converted movies in quicktime, the one that was 29.97 now says it is 30fps !?!??!!??, and the other says its 23.96… WHAT??? Why is it not making it 29.97 like I asked it to?
… So basically I can’t proceed with my editing tasks until I understand how in the world I am supposed to properly convert these files to a common frame rate which will stay in sync with my external audio…
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
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30 Replies
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[patrick collins] “For my first step, I converted both of these with quicktime to Apple Intermediate Codec, 29.97, 1920×1080 with the HDV 1080i preset.”
Ugh…bad choice. That’s a very lossy and ugly codec, and doesn’t really keep timecode. You need to convert to ProRes422 1920×1080 29.97. Sorry.
[patrick collins] “I am also syncing the video footage to audio from a CD… So, as soon as I put these two videos into FCP with the separate audio track, the audio is totally out of sync.”
CD audio runs at 44.1Khz. Camera audio runs at 48kHz. That’s a different speed. How did you convert the CD audio? YOu should convert it to 48k AIFF 16 bit stereo. But even then, there’s no guarantee that it’ll be in sync. IN sync with what? Was it played back when you shot?
[patrick collins] “Further, when I open the converted movies in quicktime, the one that was 29.97 now says it is 30fps !?!??!!??, and the other says its 23.96… WHAT??? Why is it not making it 29.97 like I asked it to?”
How did you convert? With what tools? You should be using Compressor. And shooting two different frame rates when you intend to intercut the footage is never advisable. 23.98 progressive to 29.97 progressive will look stuttery.
Shane
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Thanks.. Ok I am doing this.. In the mean time, is there a way to copy “pen tool” points from one video track to another? I already spent a ton of time transitioning between the two angles, and it would be great if I can just copy all that automation data into the prores track…. ?
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Pen tool? Did you reposition the shots? That can be copy and pasted, yes.
Shane
Little Frog Post
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Yes, I have the clips lined up properly, I just need to copy all the opacity “automation” data I added to the track.. How exactly do I do this?
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to copy “Attributes” from one clip to another:
copy the first clip the usual way (Command C)
select the second clip,
now Option Command V to Paste Attributes.in your case you want to paste the Opacity.
(you can right or control click the clips and find these commands, but learning the shortcuts is way quicker)
nick
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Ugh.. I just converted everything to pro res and once again it did the frame rates wrong!!! WTF?! the original 29.97 got changed to 30fps despite the fact that the compressor settings say:
Apple ProRes 422
Quality: medium
Frame rate: 29.97
Automatic gamma correction
Progressive
Dimensions 1920×1080
scale: letterboxAnd then my other camera’s 23.98 footage back 29.96!!! What the hell?? why is quicktime screwing everything up? This is wasting so much of my time!!!
What am I doing wrong?
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yeah this is just ridiculous.. Apparently I need to convert all my 23.98 to 30fps in order to make this work. So I have to convert everything all over again….
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says who?
forget what Quicktime says,
what does FCP tell you?and how have you been doing the frame rate conversion?
using the Frame Controls pane in compressor?actually there are quit specific formulas you need to use in there to get the best results.
i don’t know them, having very rarely to deal with frame rates other than true 24 or 25.
a fair bit can depend on if your source is interlaced or progressive, i beleive.Shane has a lot more experience with 23.976 and 27.97
nick
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I say, because when I lined up my new converted file with the old one, they video is totally out of sync with the audio.
Reconverting it to 30fps makes it work…
I have just been using quicktime, export to .mov, with the prores setting.
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[patrick collins] “I have just been using quicktime, export to .mov, with the prores setting.”
That won’t work. If you want to change the frame rate, you need to use Compressor. You should be using Compressor anyway. QT Export isn’t the way to do this right.
This is what you need to do:
23.98 to 29.97 via Compressor:
1. Drop clips you want to convert into Compressor
2. In Compressor, select your video then right click and choose NEW TARGET WITH SETTING > APPLE > FORMATS > QUICKTIME > APPLE PRORES 422. Or pick whatever codec you like to work with.
3. Click on that newly created compression setting to open it in the Inspector window. Click the Encoder tab. Click the Video: (Settings…) button. Make the frame rate 29.97. Not 30….29.97
4. Click the Frame Controls tab. Set Frame Controls to On. Set everything in there to BEST. Know that this will make the encode take a long LONG time. But it’s the way to make the conversion come out best. Also know that there is no smooth way to convert 23.98 to 29.97 progressive. Adding frames makes the footage stutter a little. A lot of people won’t notice, and can live with it. So it might be fine.
5. Make changes to the Filters or Geometry sections as needed. Those settings listed above are the ones critical to getting the proper 3:2 pulldown added.
6. Submit the compression.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def
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