23.98 or 29.97

[Samuel Frazier]

Yeah, this does get confusing, so don’t feel bad. But, I think you’ve been given a pretty complete picture here and it sounds like you’ve gotten a hold of it now. The only other reason to edit from a 23.98 timeline other than what has already been mentioned is that you’re supposed to get slightly better mpeg2 encodings from progressive materials. The idea being that mpeg2 was developed to encode film originated material, which is of course progressive. I haven’t done any tests, but this is what I’ve read.
Still, this wouldn’t be enough to convince me to edit 24pn stuff on a 23.98 timeline. It seems to me that if you wanted to go that path then you should have shot 24pa in the first place. 24pn was meant to be edited on a 29.97 timeline and, unless I had some kind of unusual workflow or need, I would definitely edit it on a 29.97 timeline.

[Gary Adcock]

[Shane Ross] “23.98 is reserved for HD, DVD and Film. You should NEVER edit in a 23.98 timeline if you are ever going out to Standard Def tape.”

Actually you cannot lay 24p material to Tape in SD. It does not really exist outside of a lab or 2.
NTSC is always either 30 or 29.97 fps on the tape – that is why there is this 3:2 pulldown stuff (which creates a cadence of 2 duplicate frames, then 3 duplicate frames)

This is not an issue when working with progressive HD formats or with 24 frame Standard Def. captures using the new HVX200 when capturing your content as media (as opposed to recording to tape)

The other thing to think about is with rare exceptions (outside of LA) most 24p video content is cut and finished at 23.98 for film outs.

Gary Adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation
Chicago, IL USA