-
24 p question
please bear with me as i try to explain this…
I have 24p footage shot on a varicam in 24p mode that will be downconverted to standard def and broadcast on TV at 720 x 486.
I am laying a 3d animation into the scene that need to feel like it is in the scene. The porblem is… the ed package I use does not export fields – just frames… so here is what I am doing:
1) Creating the 3d animation in 24 fps and importing that into After Effects as such.
2) Exporting from AE as 29.97 fps and importing that into FCP which has the 24p footage converted to 29.97 fps – ready for broadcast.
My question is… is this the right way to do it, and is there any way to get fields out of the CG footage in AE?
Someone suggested I render my CG as 60 fps and convert to fields in AE but I do not know how to do this?
Comments very much appreciated.
Cheers
-
10 Replies
-
Are you doing the editing in FCP? What are creating the 3d animation in? What resolution footage are they giving you?
If you have the 24p raw footage, I would work at 24p until you are finished with your project, then have the whole thing downcoverted (which will in turn have a pulldown added to it for broadcast and run at 29.97).
You can add interlacing in AE, but I need to figure out what step of this process you are actually doing first.
———–
G5 Dual 2Ghz <> 4GB RAM <> FCP 5.02 <> Kona 2ATTO 42XS <> Huge Systems 1.25 TB 4105 Fibre
-
You’re far better off mixing the 24p AE stuff with 24p varicam stuff on a 24p timeline, and then at the end, downconverting to NTSC.
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
-
Are you doing the editing in FCP? = YES
What are creating the 3d animation in? = LIGHTWEAVE but rendering in FPRIME for speed which does NOT allow field rendering
What resolution footage are they giving you? 720 x 486 29.97fps – I do not have access to the 24p footage only 2997
PLEASE HELP. THANKS
-
Okay, got it. i was under the impression that you were working in 24p HD, but in reality you are working with down-converted footage that will already be 29.97 NTSC.
My suggestion would be then to give whatever movie they give you, or that you are creating from Lightwave and take that movie into AE. The movie from Lightwave should be at the best quality you can output (I have no experience with LIghtwave, but a quicktime at Animation compression will suffice). Render out a 10-bit or 8 bit uncompressed movie and setup an uncompressed 10 or 8 bit project in FCP. This is all provided that you have the proper hardware to run and output uncompressed media in FCP.
To render fields in After Effects add your timeline with the Lightwave rendered movie to the render queue, and click the setting for “render settings”. A bunch of options and drop down menus will then come up. Make sure your quality is set to best, resolution to full, and you’ll see a menu for ‘Field Render’. Change this to lower field first and click ‘OK’. Change the codec to whatever you are rendering to (8bit or 10bit) in the output module and you should be good to go. Import the resulting movie into FCP and output.
Good luck and watch for gamma shifts.
Jeremy
———–
G5 Dual 2Ghz <> 4GB RAM <> FCP 5.02 <> Kona 2ATTO 42XS <> Huge Systems 1.25 TB 4105 Fibre
-
Frame rendered 29.97fps footage will never match with 23.98fps (24p) footage. The best you can hope for is if the 24p has 3:2 pulldown added and is on a 29.97fps timeline that at least the frame rates are the same, but now you’ve got, effectively 24p and 30p on the timeline, and they won’t look the same.
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
-
“The best you can hope for is if the 24p has 3:2 pulldown added and is on a 29.97fps timeline that at least the frame rates are the same, but now you’ve got, effectively 24p and 30p on the timeline, and they won’t look the same.”
This is exactly what I have – 24p that has the 3:2 pulldown added and is on a 29.97 fps timeline. What is the best way to treat it? Why wouldn’t they look the same if I just converted the 24fps lightwave animation to a 2997 timeline and exported then brought that into the other 2997 timeline?
Thanks
-
I’m guessing the 3:2 pulldown cadence patterns don’t match.
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
-
Well, you can do it a couple of different ways.
One way (and perhaps the easiest way) is thus: Since the camera footage you are using in Lightwave has a 3:2 pulldown cadence already added to it, you should work at 29.97 and treat it as regular NTSC footage (even though Lightwave will only render progressive, in this case 30p). Take this finished 29.97p movie into AE and render out an interlaced movie at 29.97i using the steps I outlined above. That way FCP will play it correctly without yet another render.
Another way, if you want to be bold, is to remove the 3:2 pulldown using cinema tools and leave yourself a 24p movie to use in lightwave. That way you will animate at 24p, render a 24p animation out of lightwave, and then use AE to interlace and add pulldown OR even better, put the finished 24p movie in an uncompressed 24p timeline in FCP and have your output hardware/FCP add the pulldown when laying off to tape. Every time 24p is mentioned here, the real frame rate is 23.98 (just to clarify).
What kind of capture and media hardware do you have for FCP and what format are you laying this off to?
Jeremy
———–
G5 Dual 2Ghz <> 4GB RAM <> FCP 5.02 <> Kona 2ATTO 42XS <> Huge Systems 1.25 TB 4105 Fibre
-
yes I understand what would be best, but I do not have the luxury of accessing the varican footage
Thanks for all your help
-
You are misunderstanding me. you can take your 29.97 NTSC footage and remove the pulldown with Cinema Tools leaving you with 24p 720×486 footage. I accept that you don’t have the HD footage. The workflow that I described involves only the SD footage that you yourself have your hands on.
Jeremy
———–
G5 Dual 2Ghz <> 4GB RAM <> FCP 5.02 <> Kona 2ATTO 42XS <> Huge Systems 1.25 TB 4105 Fibre
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up