24p -detect and edit headache

[Darren Edwards]

There’s a standard-def ‘Panasonic 24p’ driver
available for PPro. It’ll allow you to ingest
and work in 23.98fps without any hassles. It
even does 2:3:3:2 pulldown for monitor previewing.
Search around adobe.com for it.

Not all DVCAM hardware is unavoidably interlaced.
Our DSR450 records a lovely 25p image to DVCAM
and miniDV.

Darren.

x-gf.com

[Ninetto Makavejev]

Interesting… although I wonder if the “good results” of your DSR450 can be played on other DV players with equally good results? How is the compatibility of the 24p-flavors from device to device?

I still am curious if there is any method to determine how/what-format was recorded on the DVCAM tape I have here, as I believe the tape I have is labeled incorrectly…or more specifically: it has no technical notes, regarding format. And I have to finish this job by monday.

Is there a method of determining this?
And; what happens if I capture 24p material incorrectly, let’s say as standard ntsc-dv @ 29.97 with the Prem preset?

Maybe Premiere is smart enough to recognize the 24p format, and would otherwise refuse to capture the material as normal dv?

thanks in advance,
ninetto

[Darren Edwards]

– Interesting… although I wonder if the “good results”
– of your DSR450 can be played on other DV players with equally
– good results? How is the compatibility of the 24p-flavors
– from device to device?

Where did you get “good results” from? I called them ‘lovely’.
Our old 450 is ageing quite nicely, I have to say, especially
with a good HD lens on the front. It’s not HD, or even digibeta,
but anyhoots: aside from the world of pain which is our Z1e’s,
the 450 is the only DVCAM appliance left in the studio, and as
it doesn’t do 24p without an expansion board, I can’t comment on
capatibility with other players (by this I assume you mean DVCAM
VTRs, were there shouldn’t be any issues, anyway. Playback
from miniDV camera might have the usual DVCAM/MiniDV mechnical
speed-of-recording conflicts, of course.)

– I still am curious if there is any method to determine how/
– what-format was recorded on the DVCAM tape I have here, as
– I believe the tape I have is labeled incorrectly…or more
– specifically: it has no technical notes, regarding format.
– And I have to finish this job by monday.

Well, it’s Monday as I write, so hopefully you got it sorted.
Although, as it would only take a couple of deductive trail and
error minutes to ascertain if you’re footage was 23.98 or not, I’m
not sure what the problem is. You grab that Panasonic 24p plugin,
open a 24p project and try capturing the footage. If it
doesn’t work, it’s either been downcoverted badly, or, your
VTR is not fit for the job. The 24p preset looks like this,
by the way:

Edit-suites were never built to auto-detect frame rates,
although this is now academic with FCP 6 and AVID where it’s
possible to drag mixed frame-rate, mixed definition footage onto
the timeline – which is an amazingly exponential evolution,
really.

– Is there a method of determining this?

High-end VTRs and monitors are configurable to different frame
rates.

– And; what happens if I capture 24p material incorrectly, let’s say
– as standard ntsc-dv @ 29.97 with the Prem preset?

Try it and find out. You’re PC won’t blow up as a result. You’ll
either get nothing, or more probably, stuttery playback in
need of pulldown.

– Maybe Premiere is smart enough to recognize the 24p format, and
– would otherwise refuse to capture the material as normal dv?

If you’ve the Panasonic codec installed it doesn’t need to be smart
enough. For future purposes: if you can’t find the plugin online
let me know and I’ll root around my archive folders for it.

Cheers,
Darren.

x-gf.com

[Ninetto Makavejev]

Thanks much for your useful info, Darren.

Disaster was avoided after all: the tape I was dealing with turned out to be a “normal” albeit poorly down-sampled 29.97 NTSC DvCam tape.

best regards,
ninetto

[Darren Edwards]

Glad to hear it turned out okay. Most have us
editors have one of this ‘oh, for f**k’s sake’
moments at least once a week. For me, this
week’s was all about screen-capturing Google
Earth animation. Camtasia was rubbish, Fraps
was better.

Cheers,
Darren.

x-gf.com