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24P Music Video Workflow Questions
I am currently editing a music video for broadcast and internet distribution. It was shot on film, full app 4×3 framing, MOS at 24fps on 35mm film. On-set audio playback was done from minidisc with one track mono song for playback and one track pulled up 1/10th of one percent and time code adjusted to 30fps. We had a smart-slate on set hooked up to the time code from the mini-disc player. So the playback of the band would sync properly once the film was slowed down to 29.97 after the material had gone through the telecine.
So far so good? Still with me?
Ok so the transfer was NOT done in the traditional music video method of telecine to NTSC 29.97df digi-beta broadcast tape. The transfer was done instead by Bono Labs in the US, at 23.98fps to Hard Disk. The files are encoded in the black magic 10bit 4:2:2 codec using an inverse anamorphic telecine method (FAT HD) with the full aperture 4×3 frame vertically squished into a 16×9 1920×1080 square pixel avi file.
And the audio…
We have an audio master edit DAT tape that is recorded at 29.97fps at 48khz sample NO PULL UP ON THE MASTER. This was converted to 2 wave files, one with a 29.97df time base and one with a 23.976 time base. Both files are the same length.
The tools I have at my disposal are:
Adobe After Effects 7, Premiere pro 2, Combustion, Photoshop and Audition.I would like to Edit in Premiere Pro 2, and color correct/finish/online/conform in After Effects.
I have tried some workflow tests but am not sure what the best way to proceed is: in order to preserve maximum image quality and make sure audio is in perfect sync. My methods so far, as outlined below, need some help as I have run into some bumps…
Please HELP!
I need to edit in real-time so I converted the source avi files from the 10bit 4:2:2 Black Magic Codec (1920×1080 16:9 inverse anamorphic) to DV 24p using the main concept codec. This conversion corrected the vertically squished material and now it looks correct to my eye but I would prefer a numerically exact conversion during the online/conform. So effectively I am using a DV24P proxy for real-time editing in Premiere Pro 2. Should I convert the material (ala Andrew Kramer FPS converter) to 29.97 DV first? Although…I would rather deal with frames instead of fields for editing effects and compositing…Know what I mean?
Anyway Here is where things get confusing for me.
I would like to take the master clip proxies that I generated and chop them up into sub-clips which would be the individual takes from the Music Video. These sub-clips could then be arranged on the timeline, synced to the audio, and I could then use a multi-cam workflow to do a primary edit and then drill down manually for a finer cut. After a picture lock, I can open the premiere project in AE replace the 24p DV files with the full rez master clips and do the color, effects, compositing, finishing etc. on the full rez 10bit files as I would have more latitude and a better image for the final render out of AE.
What should my Premiere Pro Project settings be? 24P? or 29.97 NTSC DV? What should my display time code be? DropFrame? Non Drop? How should I sync the clips in the timeline to the audio? The smart-slate on the footage is 29.97 but the footage itself is 23.98. When I try to use the FILE>TIMECODE feature to change the time-code of the sub-clips to match the smart-slate before each take, it just does not match in the time-code display area of the sub-clip. Premiere seems to add seconds I am guessing because of how it treats 23.98 or 23.976 material, while trying to display 29.97 time code. How would I get an easy way to sync all the sub-clips up on the timeline and match them to the audio perfectly? What will hapen once I open this sequence in AE and color correct and online, replacing the 24P DV files with the original AVI files and render for NTSC broadcast?
I am not able to sync the clips on the timeline using time code anyway as the option is grayed out. (I don’t know why)
I am so confused as to what to do now. Which workflow should I be using to both maintain perfect audio sync and make clip/time code management as easy as “RIGHTCLICK SYCHRONIZE CLIPS”, Sorry for the long post I just wanted to provide as much information as possible. I have read the Premiere Pro help files, and searched for hours online for answers but I am still not sure what to do, so I am reaching out to the good old cow…Thanks for your time.
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1 Reply
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Firstly you don’t want to use the FPS converter for your situation.
Now, what is your final delivery HD? You might look into Aspect HD for working HD with ease in premiere.
Your main problem is syncing the audio with the video, this is going to take some trial and error. I think your on the right track but think it through some more. If you footage is 24p (23.976) then stay in that frame rate all the way through. Don’t even think about pull-downs until the enire video is all done and even then think hard again.
Good Luck,
I’m sure other might have some suggestions for Audio,Andrew
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