24p varicam workflow for indie feature

[Shane Ross]

How it was shot determines how it will be captured. If you shot 720p60, then you will capture 720p60 at 59.94. If you shot 720p24, then you will capture 720p24 at 23.98 fps. If you shot 720p60, but try to capture it 720p24 via firewire, you’ll find that you can’t. It will capture it at 59.94. But if it was shot 720p24, then it will remove the pulldown and capture 23.98.

BEFORE YOU START EDITING…talk to the place you intend on getting the footage blown up to film and get information from them on workflow and how to set up a project. ALWAYS talk with people about the final product before you dive into editing. The final product requirements determine the workflow.

[Ian Karr]

[Shane Ross] “ow it was shot determines how it will be captured. If you shot 720p60, then you will capture 720p60 at 59.94. If you shot 720p24, then you will capture 720p24 at 23.98 fps. “

Thanks for the quick response, Shane. I’ll definitely talk to the transfer house and get their two cents.

The only thing that’s still confusing is that, according to Panasonic and Apple/fcp docs, everything shot on DVCPRO HD is recorded at 59.94/30fps…regardless of whether you set the camera to 24fps. The timecode is also always base 30. The literature says that if you shoot at 24fps, the camera adds pulldown during the recording to bring it up to 59.94 @ 30fps. It sounds similar to “24p Advanced mode” on the DVX.

In my case, I know that the DP set the camera to shoot 24fps (I’ve done some 24fps captures)…and I also know that the raw tape played out of the deck shows timecode that indicates 30fps. So it seems that the literature is correct.

Since the pulldown is intrinsic to the recording, it seems it’s just a matter of when to remove it. During capture? Or later? Does it even matter?

Ian