Converting Non drop frame to Drop frame

[Gary Askham]

Sorry if I’m wrong (I’m in the UK and don’t deal with NTSC/drop frame issues often) but isn’t drop frame only applicable with 29.97fps (NTSC footage). It doesn’t have any purpose in the 24fps world.

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FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[Andrew Rendell]

According to the FCP 7 User manual:
“Drop frame timecode is only available as a display option for 29.97 fps (NTSC) media files”

The purpose of DFTC is to make the timecode count equal real time, so if your sequence is in any whole number of frames per second there’s no use for it (and the option won’t do anyhing).

[Jeremy Garchow]

What are you trying to do exactly?

24 (23.976) is NDF only.

If you need drop frame timing, you will have to figure it out in 29.97 df and apply it to your 24p NDF timeline.

You can also use something like this which actually has an “unofficial” 23.98 DF mode to help your broadcast timings:

https://netmedia-software.com/

[Kenneth Lau]

I shot a commercial with 24fps and I need to broadcast it.

If you need drop frame timing, you will have to figure it out in 29.97 df and apply it to your 24p NDF timeline <— what does that mean??

[Kenneth Lau]

How do people broadcast their footage when they shot it in 24fps?

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Kenneth Lau] “I shot a commercial with 24fps and I need to broadcast it.”

A commercial? as in 30 seconds? At that point, there is no timing difference between DF vs NDF.

To broadcast it, you will make a master that is defined by whoever you are delivering it to. For HD< most likely it will be some variant of 720p59.94 or 1080i29.97, tape or tapeless. You will need to add pulldown to your 23.98 timeline upon master/completion.

I do it all the time through a variety of methods, the latest being lay off via Kona to a KiPro from 23.98 to 29.97 ProRes.

Jeremy

[Kenneth Lau]

OKOK let me rephrase what you are saying.

So for 24 fps, DF and NDF doesn’t matter anymore.

I need to edit it in a 29.97 timeline, and have my master exported to 29.97.

Is that all i need to do?

[Kenneth Lau]

so edit my 24fps clip in a 29.97 timeline
and make it EXACT 30 sec is what you are saying??

[Jeremy Garchow]

No. Edit in a 23.98 timeline and make your spot exactly 30.

Add pulldown as the very last step, after edit, color and sound.

The conform to 29.97 is literally the very last thing you will do.

Do you know how you are going to master?

[John Heagy]

IMHO one should not shoot 24p for broadcast unless one understands how to broadcast 24p.

For others in a similar situation… shoot 30p, it gives you 90% “film look” with no learning curve.

Learn then do… start here:
https://www.projectorpeople.com/resources/pulldown.asp
https://www.theprojectorpros.com/learn-s-learn-p-theater_pulldown_deinterlacing.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine