How to pull down in vegas 12?

[John Rofrano]

[Randal Petryshyn] “How would I interpolate 18fps to 24fps in vegas12”

Where are three (3) ways of solving the problem:

(1) If you simply place 18fps footage in a 24fps project Vegas Pro will blend frames to bring the footage up to the 24p frame rate. To go from 18 fps to 24 it will show a full frame and then blend the next 3 frames and then display the 4th one as full again, etc. This is the pattern (note: (x) = full single frame):

(1)-1+2-2+3-3+4-(4)-4+5-5+6-6+7-(7)-7+8-8+9-9+10-(10)-10+11-11+12-12+13-(13)-13+14-14+15-15+16-(16)-16+17-17+18-18+19-(19)

This may produce ghosting and it doesn’t end the pattern on 18 frames but it’s one way of doing it.

(2) If you disable resample, Vegas Pro will duplicate every 3rd frame to fit 18 frames into a 24 frame pattern. This eliminates the ghosting because no frames are blended; they are duplicated instead (so you are trading off ghosting for choppy playback). This is the pattern:

1-1-(2)-(3)-4-4-(5)-(6)-7-7-(8)-(9)-10-10-(11)-(12)-13-13-(14)-(15)-16-16-(17)-(18)

(3) If you disable resample and reduce the playback to 0.75, Vegas Pro will alternate duplicating every 4 frames then a whole frame then every 3 frames then a whole frame etc. This is the pattern:

1-1-2-2-3-3-4-4-(5)-6-6-7-7-8-8-(9)-10-10-11-11-12-12-13-13-(14)-15-15-16-16-17-17-(18)

This last solution will give you 4:3 pulldown to go from 18 fps to 24 fps.

One of these methods should work for you.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

If you’d like to use the 3rd option of 4:3 pulldown, here is a script that will do it for you:
//****************************************************************************
//* Program: Convert18pto24pMedia.cs
//* Author: John Rofrano
//* Description: This script changes the playback rate of 18p media to 23.976
//* Created: March 22, 2014
//*
//* Copyright: (c) 2014, Sundance Media Group / VASST. All Rights Reserved
//****************************************************************************
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using Sony.Vegas;

class EntryPoint
{
public void FromVegas(Vegas vegas)
{
int counter = 0;
try
{
foreach (Track track in vegas.Project.Tracks)
{
if (!track.IsVideo()) continue;

foreach (VideoEvent videoEvent in track.Events)
{
VideoStream videoStream = videoEvent.ActiveTake.MediaStream as VideoStream;
decimal frameRate = Math.Round((decimal)videoStream.FrameRate, 2);

// only affect 18fps media
if (frameRate == 18.00m)
{
videoEvent.AdjustPlaybackRate(0.75, true);
videoEvent.ResampleMode = VideoResampleMode.Disable;
counter++;

// check for audio in the same file and change it too
if (videoEvent.IsGrouped)
{
foreach (TrackEvent trackEvent in videoEvent.Group)
{
if (!trackEvent.IsAudio()) continue;

// see if they are from the same file
if (trackEvent.ActiveTake != null && trackEvent.ActiveTake.MediaPath.Equals(videoEvent.ActiveTake.MediaPath))
{
AudioEvent audioEvent = trackEvent as AudioEvent;
audioEvent.AdjustPlaybackRate(0.75, true);
}
}
}
}
}
}

// let the user know we are done
MessageBox.Show(String.Format("{0} events changed", counter), "Complete", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
MessageBox.Show(e.Message, "Unexpected Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Stop);
}
}
}
Just cut and paste that into a file called: Convert18pto24pMedia.cs and place it into folder under “My Documents” called “Vegas Script Menu” and then restart Vegas Pro and it will appear under Tools | Scripting.

Enjoy,

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Dave Osbun]

Anytime I read what John, Steve and some of the others ‘write’, I feel quite stupid. Then again, I read this forum to learn from all you pro editors. This kind of info is invaluable to me as I learn this fine craft.

I’m just a hardware guy!

Dave

[John Rofrano]

[Dave Osbun] “I’m just a hardware guy!”

We all have our areas of expertise. I design software… I wouldn’t know where to start designing hardware. 😉

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Randal Petryshyn]

Hi John
Thank you very much for the script. I am getting an error. When I cut and paste, it comes out as 2 lines in the text file.
Please also note that I have individual frames on the timeline.

What could I be doing wrong?
Thanks
Randal

[Ralph Hajik]

Dave,

It’s amazing what you find here at CreativeCow-Sony Vegas forum. I love it because it’s free information and help by the professionals. No matter how simple or difficult the question is there’s always someone here to help. So if you have a question don’t hesitate to ask.

Happy Travels
Ralph Hajik
https://www.RJTravelMedia.com

[John Rofrano]

[Randal Petryshyn] “I am getting an error. When I cut and paste, it comes out as 2 lines in the text file.”

Probably something about cutting and pasting from a web page. I’ve uploaded it as a file to the COW. Here is the link:

7277_convert18pto24pmedia.cs.zip

[Randal Petryshyn] “Please also note that I have individual frames on the timeline.”

Then nothing is going to work. Why do you have individual frames on the timeline? You can’t change the playback rate unless you have a video with multiple frames.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Randal Petryshyn]

Hi John
Thanks for your reply. Think of it as making a video out of hundreds of still jpegs. One frame per still. What I have been doing till now is getting a frame count, divide by 18, mark the timeline and stretching the grouped stills to the new length, rendering out to 24p.

This works but feels cumbersome.
What would you suggest? Will your script do it?

Thanks
Randal

[John Rofrano]

[Randal Petryshyn] “What would you suggest?”

What is the format of your source? Video? or Images?

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Randal Petryshyn]

My source is S8mm film video’d with AVCHD 60p. I then process out the unwanted frames which leaves me with the singular frames on the timeline.