mixed frame size/codec

[John Fishback]

Is the P2 footage 24PN or 24 over 60i?

John

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[Gerret Warner]

It’s 24PN.

GW

[John Heagy]

I would go with a 1080i60 ProRes timeline, but you shouldn’t drop your 720p24 onto it, as FCP will not add 3:2 pulldown – it does 4:2 – repeating every 4th frame.

You would need to up rez the 720 to 1080 and frame rate convert 24 to 60i by adding 3:2… there are a few tools to do this. The Nattress Standards conversion FCP plug in will do this on the timeline, but that may be a bit slow to edit with depending on how much you have. If you do have a lot of 24p, I would opt to process it all first. The trick will be maintaining TC 24 to 30… if that’s important. I haven’t used Nattress much, but you may be able to add the filter to all the 24p clips in the Bin and batch export.

Alternatives would be JES deinterlacer (free), After Effects or Episode Pro. The two latter will not maintain TC, not sure about JES. Compressor can do it but finding the correct combo of settings is tricky as there is no “Add 3:2” setting, it just happens if the settings are a certain way. I really hate Compressor’s interface.

If all your 24p is contained in a segment of it’s own, you could edit in 720p24N then do the conversion to the finished segment, and drop in on the 1080i timeline to finish with the 1080i footage.

Just curious… what came first the 1080i or the 24p?

John Heagy

[Gerret Warner]

Thanks for taking the time to analyze the issue.

The P2720/24PN came first and is the look I’d prefer to maintain–better camera, better color, etc.

According to Graeme Nattress “Standards Converter with G Film Converter, NTSC to Film option” will convert the 1080i footage to 24.

If I do as planned, maintaining 24, the question is whether to edit on a 720 or 1080-size frame, and which ProRes codec to use. (I have Video Purifier which claims to be the best choice for changing frame size).

The final output will be on a large screen.

Thanks again

GW