Mixing frame rates in FCP?

[Jeff Carpenter]

Final Cut will do just fine. If you drop 24p video onto a 30p sequence it’ll do the math and work out which frames need to be repeated.

So technically, you’ll be fine.

Aesthetically, however, you may find that each camera looks a bit different from the other. It may not work too well to have your video switching back and forth between these two differen “looks.”

But one point in your favor is that ceremonies don’t contain much motion. If you’re 24p shot is the un-manned back camera…well then it might not be too obvious.

So it could work out. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it, but just that you should do some test shots and edit them together so you can decide for yourself.

[Jeff Carpenter]

Here’s another idea…

Shoot the ceremony at 24p on both cameras and then switch to 30p for the reception.

I think 24p looks lovely and romantic for shots of wedding vows and flower girls and whatnot. But it’s not really as critical for line dancing bridesmaids and drinking games.

So if you make a clean break at some point (say, when the recessional organ music ends) then switching from one frame rate to another wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world.

I’ve never done this, but now that I’ve thought of it, I kind of like it. It’s kind of like a photographer shooting color and black and white images during the day…different looks for different parts of the wedding.

Just another idea to consider…

[Chris Wright]

Thanks for the feedback. If I do end up using the Nikon I’ll probably do just that – shoot the ceremony in 24p and the reception in 30p. Turns out the Nikon may be unavailable after all though… I might end up asking for some sort of discount on a rental HPX170 at the shop that I bought my HPX370 at, and just eat the costs in order to get a much better video.

We’ll see what happens.