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Need help: 24fps/jerky effect on FCP
I’ve been racking my brain all weekend doing this. I’m editing a feature film that was shot on super 16mm and has been transfered to HDCAM. I’m using DVCAM tapes with burn-in timecode, keycode, and audio tape TC that we made at the same time as the transfer. I got flex files and loaded them into cinema tools and created a batch file for FCP. I digitized everything at 29.97 and went back to cinema tools to convert to 24fps to edit. (The reason I’m doing this is because they want me to create a final cut list for the negative cutter in case it has a theatrical release.)
Now my questions are as follows:
1) Do I really need to edit in a 24fps timeline if the HDCAM master has already been pulled down from 24fps to 30? Can’t I edit in a 29.97 timeline to match the HDCAM master once it goes back to online?
2) Is it possible to create a 24fps cut list for the negative cutter in cinema tools if I edited in a 29.97 timeline in FCP?
3) I’ve tried to convert the footage in cinema tools to 24fps and 23.98 after I digitize but when I play back in 23.98 in fcp, i keep getting this weird jerky effect. Is that normal? Are my settings wrong?
4) Can I use the advanced pulldown setting when I digitize my footage? I’ve tried it but it doesn’t seem to work. Is that only good for the Panasonic 24p camera?
5) My other option has been to use my Aurora Igniter card but I keep getting the same results with the jerky effect. Is anyone out there using an igniter card that has used a telecined tape to edit a 24fps timeline and been successful?
6) Lastly, is there any recent documentation that explains the workflow from 16mm or 35mm transfered to HDCAM and edited in final cut pro?
I appreciate input from someone who has gone through this scenario.
Thanks
Steve -
1 Reply
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1) Do I really need to edit in a 24fps timeline if the HDCAM master has already been pulled down from 24fps to 30? Can’t I edit in a 29.97 timeline to match the HDCAM master once it goes back to online?
If you are going to online from HDCAM master, and that master is 29.97, I think you should edit at that rate. Are you finishing in HDCAM or are you finishing on film, or are you doing one now and another later? Is your HDCAM at 24 or at 60i?
2) Is it possible to create a 24fps cut list for the negative cutter in cinema tools if I edited in a 29.97 timeline in FCP?
You can create a cut list from a 29.97 edit. The process is known as matchback, and the computer will make an attempt to get the list as accurate as possible. Since some video frames may contain information from two different film frames, matchback is considered accurate to + or – one frame per cut.
You can also edit at 29.97, then later convert the clips to 24, use cinema tools to convert the EDL from 29.97 to 24, reconnect the new 24 fps sequence to the newly converted clips, and then check everything to see if it is okay. I haven’t tried this process, but theoretically it should work??
3) I’ve tried to convert the footage in cinema tools to 24fps and 23.98 after I digitize but when I play back in 23.98 in fcp, i keep getting this weird jerky effect. Is that normal? Are my settings wrong?
If the reverse telecine to 24 is not done correctly, you will have two frames from one original film frame, and another original film frame will be missing. Perhaps this is what you are seeing. If you single frame through the clip, you should see the A B C D sequence from the film burn in to indicate all frames are there. If you see A B B D, you will have to reconvert that clip, changing the settings in cinema tools.
4) Can I use the advanced pulldown setting when I digitize my footage? I’ve tried it but it doesn’t seem to work. Is that only good for the Panasonic 24p camera?
Advanced pulldown is only for the Panasonic 24P camera, which records 23.98 frames within a 29.97 frame recording mechanism.
5) My other option has been to use my Aurora Igniter card but I keep getting the same results with the jerky effect. Is anyone out there using an igniter card that has used a telecined tape to edit a 24fps timeline and been successful?
I’ve used the Igniter card successfully, but not from a HDCAM telecine transferred to DVCAM. And I haven’t used it in the last couple years, preferring the software reverse telecine.
6) Lastly, is there any recent documentation that explains the workflow from 16mm or 35mm transfered to HDCAM and edited in final cut pro?
not sure about that
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