NTSC monitoring of 23.98 footage

[Kevin Hedin]

[David Cochran] “I am currently finishing digitizing a 35mm film project for theatrical release. It will be finished in 23.98 (digital Intermediate)”

Don’t you need to be on a true 24p timeline? 23.98 is used specifically when you want to go back to 29.97. Actual film always runs at 24.0fps, so you might have some sync issues. I edit at 23.98 for reasons other than film-out. I would check to make sure 23.98 is what you need to be editing at.

As far as the monitoring, your NTSC monitor is ALWAYS running at 29.97 regardless of what you feed it, unless you have a TRUE 24p monitor like the Sony 20-L5/1. If I were you, I would hook up a second cinema display to your Mac (if you can) and use the CINEMA PREVIEW that Final Cut has built in. That way can you view your 23.98 or 24p footage natively. Final Cut will convert your 23.98 footage to 29.97 on the fly (when selected) to output to an NTSC monitor. This conversion of course will add interlacing that you don’t want to see if your final destination will ultimately be film.

[David Cochran]

Thank you Kevin.
A few things I didn’t mention.
It was shot in Super 35, some of the footage will be video eng from news sources. The facility in which the film will be finished will go to a digital intermediate on HD at 23.98.
I was aked to cut it in this frame rate to eliminate ghost fields and to be certain that I am true to the keycodes.
They also mentioned to go for the 29.98 route when editing but to be careful as not ot include ghost fields in the edit for an accurate film match.
I have decided to go the 29.98 route so my director is stress-less when we edit and then do the conversion (reverse transfer) to the locked edit.

Again, thanks for your advice.

peace