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P2 DVCPRO HD 720p30 MXFs coming into FCP with TC Rate of 60
I’m working with P2 MXF media shot on a Panasonic HVX-200 (shot at 720p30), which is being re-wrapped as Quicktimes in Final Cut Pro 6.0.6’s Log & Transfer.
Even though the clips are shot at 29.97, I’ve noticed clips having timecodes based on 60fps, but upon closer inspection I found that when stepping through the clips in the Viewer frame by frame it’s counting by 2 (e.g. 02:10:19:56 , 02:10:19:58 , 02:10:20:00 , etc.), so it seems there are actually only 30fps. I checked my TC Rate column in the browser and found that while my Vid Rate was appropriately showing up as 29.97, my TC Rates were all set to 60.
I’ve also noticed in Log & Transfer that the MXF files seem to be 60fps (actually counting 1 frame at a time from 00 to 59).
I’m sure that this all has to do with the codec being DVCPRO HD 720p60 and how it flags frames to shoot at different rates – right now I have the relatively simple workaround of going in and changing the TC Rate for all my Quicktime clips as part of the ingest process. But is there a way to set FCP to do this on its own when rewrapping my MXFs as QTs? Because that would help smooth out my workflow significantly. Also, are there any potential problems I could run into with my TC Rate-adjusting workaround?
Any ideas/explanations/help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!
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2 Replies
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DVCPRO HD 720p is a 60 frame format. So no matter what, if you shoot 720p the timecode numbers will go to 60. If you shot 30p, then FCP will capture removing every other frame, but the numbers will remain the same. 24p, again, pulldown removed, but the numbers will go to 59.
This is especially true if shot on tape. If you shot 30pN or 24pN with the P2 cameras, the numbers will go to 23 and 29 respectively. But if you shot 30p and 24p…NOT native…then the numbers will go to 59. Again, they were recorded at 59.94, and you removed pulldown when you imported the footage.
[Justin Kavoussi] “- right now I have the relatively simple workaround of going in and changing the TC Rate for all my Quicktime clips as part of the ingest process. “
WHY?!?! This is SERIOUSLY BAD. Because the TC RATE that these clips were shot at was 60. By changing it to 30 you seriously hamper the ability of FCP to be able to reimport those clips if they are lost, or you revisit the project. There is NO REASON to do this. There is EVERY REASON NOT TO. That is the TC rate…don’t mess with it.
[Justin Kavoussi] “Because that would help smooth out my workflow significantly. “
How so? How does having those numbers go to 59 hamper your workflow?
[Justin Kavoussi] “Also, are there any potential problems I could run into with my TC Rate-adjusting workaround? “
Yeah…many! Reimporting being the biggie.
Leave things alone. Everything is fine. You are fixing something that isn’t broken.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Wow, good to know, that clears up a lot for me. Thanks so much, Shane!
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