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Slow motion in fcpx for music video
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You can do slow motion on the 24fps clips but you’ll be faking it, essentially making up frames that aren’t really there. Which is fine for some shots and looks awful on others.
If you shoot at 60fps and put it on a 24fps timeline, you are essentially playing 24 of those 60 frames in a way that keeps the clip playing back at normal speed. When you conform the clip, you tell FCPX to play all 60 frames which means it has to play back in slow motion.
And it will look much better because they’d real frames, not fake ones.
Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer | Southern Creative Media | Melbourne Australia
http://www.southerncreative.com.au | G+: https://gplus.to/jeffkirkland | Twitter: @jeffkirkland -
[Jim Kehoe] “if i want slow motion, i set up a project in FCPX to 1080p 24fps, then shoot the footage at 24fps, and then shoot separete clips for slow motion at 60fps, drag that into the timeline, click “conform” (right?) and then…?”
I think you already got another answer, but yes, you basically have it right. Except… In FCP X there is no “conform” function. There is in Cinema Tools, which modifies the file metadata. If you stick to just inside FCP X, you will have to change speeds with the Retime tool. Yes, you can shoot all at 60 and then manipulate the speeds within a 24fps timeline, but that’s the hard way.
[Jim Kehoe] ” i’ll have to plan it out separately with the 60fps footage, right?”
Planning is essential in all productions. 😉
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
Unless I’ve missed something that makes it less effective than other methods, choosing the clip then going to the menu and selecting ‘modify>retime>conform speed’ will conform the clip to whatever fps it was shot at.
Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer | Southern Creative Media | Melbourne Australia
http://www.southerncreative.com.au | G+: https://gplus.to/jeffkirkland | Twitter: @jeffkirkland -
[Jeff Kirkland] ” selecting ‘modify>retime>conform speed’ will conform the clip to whatever fps it was shot at”
You are correct, but this is actually a different conform process than what I meant or what Cinema Tools does. In X, it’s a slomo function that requires rendering. I do believe, I explained you could do it in X’s Retime tool. In CT, the header metadata for playback frame rate is changed and then that file simply plays natively at the slower speed in X without rendering.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
Thanks Oliver – I guess that’s why I was asking… I had assumed that the FCPX option was performing the same function as CT – changing the metadata – just virtually in the database rather than ‘physically’ in the file.
Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer | Southern Creative Media | Melbourne Australia
http://www.southerncreative.com.au | G+: https://gplus.to/jeffkirkland | Twitter: @jeffkirkland -
Hey Oliver and Jeff, and after I drag the 60 fps into 24 fps timeline and hit “conform”, how would I get the 60 fps footage to be normal speed again But still having 24fps look? (since “conform” slows it down to 40%)?
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If you let FCPX do the conform then it’s just a matter of setting the clip back to 100% speed and it will play at the normal rate.
Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer | Southern Creative Media | Melbourne Australia
http://www.southerncreative.com.au | G+: https://gplus.to/jeffkirkland | Twitter: @jeffkirkland -
Gotya, so i will just drag it to 100% (from the 40% it conformed it to) after I conform so it plays normal but still has the 24p conform. Thanks guys!
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You’ll get the orange line. Which doesn’t mean a render is required. It basically means that an adjustment has been made. Certainly a half decent mac should play back full quality without rendering required. In any case, probably less time than copying the file and sending it to cinema tools. I much prefer keeping it all in house where I’m linking to the original media or even a proxy of the original media where I can turn the conform on or off at will.
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[Bret Williams] “In any case, probably less time than copying the file and sending it to cinema tools”
CT’s conform is an instant process and one you would do to the file BEFORE import into FCP X. Leaving it up to FCP X is fine, as long as you don’t need to roundtrip to another app for grading. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Some outside grading houses will not accept lists with source clips that have been slomo’ed.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com
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