Variable Frame Rate (VFR) Fix in CC2017?

[Chris Jacek]

[Dave LaRonde] “Well, how much does iMovie cost?”

Just your soul. Okay maybe that’s an exaggeration. But it definitely would cost ones dignity.

Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee

[Ole Kristiansen]

Open file into quicktime, goto save as, save as refrence video. Done

[Chris Jacek]

It’s not just because it is popular. It is also because the iPhone cameras are of a high enough quality to be viable. If Kodak Instamatic cameras were capable of taking photos of a comparable quality to their Nikon rigs (mind you, I say “comparable”, not equal), then National Geographic would definitely have used them in certain situations. Again, let me stress “in certain situations”. The cameras on iPhones serve a similar purpose. If you’re outdoors on a sunny day, you can get footage that is better than passable. It will never compete with a Red Camera, but it is certainly good enough to be used in most situations. Someone hiking the Appalachian Trail might find an iPhone camera to be very useful, just as they would have appreciated the theoretical 35mm Kodak Instamatic that could shoot photos comparable to SLR.

Most importantly, what is acceptable to use is often NOT OUR CHOICE. If snobby production people like us got to choose what people use, people would be compelled to use a light kit and external microphone on everything. If there’s 100 million iPhones out there (I’m guessing there are even more), and just one percent of them are shooting video that needs to be edited, then that’s a million cameras worth of footage that Adobe doesn’t mind alienating. Not very flexible at all.

Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee

[Jacob Moore]

Chris did you ever figure this out?

(Time-saving disclosure – there’s nothing useful in this post; I’m just offering moral support lol)

Although I’m in a different situation than you are (I do directly capture my video, so shame on me I guess), I’m with you on the frustration that software as thorough as Premiere isn’t able to handle video files created on some of the most common/popular devices in the world without major hiccups.

I create content for a company I work for using Illustrator, Photoshop, Audition, and Premiere. It’s neither convenient nor ideal to have to use other software. One thing I’m running into is that I’m creating video from several angles, using multiple cameras including a GoPro Hero 3 Black, a Nikon Coolpix S6900, a Nikon D3200, and an iPhone 5SE. Audio is being recorded separately via an Akai EIE Pro USB interface feeding 2 condenser mics, a lav mic, and a direct line from a guitar into individual tracks in Audition. (I use a clack for syncing the audio and video in post). Then I pull the audio tracks and video files into Premiere for editing. I sync everything at the beginning, but as the timeline progresses, the audio and video drift apart.

Chris I feel for you not having any control over the recording process. I’ve resorted to the pragmatic-but-annoying process of re-clacking every few minutes so I can cut the files and re-sync them manually. Admittedly, this does “work”, but the fact remains that I believe I should be able to record for longer than 5 minutes on all these devices and sync them once and be done with the syncing.

I’ve looked for answers several times, and I always run into your posts on the forums talking about this and getting nowhere with anyone chiming in.

“Use different hardware” is only relevant if you have that option. If you’re dealing with a bunch of stuff already recorded, you can’t be concerned with where it came from – only what to do with what you have. I understand the point that low level gear will produce low level results, but since no one’s asking for recommendations on how to get better source material, I don’t understand the infatuation with chiming in just to make the OP feel stupid for not starting with perfect captures to begin with.

“Use Handbrake” they say. I’m not sure how Handbrake deals with these files, but if the camera has added or subtracted frames for one reason or another, handbrake can only convert the files as they are from VFR to CFR; handbrake can’t magically make a file “correct”, or whatever the terminology may be, to match audio recorded with a constant sample rate, or to match video recorded with a CFR. I’ve tried Handbrake a number of times on several projects, and after eating up valuable time converting files, it still never solves my problems. Nothing against Handbrake – I’m sure in many cases it’s very useful. But for what I’m doing, it doesn’t accomplish my goal.

“Use iMovie/Windows Movie Maker/Quicktime/etc” seems like a step backward. Like telling someone with Photoshop “well what you need to do is open that puppy in Paint”. While in some instances using these applications might accomplish a workaround, they’re far from efficient, which is the goal most of us aspire to. Efficiency is the whole reason we use solutions like Premiere in the first place. (Please note that I do appreciate recommendations for a workaround, but for me, these solutions are problematic and haven’t worked for me yet.)

In my situation, I don’t have the luxury of telling my company which hardware to buy. The cameras we have are what we have. Nevermind the fact that for action shots, the GoPro is an industry staple, for everything from reality television to documentaries to extreme sports broadcasts. I find it hard to believe the folks at big time studios are relegated to using iMovie to meet their network deadlines. But maybe they are.

I’m hoping to find a solution that makes life easier for those of us who stoop to the depths of attempting to incorporate footage from consumer hardware into our projects. I’m sure Chris and I aren’t the only ones, and as he mentioned before, there exists no shortage of video taken with phones and other consumer devices, and now more than ever, it’s possible for individuals to create content without the need for the financial backing of major studios. And when someone brings me video and audio of a two hour talk their WWII veteran/POW grandfather gave at their school, I’m not going to tell them to buzz off because they didn’t use the most ideal capture device. In that situation, I need a solution, not an excuse.

Good luck Chris.

[Chris Wright]

try compressor to prores should export with no re-syncing. some people are reporting handbrake isn’t perfect.

[Jacob Moore]

Ahh I didn’t mention I’m a Windows user. However, after reading into Apple Compressor, I’m not sure I understand how that would help. Does that degrade the quality slightly?

Thank you for replying.

Jacob

[Chris Wright]

i haven’t fiddled with vfr much myself, but apparently the newer handbrake doesn’t work as well as the older builds. if you can find the older builds, they may work better. if not, for pc, you may need to stretch tool the audio or use plural eyes correct audio drift feature.
I’m not going to suggest a random 3rd party tool I haven’t used before though but I’ve seen a few. good luck.

[Joshua Stenseth]

This worked for me. Thanks.
I was unsuccessful in getting multiple builds of handbrake to work.

[Brent Marginet]

I haven’t tried this but I do believe that Handbrake will only work with the Audio that’s embedded into the VFR Footage.
If one is recording double system I doubt that the recorders audio will stay in sync with the converted footage.
While it does convert to a constant frame rate it’s averaging it so how can it possibly stay in sync that way.

One more point on the iPhone issue.
Think of how many great moments would be lost if one had to bring a truck or trunk of gear everywhere they go. First lets remove cost from the equation. Now then, oh hey everyone stop so I can spend the next half hour setting up this gear to capture your random once in a lifetime moment. It would also be quite amusing at any event if everyone plopped down all this gear. There would be more gear room taken up than the people would.

If one can just pull something out of there pocket and grab it in moments then that’s whats going to happen.

One more for the pile of I DESPISE VFR FOOTAGE, but I do agree that it’s time for everyone to embrace it because it’s not going to go away.

\”MY MEDIA/PROJECT MOTO: If you think three copies of your media or project are enough.
Take a moment to place a value on them and then maybe add two more.
Hard Drives are now stupidly cheap. A RE-SHOOT AND YOUR TIME AREN\’T.\”

[Peter Garaway]

[Brent Marginet] “One more for the pile of I DESPISE VFR FOOTAGE, but I do agree that it’s time for everyone to embrace it because it’s not going to go away.”

Thanks for your input Brent. We’re hoping to have users avoid going through handbrake in the future. I’ll try to update this thread as we get closer.

Best,

Peter Garaway
Adobe
Premiere Pro