XDCAM file import:Does it do pulldown

[Mark Maness]

This all depends on you Sequence settings. If you selected your Easy Setup to be XDCAM HD 23.97 then you should be edit 23.97. Now, there is pulldown associated with this because we live in a world in the US that uses 60 hz electricity, that means we use NTSC or ATSC settings for 60i or 30p as a standard of video. 24p throws that for a loop hence the pulldown, otherwise, you’ll see this stepping or stuttering you are seeing.

You can output this to a true 24p on export and compression using Compressor. But here’s where the real confusion comes from… You can only watch true 24p on a true 24p monitor and most monitors (including LCD tvs are not true 24p), otherwise you’ll see a stutter as the tv or monitor as it tries to add a pulldown to your DVD that you are watching.

The Sony Transfer Software doesn’t remove the pulldown.

Confusing, isn’t it…

Anyone else wish to elaborate?

_______________________________

Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com

[Mpigott]

[Wayne Carey] “You can only watch true 24p on a true 24p monitor and most monitors (including LCD tvs are not true 24p), otherwise you’ll see a stutter as the tv or monitor as it tries to add a pulldown to your DVD that you are watching. “

So, this stutter would be evident on a HD DVD as well; this is what my masters are showing?
(monitored out of a HD DVD and a LG 20LS7D LCD monitor)

The workflow is XDCAM 24p, Sony XFer FAM, XDCAM 24p timeline, export as same (self-contained QT)
DVD Studio PRO HD DVD master

[Mark Maness]

[mark pigott] “So, this stutter would be evident on a HD DVD as well; this is what my masters are showing?
(monitored out of a HD DVD and a LG 20LS7D LCD monitor) “

Well, I’m fairly certain after looking at the specs of the monitor, its a 1080i monitor in 1080 but a 720 p at 720. So… If you are looking at a 1080p24 HDDVD, you’re going to see stuttering when viewing this on your LG monitor.

[mark pigott] “The workflow is XDCAM 24p, Sony XFer FAM, XDCAM 24p timeline, export as same (self-contained QT)
DVD Studio PRO HD DVD master “

Your workflow is fine, its your monitor that’s the issue here. I would suggest if you plan on more projects like this, sell your monitor and purchase one that is 1080p24 capable (if you insist on using a consumer grade monitor). From looking at the Internet, your HDDVD player cost more than your monitor you are showing it on.

_______________________________

Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com

[Mpigott]

When I view the 24p footage in the viewer (with Video Output disabled)-Should FCP show the video as smooth with pulldowm , or
staggered and jumpy as it appears on my veiwer.

The test I did was to bring in a problem pan clip (video) and a
problem graphics pan (tiff) directly into a frsh 1080p 24 XDCAM
timeline. By playing the two clips to the viewer only- the frame
stutter is evident-is this normal (we run a 2.5G Dual G5 with 2G RAM,
FCP 6.02, and QT 7.31)

[Wayne Carey] “This all depends on you Sequence settings. If you selected your Easy Setup to be XDCAM HD 23.97 then you should be edit 23.97. Now, there is pulldown associated with this because we live in a world in the US that uses 60 hz electricity, that means we use NTSC or ATSC settings for 60i or 30p as a standard of video. 24p throws that for a loop hence the pulldown, otherwise, you’ll see this stepping or stuttering you are seeing.

You can output this to a true 24p on export and compression using Compressor. But here’s where the real confusion comes from… You can only watch true 24p on a true 24p monitor and most monitors (including LCD tvs are not true 24p), otherwise you’ll see a stutter as the tv or monitor as it tries to add a pulldown to your DVD that you are watching.

The Sony Transfer Software doesn’t remove the pulldown.

Confusing, isn’t it…

Anyone else wish to elaborate?

_______________________________

Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com“

[Mark Maness]

[mark pigott] “When I view the 24p footage in the viewer (with Video Output disabled)-Should FCP show the video as smooth with pulldowm , or
staggered and jumpy as it appears on my veiwer. “

Never rely on you Viewer or Canvas windows for editing. ALWAYS use a broadcast monitor to judge picture quality.

[mark pigott] “The test I did was to bring in a problem pan clip (video) and a
problem graphics pan (tiff) directly into a frsh 1080p 24 XDCAM
timeline. By playing the two clips to the viewer only- the frame
stutter is evident-is this normal (we run a 2.5G Dual G5 with 2G RAM,
FCP 6.02, and QT 7.31) “

You still haven’t said what Easy Setup you are using. If this setting you are choosing isn’t right, your video will stutter and be jumpy.

_______________________________

Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com

[Mpigott]

Quote:You still haven’t said what Easy Setup you are using. If this setting you are choosing isn’t right, your video will stutter and be jumpy. ENDQUOTE

From The Easy Setup I selected HD-24frames per second
XDCAM 1080p 24 VBR

The reason I did the test is I have a feeling that something in FCP isn’t up to snuff; it is almost
like it does not have enough horsepower to run this; although the XDCAM footage was moved to
a U320s Huge System Drive and we tested the speed to be 300M per second throughput.

I would never rely on the viewer alone..it is part of the debug process…start at the start
the XDCAM footage, FCP settings etc…

Thanks

[Mark Maness]

I think you are still missing what I am saying…

When you watch TRUE 24p on a monitor, there will be some stuttering. This is because 24p doesn’t translate to 30p or 60i equally. This is the reason for pull-down.

In order to do smooth pans and fast movement in 24p, you need to have your shutter properly set for the effect (usually runs at 1/48th) and the speed of which the pan happens has be of an equivalent of 24.

FCP is totally capable of handling XDCAM HD. XDCAM HD runs at an average of 5.8 mb/s. Well with range of ANY single hard drive on the market. I have even edited XDHD on a dual 1 gHz G4 Mac without problem.

We do this all of the time and don’t have this issue you are speaking.

_______________________________

Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com

[Mpigott]

So, what I need to do is output via the Kona 1080p 24 setting AND get a monitor that is 100%
24p capable for testing purposes and view the output live via component to judge this issue.

I can tell you right now that the XDCAM Cinelata camera had the Shutter set to OFF on the front of the
camera. Would this cause frame stutter? This might have been the issue from the getgo?

As this was our first HD video, you can imagine I’ve been pulling my hair out!

Thanks for your kind advise

[Wayne Carey] “I think you are still missing what I am saying…

When you watch TRUE 24p on a monitor, there will be some stuttering. This is because 24p doesn’t translate to 30p or 60i equally. This is the reason for pull-down.

In order to do smooth pans and fast movement in 24p, you need to have your shutter properly set for the effect (usually runs at 1/48th) and the speed of which the pan happens has be of an equivalent of 24.

FCP is totally capable of handling XDCAM HD. XDCAM HD runs at an average of 5.8 mb/s. Well with range of ANY single hard drive on the market. I have even edited XDHD on a dual 1 gHz G4 Mac without problem.

We do this all of the time and don’t have this issue you are speaking”

[Mark Maness]

[mark pigott] “So, what I need to do is output via the Kona 1080p 24 setting AND get a monitor that is 100%
24p capable for testing purposes and view the output live via component to judge this issue. “

Yes. You absolutely have to have this. I would HIGHLY recommend Panasonic’s BT-LH2600W monitor for editing. Its price is very reasonable and the picture is out of this world. Many use it for color correction and it’s little brother, the BT-LH1700, is used widely on many many shooting locations for major productions.

[mark pigott] “I can tell you right now that the XDCAM Cinelata camera had the Shutter set to OFF on the front of the
camera. Would this cause frame stutter? This might have been the issue from the getgo?”

More than likely, it will. We always use a shutter setting for anything we do. If you are shooting 24p, then the shutter would be set to 1/48th. If you are shooting, 30p or 60i, you use 1/60th. If you want a stuttered look for effect, you’d increase the shutter. For blurred motion, you’d set to slower than your frame rate.

_______________________________

Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com