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XH A1, 24p & FCP
I’ve been shooting with the XH A1 in 24f mode, which looks great! I’m very happy with the camera. I was a longtime XL1 user, and debated about going to a smaller, more palm-based form factor, but there is a lot to like about it.
I’m capturing my footage into Final Cut and I’m confused. I’m capturing footage shot HDV 24f. I’m bringing it into FCP via firewire out of the camera. I use the Easy Setup HDV 1080i60. It captures with no problems. But…no matter what I do, it wants to bring the footage in at 24p. When I drop the footage into a 1080i60 sequence, I have to render it to play in the timeline. In a 1080p24 sequence, it plays without rendering.
I didn’t know the A1 can output 1080p. I thought it only did 1080i. Also, is there a way for me to output my 24f footage as 60i. I’m shooting in 24f to get the less-video-look, but I’m finishing SD 60i. I can’t find a way in FCP to specific 29.97 vs. 24. It seems to want to let the camera dictate. Is this just the way it works?
By the way, I also tried downconverting to an SD anamorphic and it works fine and looks good. Using this route, the footage comes in SD 29.97fps.
I’ve been looking all over, but it’s hard to get a clear answer.
Brett
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10 Replies
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What you are experiencing is correct. The Canon HDV 24F and 30F only records 24 and 30 Frames to tape.
Very similar to HVX200 24PN mode. They did this to save bandwidth and make it look better. This is what is unique to Canon and why Sony doesn’t play tapes recorded in HDV 24F and 30F from Canon. Sony is starting to release cameras which record HDV 24 frame footage like DV 24 frame footage.Daniel Epstein
Gold Teleproductions, Inc
New York, NY
http://www.goldtele.com -
Daniel,
Thanks for the response! So to make sure I have this straight…does the A1 always output 1080p when shot with 24 and 30f and 1080i when shot with 60fps? Which means the A1 is a true 24p camera, although it records something slightly different in the process of getting there. This is the most confusing thing to me when reading about the camera. Some people seem to say that it’s 1080i shot at 24fps.Am I correct in assuming that I can’t output 1080i60 when I’ve shot @ 24f? If so, when and how is the best place to do the pulldown?
Thank you again.
Brett
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When attempting to ingest Canon 24F footage into Final Cut Pro you must:
1) Use FCP 5.1.2 or higher
2) Use an “Easy Setup” of “HDV 1080P 24F”. (This will allow you to capture, edit and output at 23.98)– don
https://noisybrain.com
https://www.bosfcpug.org -
Don,
That works. So, if I need to work in 60i, I need to capture 24 and then export that footage to a 60i movie. Thank you!Brett
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I think i have a similar question…i want to shoot with an XL h1 in 24F with 4 audio tracks, edit in 24F. should i also use the easy set up HDV 1080p 24? and with such a st up i can capture with a firw wire, and edit in 24fps without an aja kona or blackmagik? thanks for the help…
aaron
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Yes, you can capture your 24F footage via FireWire using the Easy Setup of “HDV 1080P 24”.
You will NOT have Real-Time Monitoring back through the camera over FireWire of your editing timeline (like you would if you were editing standard DV)… this is currently possible when editing in the HDV codec… you WILL be able to view the timeline back through the camera over FireWire by choosing “Print To Video” (which will require you to wait as FCP re-conforms the GOP)… you can also view big screen on the desktop by selecting the Digital Cinema Desktop Preview.Please do let us know if you have any other questions.
– don
https://www.bosfcpug.org
https://noisybrain.com -
Follow-up question…
When the A1 outputs 30F footage shot in 1080p, does it output as 1080i?
I have a friend who’s inquiring if his tape deck (which is 1080i) will be able to capture the footage on his machine.
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Kareem,
Generally speaking an HDV tape shot with a Canon camera must be ingested via the Canon camera, neither Sony or JVC decks play back Canon HDV tapes. Unless this has changed that is how it is.
As for 24F and 30F modes the thing to know about them is that these were modes developed by Canon to automate the ingest of footage of a 23.98 nature. What happens with 24F mode is that you get a 3:2 cadence of sorts similar to a 29.97 signal with 3:2 pulldown… Except in 24F mode, instead of the interlaced frame you get a duplicate frame, this duplicate frame has a metadata flag on it so that FCP knows to remove it. So on ingest, FCP gets 23.98 automatically. On the tape it is 29.97, but FCP is automatically throwing away the frames that don’t need to be there for a 23.98 signal. In older 24p cameras DVX100, etc you used to have to manually remove these frames via a tool like CinemaTools, etc.
The thing with the 24F mode is that, and I may be wrong, but that pseudo ‘pulldown’ frame is a duplicate of the previous or post frame and not a real interlaced pulldown frame so if you use this as a 29.97 signal your image will actually look stuttery due to the duplicate.
On another note, when you ingest your footage via the camera and the frames are removed look at the clip timecode. The final frame of a second of footage is still ’29’, but it skips 6 counts every second. So it might jump from 23 frames to 25 frames, etc.
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[Donovan Kosters] “an HDV tape shot with a Canon camera must be ingested via the Canon camera”
Partially true.
That is mostly applicable if you are shooting in HDV format in Canon’s 24f or 30f progressive modes. If that’s the case, you must play back the tape in a Canon camera that supports it (which is a reason so many people bought the cheap little HV20 camcorders, just to use as decks)… or in one of a handful of decks that can handle the footage. The Sony HVR-M35 deck is the most popular choice for that.
Other combinations are not as restrictive. If you record 60i HDV with the Canon, then any HDV deck can handle the footage. Or if you happen to shoot in standard-def mode, then any of the footage formats (even the 24f and 30f) can be played in any HDV or DV deck.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Got it, that is good to know. Thanks T2.
Donovan Kosters
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