[David Massachi]

Thanks, Bryce. That’s very helpful.

massachi

[David Massachi]

Graeme,

Some of my archival footage has been transferred with reversed fields. Do you have a plug-in that just reverses fields, without reversing the action too?

massachi

[David Massachi]

I have not done any tests to compare a 23.98 DVD burn to a 29.97 DVD burn. I’ve just read about it online.

massachi

[David Massachi]

Even with the Pulldown Pattern set to 2:3:2:3, it still doesn’t render with 2:3 pulldown (here, I’m talkinga about 23.98 clips cut into a 29.97 timeline). I thought that setting was for playback only, not rendering. In the Playback Control tab of System Settings, it says that Video Quality and Pulldown Pattern are dependent on system performance. So I’ve always thought that those setting were about playback capabilities, and not rendering capabilities.

Do you think my system specs are not up to snuff, even with DV footage? If so, why isn’t it telling me it dropped a frame on output? It simply stops outputting and doesn’t give me any error message.

My system:

Dual G4 1.42 GHz
1GB RAM
OS 10.3.4
FCP 4.5
QT Pro 6.5.2
Compressor 1.2.1
Xserve RAID
RAID Admin 1.3.3
RAID Firmware version 1.3.1-1.2.4
AJA Io with Driver v1.2 and Firmware Update v21-24

massachi

[David Massachi]

It’s my understanding that most “hollywood” dvds are actually encoded with 23.98 video and “flagged” so that dvd players know when to add pulldown when necessary. I’ve heard this from several sources, and it makes sense to me. Making a dvd from a 23.98 fps movie uses 20% less disc space than 29.97, thereby allowing you to have higher bit-rate/better compression, and thus a better quality dvd movie burn.

Can anyone else confirm this?

When I was outputting to digibeta, I was doing it from a 23.98 DV timeline. The Io will output DV just like Uncompressed 8-bit, through all of its output connectors. So it doesn’t have a super-high data rate to deal with on output. But I do think that it has something to do with the on-the-fly introduction of pulldown. Maybe it’s too taxing for the system to do consistently for an extended period of time. And another maybe: maybe that’s what AJA means when they say the newest driver they’re releasing in May will be more 23.98-friendly so this can be done consistently.

Cut and pasting the 23.98 clips into a 29.97 timeline doesn’t add correct 2:3 pulldown. It does some weird interpolation of fields/frames, but it is definitely NOT 2:3 pulldown. That’s why I was thinking to use Nattress G Film filters, if I decided to cut in 29.97. After reading the instruction manual for the G Film filters, I think I might go with cutting in 23.98 timeline and using filters to convert my non-film 29.97 clips to 23.98. I’m still on the fence about this, but I guess at some point I’ll just decide and go with it. Probably after some more visual testing, and after I resolve my outputting problem(s).

massachi

[David Massachi]

I will probably make a 23.98 DVD when completed. I have a lot of 24PA footage, plus a lot of archival footage that originated on film.

The problem comes in with the archival footage that is super8 (and not transferred with telecine 2:3 pulldown) and regular 29.97i footage.

I may go with cutting it all in a 23.98 timeline, and using Nattress filters to make the 29.97 into 23.98, but that remains to be seen.

I did some preliminary testing of outputting the DV footage to digibeta via the Io. The pulldown cadence seems correct on the tape (2:3:2:3). But I had some problems with the outputting. The recording would unexpectedly stop during the layoff. I didn’t have time to investigate the problem very much, but I did see it happen on all 3 flavors of pulldown.

I’m not sure this is related to the on-the-fly pulldown or not. I’ll have to test further.

Thanks for you help.

massachi

[David Massachi]

Does this mean it currently has no official 23.98 compatibility. When I play a 23.98 DV timeline I can see it on the outputs of the Io. Maybe it doesn’t have real 2:3 pulldown. I think it must have some frame rate/pulldown conversion because it’s playing back at what seems to be normal speed on an NTSC monitor (60i).

What are the current capabilities of playing back 23.98 DV using the Io?

massachi

[David Massachi]

Graeme,

Thanks for your very helpful responses.

What kind of result do I get if I cut a 23.98 clip into a 29.97 timeline? I have to render it, but the speed doesn’t seem to change at all. Is it just adding 3:2 pulldown? If so, how is that different from what G Film Converter does? Is there a different algorithm applied? If I want just plain old 3:2 pulldown added to my 23.98 clips, can I just use FCP for that?

Also, when working in a 23.98 timeline, you said that FCP will add pulldown on output via firewire. But will it also add pulldown when not going to a DV deck/converter? I ask because I use an AJA Io sometimes.

massachi

PS: I’m working in NTSC DV, and sometimes NTSC Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2

[David Massachi]

I haven’t found the 23.98 > 29.97 operation in CT, either. Only 29.97 > 23.98 or 29.97 > 24.

massachi

[David Massachi]

“However, for the most homogenous look between footage types, I’d convert the 29.97fps to 23.98fps and edit everything on a 23.98fps timeline”

What do you mean by “homogenous”? Just so all the clips have a 3:2 pulldown? Will it make the whole timeline have one pulldown cadence?

I’m interested in the 29.97 > 23.98 conversion. How exactly does this work with footage shot in 29.97 interlaced? Do you have any suggestions for the settings for this procedure?

I also have some archival footage that was shot on film and transferred to video. Should I just remove pulldown for those clips to get it back to 23.98? That seems like a pain in the toochus.

Any suggestions about specific settings within the plugin parameters would be appreciated. Thanks.

massachi