[Padraic Culham]

The best way to ‘make something look more like film’ is to shoot film.

The 30p to 24p conversion is useful for projects when sourcing from mixed media, and the end goal is something like a 23.976 HDCam.

Mac Pro 2×2.8 QuadCore; 6GB RAM; FCStudio2; Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium

[Padraic Culham]

Aw, come on, Dave. I can never tell if you’re playfully ribbing or rolling your eyes.

I offered up the suggestion in this forum as an AE fix for a problem that we all can agree should never have happened in the first place. Whether working with legacy footage in a current project, needing to uprez/upconvert to a more standardized format (HDCam, etc), or simply dealing with a camera op who wasn’t paying attention on shoot day, 30p floats around.

And sure, I’m aware there are other hardware and software solutions to dealing with the frame rate mismatch. I don’t claim this to be the only solution, but simply one option.

One thing we certainly WILL agree upon – better planning in the first place to AVOID frame rate mismatches is always the best option.

Mac Pro 2×2.8 QuadCore; 6GB RAM; FCStudio2; Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium

[Padraic Culham]

“toggle the par correction button”

Par correction button – brilliant. 13 years of working with AE, and I never knew there was a par correction button. {head smack}

Mea Culpa. I retract my grumblings at Adobe. And thanks for the assist!

Mac Pro 2×2.8 QuadCore; 6GB RAM; FCStudio2; Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium

[Padraic Culham]

“do you mean you pull the raw mxf files from the hvx?”

Apologies – bad writing on my part. I import/capture the footage via FCP (import P2 data/log and transfer). Thus, no – I don’t use the .mxf, I’m using the QT .mov’s as imported. When I was using the term ‘raw,’ I was trying to say that I was using the .mov directly as captured (with the native character string like 00172C.mov) as opposed to a clip that I’d edited/trimmed and exported from FCP.

“the preset uses the frame size and par for dvcprohd”

True, but the preset is following the TECHNICAL specs of dvcprohd to the letter-of-the-law, which means the aspect ratio is 4×3 squeezed, as opposed to a 16×9 workspace (whereas FCP does the math internally and displays the footage in 16×9). I have been changing my comp settings to 1280×720 for working, but being an impatient goober, I grumble at the extra step.

“ae should handle the par correction (‘stretching’) of the 1.33 par dvcprohd footage in the square pixel comp automatically”

Also true, but that requires making another adjustment to the preset (square pixels, as opposed to the preset-native 1.33 par). Again, another step that goes against my nature of being an impatient goober (see above).

All in all, I was hoping there was something I was missing as far as working with dvdprohd footage in AE. As it is, I’m a little grumpy with Adobe for having a preset that is essentially unworkable in its native form. I’m not about to start an angry-letter campaign, but it’s a bit exasperating that their preset, while technically accurate, needs some noodling in order to be useful.

Typical modern American, I suppose, wanting everything to be done for me, as opposed to simply burning the calories to set up my own presets, stop grousing, and get to work.

Thanks!

Mac Pro 2×2.8 QuadCore; 6GB RAM; FCStudio2; Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium