Some people may argue this point but I love converting my video shot in 60i to 24 frames per second. I think this makes a drastic change. It definitly takes the soap opera look away. If 24p looks to rough to you try deinterlacing which makes it a little smoother.
Of course it takes good compositions and lighting but I think this method helps tremendously.
Try DVFilm maker. Their software is 99.00 opposed to Magic Bullet which is around 700.00. Magic bullet does have better results but it takes FOREVER to render. DVFilm maker is really fast and does give good results.