[Tom Brooks]

Apple seems to be the only publisher confirming the 23.98 frame rate. This from FCP 7 help files online:

https://documentation.apple.com/en/finalcutpro/professionalformatsandworkflows/index.html#chapter=6%26section=3%26tasks=true

[Tom Brooks]

That image is from Quicktime Player, is it not? I was hoping for info from Final Cut’s Browser in addition.

But no matter. Good that you’re making it work. What I’ve learned with progressive is that Compressor does a reliable job of handling a 23.98 Quicktime master and converting it with the proper pulldown and flags for use in DVD. If a 4:3 TV is connected and the player is properly set up, the DVD player will play it correctly.

[Tom Brooks]

Yikes, that’s awful. That’s not just interlacing, it looks like reversed field order interlace (the “zipper” look). Could you report what the Sequence Settings (⌘-0) are and the Item Properties/Format of the clip?

[Tom Brooks]

[Marni Page] “Does anyone have any idea why this would be? Are there specific audio formats that flvs like?”

Very much so. This link gives a list if you can make heads or tails of it. But there is one choice that beats the others hands down and that’s AAC.

https://kb2.adobe.com/cps/402/kb402866.html

[Tom Brooks]

[Alan Langdon] “Also, there is a constant flicker, pulsing of the image, noticeable when titles appear or in detailed areas of the image. Maybe an artifact of GOPs or keyframes in the compression? This has always happened with me and Compressor, which leads me to use Toast (!) as a compressor, then I drag the generated m2v’s into DVD Studio Pro. “

The pulsing on GOP in your encoded m2v (not the original DVCProHD) would be on a 12-frame interval, or one-half second, if it is happening. I don’t often see that problem any more. If you are, the one thing you should try is to create a totally CBR 1-pass preset for Compressor. Just make a copy of the 90 min best and change the encoding to CBR. For whatever reason, this can improve the pulsing on the GOP.

[Alan Langdon] “Should I manually tell Compressor to add pull down to make the DVD 30fps? “

No. Compressor will automatically do the right thing. If you take the encoded file into DVD Studio Pro and look at it in the Inspector, you’ll see that it is 29.97. It does have pulldown added. The motion will still appear to be 24p because pulldown repeats fields to achieve the 29.97 frame rate. Adding pulldown to 24p won’t do anything to smooth the motion, so your pans should be adjusted accordingly.

Final Cut Pro 6.0.5, Mac OS-X 10.5.6, Quicktime 7.6, Adobe Prod Prem CS4, G5 Quad 2.5, Kona-LHe V6, 8.5GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 7800-GT 256MB, G-RAID 2x1TB FW800, 6TB RAID-5 (Enhance E8-ML, Highpoint 2322), Panasonic HVX-200P P2. Also MBP 17″ Core 2 Duo 2.5, 4GB, GeForce 8600M GT 512MB.

[Tom Brooks]

I’d use Compressor to make H.264 Quicktime files with a single-pass encode. It’s such an efficient codec, so it makes a good look at a reasonable data rate. As far as the data rate goes, I’d rely on a short test there to see how low you can go and still be tolerable. Compressor is fast if you can use a quick cluster to take advantage of multiple processors.

[Tom Brooks]

I’ve edited DVCProHD on a single FW 800 drive and a 2-drive RAID-0 on FW 800. So, the speed is OK with either of those. A variety of things will work. The Sonnet Qio transfer device combines nicely with the Fusion drives or other eSata drives.

[Tom Brooks]

No, that doesn’t sound right on the playback. I have a Kona LHe and I usually view my HD footage on a Panasonic pro plasma, but the Kona will downconvert with the proper pulldown added and it should look good on an NTSC monitor as well.

[Tom Brooks]

The Log and Transfer window will combine files that comprise the parts of a clip that requires more than 4GB of space on the cards. In other words, these long clips are made up of multiple MXF files which are combined into a single clip in the L&T window. Thus, it looks as if there are fewer clips ingested than are on the cards.

You don’t say what your record format is. That would impact the answer to the latter part of your post.

Final Cut Pro 6.0.5, Mac OS-X 10.5.6, Quicktime 7.6, Adobe Prod Prem CS4, G5 Quad 2.5, Kona-LHe V6, 8.5GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 7800-GT 256MB, G-RAID 2x1TB FW800, 6TB RAID-5 (Enhance E8-ML, Highpoint 2322), Panasonic HVX-200P P2. Also MBP 17″ Core 2 Duo 2.5, 4GB, GeForce 8600M GT 512MB.

[Tom Brooks]

Ray,
Let’s get back to basics. If you shoot 720pN24 on an HVX200, you may use the DVCProHD 720p24 Easy Setup. Log and Transfer will create 23.98 mov files and your sequences will be 23.98.

When you output for DVD, the best way is to export a Quicktime Movie, “same as source”, and then compress that using Compressor. The setting to use is “DVD 90 Minutes Best Quality.” Compressor will automatically encode this in a way that is good for DVD and for DVD Studio Pro. It will make an .m2v file. Choose Dolby Digital Professional 2.0 for the audio. You can make a custom Dolby Digital preset with dialog normalization set to -31dBFS. This will make a file with the .ac3 extension. Those files are brought into DVD Studio Pro as assets and placed in the DVD tracks.

You will have nothing to do with 29.97 in this process, although as John says, you may be able to discover that the encoded m2v file is indeed 29.97. Don’t worry about it.

As far as stuttering, strobing goes, you may have to adjust your shooting style to avoid fast pans.
– Tom

Final Cut Pro 6.0.5, Mac OS-X 10.5.6, Quicktime 7.6, Adobe Prod Prem CS4, G5 Quad 2.5, Kona-LHe V6, 8.5GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 7800-GT 256MB, G-RAID 2x1TB FW800, 6TB RAID-5 (Enhance E8-ML, Highpoint 2322), Panasonic HVX-200P P2. Also MBP 17″ Core 2 Duo 2.5, 4GB, GeForce 8600M GT 512MB.