Tom Brooks
Forum Replies Created
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Dropping the clips of a different frame rate into Final Cut will not make the frame rate conversion pretty in either case–that is, by dropping 30p in a 24p sequence or the other way around. Both will result in jerky motion because FCP does a simple frame doubling or frame dropping to achieve the sequence frame rate.
Many of us think about pulldown in terms of a progressive source being telecined to play in an interlaced medium. This is not the case with your 5D or 7D footage. It should remain progressive, whether at 24p or 30p. So, when your software conversion is done, you will have some blended frames. Interlaced fields will not be part of the picture. The quality of the software conversion will determine how good those blended frames look and how smooth the motion looks.
As to which direction is better, I recall a Kenstone.net article stating that it’s better to convert from a lower frame rate to a higher one. He’s right in that the motion will be smoother doing it that way, but I think the choice is really about which frame rate you need to end up with. If you need 24, convert the 30. In that case, you’re throwing away motion information. If you need 30, convert the 24. In this case, you don’t throw away motion information, but you don’t gain any either. Either way, you need to use Compressor to change the frame rate with frame controls on and rate conversion set to Better or Best.
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Deliverables will be DVD and web video. Blu-Ray might be a bonus, but not essential. It’s mostly for fundraising meetings and a web site. I’ve had mixed results using 720p60 for DVD, but if it’s a good way to handle the mixed frame rates, it might be worth it. For the web, I have no problem cutting the frame rate in half during compression.
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The 720p50 footage will probably drop right in and will work to an extent. Final Cut will scale the 720 up to 1080. It will not slow-mo. I believe it drops every other frame to make the p50 play at 25fps. Try it and see how it looks.
To get slo-mo you need to use Compressor to conform the p50 to p25. You use the Retiming pane and set duration to 200%. Can’t think of a better way unless Sony makes their own Frame Rate Converter like Panasonic does. The Fast/Nearest Frame setting should be OK.
BTW, I jump in on things I know about, but I always welcome backup or corrections from guys like Jeremy. His advice to leave the aspect ratio of the clips alone is probably a good rule of thumb to start with. Your call.
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Why change the audio.
I guess it may not be strictly necessary, but Apple Lossless is not a standard format for any camera or broadcast specification, so I think it’s wise to convert all of the media to the specs of a format that is known to work in Final Cut’s real-time framework. Not converting would be asking for trouble.Media Manager vs. Compressor
I feel I have more complete control over the process in Compressor. I believe turning frame controls on results in a better quality transcode in this case. I’d set the resizing to Better.I don’t really know the EX-1 workflow. It’s a long-GOP format, right? If you can transcode to ProRes during Log & Transfer, by all means do it. Then the 550D footage will mix very well.
If you need to work in a native EX-1 workflow, the ProRes clips from the 550D should also work with it. Just keep an eye on how the clips scale. I’d work with the same frame rate on both. When you’re done, you can change the compressor on the finished sequence to ProRes to reap the full benefits on the 550D footage and any titles and graphics in the timeline. Basically you’d be forcing all your EX-1 clips to render to the higher quality ProRes codec. You won’t gain anything on those clips but you will on the Canon clips and titles/graphics.
Your backup strategy is basically sound. Backup the things you can’t easily replace.
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The files are provided on a web site. Not something you could L&T.
They are all 720×432, which is not a standard aspect ratio. I guess I’d use Compressor to convert them to a standard Prores sequence format. Probably in the PAL 720×576 16:9 format, since they are 25fps files.You will need to copy the Advanced Format Conversions/Apple ProRes for Progressive Material preset in Compressor and customize it to do what you want. Change the audio from Apple Lossless to Linear PCM at 48kHz. Frame Controls ON. Geometry tab, change the output size to 720×576 and the Pixel aspect ratio to PAL CCIR 601 16:9.
This will distort the picture slightly, but it looks like they are squished to begin with, so this won’t hurt.
Once the converted clips are in your bin, you will probably have to manually click on the Anamorphic check box (Select a clip, CTRL-click, Item Properties, Anamorphic, click the check ON.The conversion should work as 16:9 anamorphic with no rendering required in the timeline.
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This is best done in Motion at the least. My experience has been better in After Effects as far as good, clean quality goes, but Motion can be good too.
If you want to try a couple FCP tweaks first, you are doing the right thing by trying a little bit of Gaussian Blur. Look at your Sequence Settings (⌘-0) and try setting Video Processing/Motion Filtering Quality to Best. I’m not sure this will help if you have rotated the still pic.
If possible, go to Motion or AE. Preprocess the still in Photoshop to remove scanline texture as much as possible. In Motion, set quality to Best and do use Motion Blur. I use around 32 samples and shutter angle of 180. When using Motion, set your FCP Sequence Settings/Render Control/Master Templates and Motion Templates quality to Best.
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Spherico has a lot of info and some tools that may be of use. Usefulness might depend on the versions you are editing in.
Worth a look if you don’t mind sorting it all out. https://www.spherico.com/filmtools/TitleExchange/
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Your post is one of those black holes of unknown information. You give us very little to go on. At least report your sequence settings. Making a DVD from a 1080p24 sequence is generally simple and easy–IF the proper workflow from capture, to editing the sequence, to encoding is followed.
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What do you think of MP4 with H.264 and AAC audio? Flash is able to play mov and mp4, as long as they contain those codecs. Even Windows Media player can play such mp4’s nowadays. YouTube and Vimeo like the format. I find I can make them in Compressor by using an H.264 preset and modifying it to set the mp4 extension instead of mov, but I get slightly better results in Squeeze.
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Bill,
No, you don’t need to change that setting where it says interlaced. I’m not sure of the explanation for that, but it doesn’t apply, as long as the sequence settings are 23.98 and Field Dominance is None. I don’t mess with those internal settings in the Sequence Settings/ Compressor/Advanced dialog.The frame rate of 23.976 is the exact number it should be. When FCP mentions 23.98, it’s merely shorthand for 23.976.
Quicktime Player should report 23.98 under “FPS,” but will vary some under “Playing FPS.” The player is not bound to maintain a rigid frame rate like Final Cut does to maintain format specs.
Does your exported QT movie appear to be the correct aspect on playback? If not, hit Command-J and change Conform Aperture to Clean or Production.
– Tom
