Re: P2 Clips are 23.98

Hi -
I was just made aware of this post, as I do not participate on the P2 forum.

I in fact DID say to never ever work in 23.98 unless absolutely necessary. Because of P2, the rules change. Most people have to intermix footage (archive 29.97 upconverted footage, for example), and most people have to deliver at 59.94 or 29.97, so if you are working with HDCam, DVCProHD, and conventional Digi Beta and Beta footage, there is no reason to have to attempt to lock your system to 23.98 tri level sync, when it is SO MUCH EASIER to work at 59.94, ESPECIALLY when you have to deliver at normal frame rate, or dub out to Digi Beta or Beta masters at 29.97.

Products like the AJA Kona 3 (for example) allow you to change the PLAYBACK output to 1080i 29.97 (for example) to allow you to do a software pulldown of your 23.98 project (if you have to make Digi Beta dubs, for example). However, if you are working with MIXED FOOTAGE (which almost all projects are in the real world), working at 23.98 is a PAIN IN THE ASS. The people that disagree with this are in the feature film business. If this was not the case, why would people buy 2:3 pulldown options for all their Sony VTR's.

Of course, this becomes a big issue with P2 which is native 23.98. So here you work at 23.98, and you use the PLAYBACK 29.97 pulldown function (in the AJA for example).

SO, why not work in 23.98 ALL THE TIME - because MOST FOOTAGE IS NOT 23.98 NATIVE, and you have to intermix Digi Beta, Beta, 1080i 29.97 footage ALL THE TIME with 23.98 native footage, and this is A PAIN IN THE ASS, and puts you in render hell. If you have the LUXURY of a TV show that is shot native 23.98, and all your footage is 23.98 (like P2), this is great. And if you have modern boards (like the Kona 3) that allow you to do the pulldown, so you can make a dub, or even see it on your NTSC TV monitor (that cannot display 23.98), this is great. But MOST PEOPLE don't have this luxury. MOST PEOPLE WORK AND DELIVER IN NORMAL FRAME RATES, and THE ONLY people that work at 23.98 all the time are hi end houses that have delivery requirements of 23.98 HD masters.

This stupid conversation reminds me of the EARLY DAYS of SDI Video (linear days), where the HI END film houses transfered everything to Sony D1 VTR's at 100 % IRE. There was no ability to monitor on standard monitors, and the original Tektronix SDI scopes (the original WFM-601) didn't even have graticule markings for 77 IRE (75 % bars for Pb and Pr). THIS WAS NUTS, because EVERYONE had BETA and 1" TAPES that they had to use. And EVERYONE had to convert the D1 tapes to analog to deliver to a TV station. The SMPTE 259M standards did not reflect REAL LIFE. And neither does current 23.98 workflow for MOST USERS.

SO, if you are working with P2, you work at 23.98. What else are you working with ? Sony HDW-1800 HD Cam ? - better buy
an AJA GEN10 tri level sync gen? Working with DVD and Beta and Digi Beta sources too? Better be ready to RENDER YOUR ASS OFF.

I work with all kinds of users - both hi end, and low end. I know exactly what each type of user wants to do - and I just try to make suggestions for each type of user. The generic corporate video guy doesn't need to work at 23.98, but if he has P2 sources, it's another story.

Bob Zelin