FCP/Compressor 24P to 25P Conversion Issue
by David Chabashvili
on
Sep 22, 2008 at 10:24:23 pm
Hi everybody,
I have to convert 24p (23.98) HDV footage to 25P PAL. I went over the internet and read some about Apple Compressor's capabilities, but no matter what settings I choose, every time I take PAL and 25p in the final result I get subtle but visible pauses in the motion which is really annoying. Is this normal thing for this? People on the net were saying about excellent results with Compressor.
Did the same conversion in FCP - same results. Also tried fast convert with Cinema Tools, but the result is same - subtle pauses every second.
Is this DV PAL encoder's fault? How can I achieve smooth transition. I also tested Nattress, but it gives me wierd interlaces every time it interpolates 25th frame i guess.
Does anyone knows the workarounds or maybe i'm doing something wrong. Does anyone have a valid workflow on this. I will appreciate if one could share it. Thank you in advance
Re: FCP/Compressor 24P to 25P Conversion Issue by Jeremy Garchow on Sep 22, 2008 at 10:43:23 pm
Sounds like you have your Rate Conversion set to 'fast' in Compressor. That will result in Compressor adding a frame every second (those are your subtle pauses).
Set the rate conversion to best, or simply conform 24 to 25 in Cinema Tools (with a duplicated self-contained movie), but you will have to accept the speed up in video and audio.
Re: FCP/Compressor 24P to 25P Conversion Issue by David Chabashvili on Sep 23, 2008 at 4:15:48 am
Thanks for quick answer Jeremy, but I was not able to locate that 'best' setting in compressor. Could you please let me know the details of the conversion technique with Compressor.
BTW I did Batch Conform with Cinema Tools but it did the same - incerted one still frame every second. I guess i missed something there too.
Re: FCP/Compressor 24P to 25P Conversion Issue by Jeremy Garchow on Sep 23, 2008 at 5:50:10 am
Right click on the file, click open with Cinema Tools, then when the clip opens, click the conform button and change it to 25.0. I would recommend duplicating the clip first.
Re: FCP/Compressor 24P to 25P Conversion Issue by David Chabashvili on Sep 23, 2008 at 6:05:05 pm
Jeremy, thanks a lot. I changed the Rate Conversion to 'Best' and now the addition of 25th frame is perfect. Compressor does a very nice job in this respect, I did not expect that. Thanks once again.
Re: FCP/Compressor 24P to 25P Conversion Issue by David Chabashvili on Sep 23, 2008 at 8:11:08 pm
Jeremy,
I converted HDV to PAL SD with several different settings and one strange thing happened: on the highest settings (Resize Filter: Best, Deinterlace: motion compensated, Rate Conversion: Best high quality motion compensated) the final vide had very nasty artifacts that were also visible on TV?
So far the best video i got was with 'Better' settings. Is this normal?
Any recommendations for the settings that yield the best results?
Re: FCP/Compressor 24P to 25P Conversion Issue by gary adcock on Sep 24, 2008 at 11:40:31 am
[David Chabashvili]"BTW I did Batch Conform with Cinema Tools but it did the same - incerted one still frame every second. I guess i missed something there too. "
that would be correct, a conform in CT only retimes the clip and does not add frames - so it is not possible for CT to have an incorrect cadence.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD
Re: FCP/Compressor 24P to 25P Conversion Issue by Sean ONeil on Sep 24, 2008 at 5:46:29 am
[David Chabashvili]"Did the same conversion in FCP - same results. Also tried fast convert with Cinema Tools, but the result is same - subtle pauses every second."
Dave, it's a big mistake to use Compressor for this conversion. 99 times out of a hundred, you don't convert it. You "conform" it using Cinema Tools. I don't know what settings you used (there's no such thing as "fast convert").
Conforming (not converting) simply tells QT to play it back at 25fps instead of 23.98. It doesn't alter the video or add extra frames. It just speeds it up ever so slightly. This is really the only proper method for turning film into PAL, unless this is a music video or something where the audio speed absolutely cannot be altered.
In a way you are ruining the video by adding redundant fields. A reverse 12:1 pulldown is very difficult (no Pro Apps tools support it) for any editor who wants to cut TV spots, trailers, author a DVD etc. You're making a big mistake IMO.
Re: FCP/Compressor 24P to 25P Conversion Issue by Jeremy Garchow on Sep 24, 2008 at 5:43:00 pm
[Sean ONeil]"Dave, it's a big mistake to use Compressor for this conversion. 99 times out of a hundred, you don't convert it. You "conform" it using Cinema Tools. I don't know what settings you used (there's no such thing as "fast convert"). "
I guess I misunderstood. Sorry about that.
But have you done this conversion in Compressor before? You might be surprised, especially in this case where the audio can't take the pitch up.
Re: FCP/Compressor 24P to 25P Conversion Issue by Sean ONeil on Sep 24, 2008 at 5:51:36 pm
[Jeremy Garchow]"But have you done this conversion in Compressor before? You might be surprised, especially in this case where the audio can't take the pitch up."
I use Compressor every day. It's awesome and does an excellent job no matter what kind of conversion you do. That wasn't my point. One should never convert 24 to 25 except in rare circumstances. They should instead conform it, which is standard practice.
