Capturing 24pA footage into FCP
by Chris Constantine
on
Aug 12, 2008 at 3:33:22 am
I've shot 8 hours of footage on the Sony Z7u, using 24pA. I'm another one of those confused on the workflow, and have searched for a couple of days now for an answer. Looks like many others are confused as well! Your suggestions/help/advice would be greatly appreciated.
I've captured the footage using the HDV capture preset, and all looks good in the 29.97 timeline. However, during images with lots of motion I can clearly see that interlacing is present in the footage.
In the sequence settings, the editing timebase is 29.97, upper field dominance, and the compressor is HDV 1080i60.
How to I get this footage back to progressive/non-interlaced footage? Should I change the timeline compressor to HDV 1080p24, or am I capturing this footage incorrectly in the first place?
I prefer to stay in the HDV codec vs. ProRes due to disk space limitations. But if you can give me some insight and specific settings I should be using, I would really appreciate it.
Re: Capturing 24pA footage into FCP by Sean ONeil on Aug 12, 2008 at 6:24:58 am
I don't think there's such thing as 24pA for HDV. 24pA is DV only, as far as I know. 24p is different than 24pA. If you shot 24p HDV, then capture 24p and edit 24p. Why are you working in 29.97?
Re: Capturing 24pA footage into FCP by Dave LaRonde on Aug 12, 2008 at 4:39:56 pm
Here's a tidbit from Sony's own propaganda:
When using the “24p scan” setting, captured images are recorded as 60i through means of 2-3 pull-down.
So it looks like you'd have to remove the pulldown (Reverse Telecine) on the footage to get it to 23.976 (erroneously called 23.98 by FCP). If you captured individual shots, you'll probably have MUCH better luck getting it right than if you captured groups of shots or entire tapes.
How come? It has to do with the tape transport, which is a machine, one with a complicated and TINY mechanism. Machines can and do screw up.
Yes, it's SUPPOSED to maintain the proper pulldown cadence and time codes, but I certainly wouldn't bet the farm on it doing so each and every time -- especially if you review shots, turn it on & off, change batteries... and who doesn't do that?
Occasionally, the time code WILL get screwed up. Occasionally, the pulldown cadence WILL be off from shot to shot. So what's the big deal if things are off a bit?
Here's an example: if you capture an entire tape, then try to remove the pulldown, the pulldown removal process will be out of whack after the first occurrence of a non-continuous pulldown cadence... and it will very likely remain so for the remainder of the tape, making your 23.98 editing a virtual hell on earth.
Want some better news? If you've got a simple project, and there's no chance on God's Green Earth that it will be shown anywhere but in video or on 29.97 DVD, you don't have to worry about pulldown removal at all.
[Chris Constantine]"I prefer to stay in the HDV codec vs. ProRes due to disk space limitations."
I'm not even sure if you can remove the pulldown from HDV-codec footage. You may have to go with ProRes whether you like it or not.
Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA
