Frame Rates

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Level 1

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Frame Rates

There's probably an easy answer to this dumb question.

Source video in FCP is 23.98. But Compressor won't let it export as anything but 29.97, which then f's up my sync when I bring it to DVD-SP.

The problem is: When I try to export in Compressor for DVD Best Quality, the MPEG-2 file is always 29.97 no matter what. I set the rate in the video format inspector window to 23.98 over and over; I try setting it to automatic; I even tried exporting an H.264 from FCP and then compressing it as 23.98, but it always comes out as 29.97.

The only thing I can think is that the original footage was 29.97, but I captured it to FCP in 23.98. So maybe Compressor has a preset that identifies the frame rate of the original footage or something(?). But it's all working fine in FCP with the 23.98 track setting, so I shouldn't have this problem in compressor, should I?

I'd really hate to have to recapture the footage and resync everything manually in FCP but that might be my only solution!

HELP!!!

Powermac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Sep 2, 2007 12:04 PM

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Answer 1

hanumang

Level 6

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Sep 2, 2007 12:13 PM in response to moookieee

How are you getting your material into Compressor? That is, how are you exporting from FCP?

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Answer 2

moookieee Author

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Sep 2, 2007 12:15 PM in response to hanumang

Just "File>Export>Using Compressor"

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Answer 3

hanumang

Level 6

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Sep 2, 2007 12:25 PM in response to moookieee

Alright, and Compressor is able to determine your sequence's frame rate as 23.98, correct?

Also, where are you determining the frame rate of your Compressor-output files? For an .m2v file, what does QuickTime Player have to say?

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Answer 4

moookieee Author

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Sep 2, 2007 12:39 PM in response to hanumang

Compressor seems to initially recognize that the sequence is supposed to be 23.98. It's just that when it's finished exporting, the .m2v file is 29.97fps rather than the 23.98fps I predetermined for it in Compressor. I can tell because when I check the frame rate in "Show Movie Inspector" in Quicktime it is 29.97fps.

Prior to exporting in Compressor I choose the preset "DVD Best Quality 90 minutes 4:3" and then in the "Inspector" window, selecting the "Video Format" tab, and identifying the "Rate" dropdown menu. I've tried setting the Rate at "23.98" and at "Automatic"; either way it ends up as 29.97.

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Answer 5

hanumang

Level 6

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Sep 2, 2007 12:48 PM in response to moookieee

DanDJones wrote:
Prior to exporting in Compressor I choose the preset "DVD Best Quality 90 minutes 4:3" and then in the "Inspector" window, selecting the "Video Format" tab, and identifying the "Rate" dropdown menu. I've tried setting the Rate at "23.98" and at "Automatic"; either way it ends up as 29.97.

That's too weird, and something I'm not able to reproduce on my system.

Does exporting a reference movie (just as a point of comparison) make any difference?

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Answer 6

moookieee Author

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Sep 2, 2007 12:51 PM in response to hanumang

I'll give it a shot.

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Answer 7

moookieee Author

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Sep 2, 2007 12:59 PM in response to hanumang

This is odd. I tried exporting a reference movie, and while in the Quicktime inspector it says that it's 23.98, when I test import the reference file in DVD-SP it will only come in as 29.97. I'm losing something in the translation here and I don't know what.

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Answer 8

hanumang

Level 6

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Sep 2, 2007 1:13 PM in response to moookieee

DanDJones wrote:
when I test import the reference file in DVD-SP it will only come in as 29.97.

Just to confirm, when you import the reference (.mov) file into DVDSP, it shows up as 29.97?

Edit: the reason I ask is that 23.98 .m2v files will always been read by DVDSP as 29.97 Non-Drop but 23.98 .mov files will be read as 23.98.

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Answer 9

moookieee Author

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Sep 2, 2007 1:13 PM in response to hanumang

That's right. When I imported the reference file (the .mov file) into DVDSP it was 29.97. Otherwise the file is ACTUALLY 23.98fps.

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Answer 10

hanumang

Level 6

9,250 points

Sep 2, 2007 1:17 PM in response to moookieee

Something is either seriously wrong here, or we're overlooking some simple setting within FCP or Compressor.

Just to narrow things down, what happens if you import material from your Capture Scratch folder into either Compressor or DVDSP? Same result? (23.98 read as 29.97?)

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Answer 11

moookieee Author

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Sep 2, 2007 1:32 PM in response to hanumang

I restarted the computer just to give it a breather. Things are still the same.

I just tried taking something from the Capture Scratch and dumping it into compressor. Luckily, it identifies the frame rate as 23.98, and after I export it, it's 23.98. But when I bring it into DVDSP it automatically identifies it as 29.97. This might be a problem with DVD SP now.

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Answer 12

moookieee Author

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Sep 2, 2007 1:56 PM in response to hanumang

Okay, figured it out: DVD SP is what's confusing me. It turns out that DVDSP identifies whatever frame rate you've got as 29.97 by virtue of the NTSC interpretation. My bad. DVD SP's manual didn't really explain that. Advice for the future: if you're working with 23.98, DVDSP will read it as 29.97 nondrop. Don't let it mess you up. Whatever you do, make sure you capture using the same frame rate as your footage. And don't use multiple frame rates in FCP5. It'll mess you up!

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Answer 13

hanumang

Level 6

9,250 points

Sep 2, 2007 2:24 PM in response to moookieee

DanDJones wrote:
It turns out that DVDSP identifies whatever frame rate you've got as 29.97 by virtue of the NTSC interpretation. My bad. DVD SP's manual didn't really explain that. Advice for the future: if you're working with 23.98, DVDSP will read it as 29.97 nondrop.

Yeah, totally confusing.

It came too late, but I actually edited an earlier post to reflect why I asked you about what DVDSP read your .mov as.

Another point to clarify: only Compressor creates 23.98 .m2v files. If you import a 23.98 .mov into DVDSP and use it's internal encoder, you'll get a true 29.97 .m2v file because the internal encoder actually adds pulldown frames. (Compressor's encodes for 23.98 adds pulldown flags instead.)

Still, very odd about FCP's output being encoded as 29.97. Hope you figure that one out...

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