Importing stills

Question

Importing stills

I'm doing some relatively rudimentary moving stills (jpgs and tifs) over XDCAM footage in 25fps. I've noticed jittering in the movement and am currently attributing it to the fact that the stills imported at 23.98.

I have changed every setting I can find to 25fps, I've restarted everything, I've even tried to bring them into a new project after everything is in 25fps. The stills keep importing as 23.98.

Mac Core 2 Duo 2.33 Laptop, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Studio 2

Posted on Nov 24, 2009 6:35 PM

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Answer 1

Jim Cookman

Level 7

23,435 points

Nov 24, 2009 7:48 PM in response to creativestuff

Check your easy setup. No matter what your sequence setting, if your easy setup is 23.98, that's how the still will be interpreted.

Kinda counter-intuitive because a still is a still, but...

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Answer 2

Nov 24, 2009 8:48 PM in response to Jim Cookman

Easy setup is PAL 25fps. 23.98. I then opened a new project, STILL in Pal 25fps. And stills import as 23.98

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Answer 3

Nov 25, 2009 4:46 PM in response to Jim Cookman

Let me clarify again. My easy setup is at PAL 25fps. The result remained that stills import as though they are 23.98fps. Old project, new project, whatever I can think of, they still import at a different frame rate than the project or time line. I can't access anything to force change of the settings of a still.

Since its a still, you wouldn't think the frame rate is significant, but when you move the still (motion controls) it jitters. Apparently FCP is trying to correct between frame rates. The time line is 25fps. The footage the still goes over is 25fps.

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Answer 4

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Nov 25, 2009 4:57 PM in response to creativestuff

Deleting FCP Preferences:

Open a Finder window. Set the view mode to columns:

Click the house icon that has your name next to it.
Click the folder "Library" in the next column.
Find and click the folder "Preferences" in the next column.
Find and click the folder "Final Cut Pro User Data" in the next column.

Move the files "Final Cut Pro 6.0 Prefs", "Final Cut Pro Obj Cache" and "Final Cut Pro Prof Cache" to the Trash and empty it.

When you have a stable set of preference files, download [Preference Manager|http://www.digitalrebellion.com/pref_man.htm] to back them up.

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Answer 5

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,089 points

Nov 25, 2009 5:07 PM in response to creativestuff

Don't worry about it. Still images are one frame. They don't have a frame rate. They're not video. FCP assigns a frame rate but it means nothing at all. You can trash preferences and reset it but it won't effect your output.

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Answer 6

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Nov 25, 2009 5:17 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Hi Tom, I work in PAL. My imported stills get a 25fps assigned.

I agree, a still does not have a frame rate so this assignment shouldn't cause a problem at all.
Let's see what happens when the prefs are trashed. Something else is to blame for the jitter though.

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Answer 7

Nov 25, 2009 6:13 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Before I get into deleting my preferences, which I already know will make all of my other settings disappear as well (what a pain in the . . . ), could you come up with another explanation or solution for why a simple still, a TIF sliding across a 25fps background (2 keyframes in the motion menu) jitters and is not smooth. In the same time line, seconds later, I've got layers of AE, in motion, alphaed over the same footage with no jitters--I assume because I rendered the AE at 25fps.

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