thewizardofoz

Q: First two frames of every clip swapped?

Hi, I have a 24fps project.  But when I import the clips into FCPX the first two frames of every clip are swapped.  So it appears like a little stutter at the beginning of every shot.  The raw shots are absolutely fine when viewed outside of FCP in Quicktime, with no weird stutter.  It is only when I import into FCP that the first two frames are swapped.  They appear like this in the media browser as well as the timeline.  Any ideas?

Posted on May 13, 2016 11:12 AM

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Q: First two frames of every clip swapped?

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  • by thewizardofoz,

    thewizardofoz thewizardofoz May 13, 2016 11:48 AM in response to thewizardofoz
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    May 13, 2016 11:48 AM in response to thewizardofoz

    Or does FCP put in an extra frame at the very beginning for some reason?

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky May 13, 2016 11:56 AM in response to thewizardofoz
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    May 13, 2016 11:56 AM in response to thewizardofoz

    Please give complete information about your system and your media and how it got into FCP.

  • by thewizardofoz,

    thewizardofoz thewizardofoz May 13, 2016 12:07 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Video
    May 13, 2016 12:07 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    The footage is individual animation shots in MP4 format - AVC Coding 1920x1080 24fps

    I'm using Final Cut Pro X 10.2.3 on a MacBook Air 2GHZ 8GB Ram.

     

    I set up a new project in FCPX and tried both setting the project to 24fps in custom and also Automatic, based on first clip in timeline.  Both have the same result.  It is like the second frame is being duplicated and put at the start of each shot.  So the frame order goes Frame 2, Frame 1, Frame 2, Frame 3 and so on.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky May 13, 2016 12:10 PM in response to thewizardofoz
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    May 13, 2016 12:10 PM in response to thewizardofoz

    Is it possible to have a piece of this media uploaded to look at? I suppose the simplest solution would be to cut off the first frame, though it would be nice to know why this is happening.

  • by thewizardofoz,

    thewizardofoz thewizardofoz May 13, 2016 12:42 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    May 13, 2016 12:42 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Sure.  Here is a shot.

    Here is the raw file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3rk3o43nak3ecsx/shot_07_wip.mp4?dl=0

    And here is the same file imported into FCPX: https://www.dropbox.com/s/py2raxtb60p7fsa/TEST%20FCPX.mov?dl=0

    Notice how in the FCPX version the boy moves backwards towards us for one frame at the beginning, when he should be just moving forward.

     

    The problem with cutting a frame off is I may have synch issues with music and sound.  I did a quick assembly in iMovie and it worked fine without this issue. But I could only export from iMovie in 23.98fps.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky May 13, 2016 12:43 PM in response to thewizardofoz
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    May 13, 2016 12:43 PM in response to thewizardofoz

    Why is the file QuickTime after you import it into FCP? When I import the file remains MPEG-4.

     

    I'm seeing something different from you. In the QTX player and in FCP the first frame is black and then the motion starts between frame 2 and 3. In the QT7 player the frame 1 and frame 2 are the same and then the motion starts between frames 2 and 3.

  • by thewizardofoz,

    thewizardofoz thewizardofoz May 13, 2016 12:55 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Video
    May 13, 2016 12:55 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    I have no idea.  I'm so confused.  Just talking about the original file for a moment - I've updated that raw link with the full shot.  When opened in Quicktime X it opens on picture and playback is fine.  But when opened in Quicktime 7, it opens on black and I can't really step through frame by frame. Do you think there is something wrong with it?

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky May 13, 2016 1:32 PM in response to thewizardofoz
    Level 10 (118,107 points)
    Apple TV
    May 13, 2016 1:32 PM in response to thewizardofoz

    Now I see what you're seeing. The QT7 player won't step through it going forward because it's AVC. It worked correctly with the H.264 file you first uploaded. The QT7 player will step through the frames going backwards. In the QT7 player the first two frames are the same, the snowflake in the lower left has no motion blur. That frame is duplicated. In the QTX player the start is correct, but the end is not. The last frame there goes back one frame, except it isn't an identical frame. If the last frame of the motion is frame 94. Frame 95, which should be the last frame of the video, is a different frame, somewhere between 93 and 94. The last frame in the QTX player definitely steps backwards. I don't see that step back in FCP. What I see as frame 94 in the QTX player is what I see as frame 95 in FCP. Frame 95 in the QTX player, I don't see in FCP. I suspect the oddities are a function of the animation being encoded in a GOP codec rather than an I-frame codec, but that's just a guess.

  • by thewizardofoz,

    thewizardofoz thewizardofoz May 13, 2016 1:35 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Video
    May 13, 2016 1:35 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Thanks Tom.  You've been a lot of help.  I'll get into it with the animator and try to figure it out.