Progressive frame rate

On my system, the 'Get Info' panel only shows the resolution, dimension & Codec. Since this is uncompressed video, there's no Codec. But there's no mentioning of frame rate. Is there anywhere else I can look?

Thanks for the replies.

My mistake. It does have a codec: Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2. But I can't find any place that tells me whether the frame rate is progressive or interlaced.

I don't have an external monitor to check for interlacing. Chances are these footages have progressive frame rate because the post house that did these transfers told me it's progressive. I just want to double-check for my own peace of mind before taking the project online.

Is there another way to check this?

td

These footages were shot on 35mm, transfered to HDCAM. It sounds like beside checking the footages visually, there's no other way to check on the frame rate. I guess I'll have to take the post house at their word.

Thanks.

td

Thanks for the detailed answer. I'm based in Vietnam and none of the local post houses have much experience in doing progressive HD since most of their work is for TVCs. I had to go to Bangkok to do the full-grade transfer (from 35mm) to HDCAM and conform in FCP. I specifically asked for 25P frame rate because this will finish in film. I wonder if they messed up (I hope that's not the case).

I just need to clarify a few things.

The reason my question came up was because as I understand it, progressive video should have no field dominance. Is this correct?

All these footages have Upper field dominance. Is this a definite indication that they're interlaced? Are there any type of HD that has an Upper field dominance?

I did a few test and got mixed result. But I'm not sure if this is because my system is not set up to do anything more than DV, and I don't have a 1080p25 Codec in my system. These are the tests I did:

Since the post house has a more recent version of FCP than I do, they gave me an XML file of the conformed project. I imported the XML, with the 'Override with setting from XML' box checked. Everything is red on the timeline, even after I changed all the timeline's settings to match the footages' settings.

However, when I create a new project, set the Sequence Settings to 1920x1080, Square pixel, Upper Field Dominance, Compressor as Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2. Import a clip directly into the FCP project and place it on this time line. It's gray.

I created a new timeline with same setting, except for Field Dominance set to NONE, the clip is still gray when placed on the timeline.

On the other hand, when I looked at one of the footages at full-size, frame by frame, on my Cinema display (I don't have an HD broadcast monitor), the edges look pretty sharp. For ex. I have a shot of a swish pan following a car speeding across the screen. There are some horizontal streaks in the background, but these look like motion blurs rather than interlaced artifacts. The edge of the car is sharp, with no jaggy. This seems to indicate that it's progressive.

My big worry is that the post house did the transfer (to tape) at 25P, but captured at 50i or 25i by mistake. Then again, if the Codec on the footages says Uncompressed 8-bit, then the captured footages should be the same as what's on the master tape, shouldn't it?

I'm thoroughly confused at this point. Anything that helps to shed light on this would be greatly appreciated.

I apologize for the lengthy note, but I figured it may help to give some backgrounds on the project. I need to get this sorted out before going online. This could be a very costly fix, especially since I'm paying for this film out of my own pocket. But at least if I catch it on time, I can minimize the damage.

Thanks again.

td

I checked with the post house that did the transfer. Evidently the frame rate they used was 50i, which I was told, is identical to 25P or technically 25Psf. The result when outputted to film will be non-interlaced. This is why FCP registers the Upper field dominance, and why the timeline is gray whether I set the Field dominance to Upper or None. This post house has done a lot of feature films with this workflow so I imagine that they would know.

I did look at a few footages with lots of movements at full-size on my monitor. They look progressive. The only time I see interlacing is when there's an odd speed change in the clips (For ex. If the speed was set at 75% or 130%, I can clearly see interlacing; but no interlacing if the speed is set at 50% or 200%).

I did a little test. I sped up a clip at an odd interval (like 165%). In FCP, I could clearly see the interlacing. However, when I captured a still frame of this footage and opened it in Photoshop at full resolution, the interlacing is gone.

I did the same thing with a clip which I know to be interlaced (PAL DV). The interlacing also showed in Photoshop.

I'm not sure if this is a definite indication that the film output will look non-interlaced, but it does help to reassure me somewhat.

Thanks again for your reply.

Thien

Field dominance usually refers to which field comes
first. Since your material is most likely
progressive, and there is no temporal difference
between the fields, it shouldn't make a difference.

This is pretty the same explanation the post house gave me. Thanks for the confirmation. It's always good to get second opinions.

td