Bumping to Tape via FCP

[Kevin McCallister]

Hey all,

In the near future, we will need to bump our feature film out of FCP 5 to a DVCAM or Beta-SP deck. Awhile back, we attempted to bump a piece of the film to Mini-DV (via a camcorder firewired into the computer) and were unable to get it to work properly, as the video was choppy during playback. I can't remember for sure but I believe the issue was something to do with the processing power required to process the advanced pulldown for the 24PA footage. Any suggestions on how to ensure a smooth and seamless transfer of the film from its FCP timeline to DVCAM or Beta-SP? I don't want any quality loss.

Thanks in advance.

[QXZ]

Are you working on a 23.98 fps timeline? Since you've mentioned 24P Advanced I assume you are.
Adding pulldown frames on the fly while going to tape (which is what must happen if you're recording to tape from a 23.98 timeline) is dangerous. I'd recommend rendering your 23.98 edit to 29.97 first and then laying off to tape from your 29.97 file. One way or another those pulldown frames have to be added back in, so better to do it ahead of time IMO.