Magic Bullet Deinterlace

[Huy Vu]

I have Magic Bullet 2.1 for AE 7 but I've mostly just been using it for the Look Suite function. But lately I've been considering doing a short in 60i (on an FX1) and then deinterlace into 24p. I shot some test footages and downconvert in-camera to SD and tried the 24p Magic Bullet function. The problem is that the output displays significant interlacing and ghosting, both when I view it independently and when I import into PP2.0 24p timeline. Not only that, the overall color of the footage becomes very saturated and is noticeably different from the original even though I did not color correct it (I'll post some screen grab of this soon). I've followed the manual instruction to the letter but there is one point that I'm confused on. Here's what I did:

1. Interpret the footage. Set separate fields to "Off"
2. Create new composition. Set Frame Rate to 23.976. Drop footage to comp.
3. Apply Magic Bullet. Use Auto Setup. Everything checks out fine.
4. Make sure that "Do deinterlace" is On.
5. Add to render queue. Set Field Order to Lower Field First. Choose 3:2 Pulldown as WWSSW.
6. Here's the confusing part. As soon as I choose the pulldown, the Frame Rate menu goes from the default "Use Comp's Frame Rate" to Use This Frame Rate, which is set at 29.97. The manual mentions nothing about this. Should I leave it at 29.97 or should I type in 23.976 instead? What's the different between the two?

If anyone here has used Magic Bullet to deinterlace successfully, I would really appreciate a sample output so that I can see what the result is supposed to look like. In the meantime, any experience on how to do this properly would be great.

Thanks.

BTW: Those test footage I shot I used Cineframe30 on the FX1. Does this make a different? I'm not really looking for a debate on whether Cineframe30 is "good" or not, just wondering if it will impact my final output.

[Sacksnack]

Magic Bullet only works on interlaced footage, so I would think the cineframe option on the FX1 would produce odd results.

If you select lower field first and add the 3:2 pulldown to your file then the frame rate will be 29.97.

If I remember correctly, if you select no fields, and you don't add the pulldown, you will be at 23.976, but you will need to adjust your audio to sync up with the video.

I haven't used the Bullet in a while since I got a DVX so I'm running off memory here. But maybe this is enough to help you out. Maybe I'll run a few tests later and check for sure.
-Kevin

[ProLost]

Here's the confusing part. As soon as I choose the pulldown, the Frame Rate menu goes from the default "Use Comp's Frame Rate" to Use This Frame Rate, which is set at 29.97. The manual mentions nothing about this. Should I leave it at 29.97 or should I type in 23.976 instead? What's the different between the two?

Hi Jade,

When you write out a movie with pulldown AE automatically changes the frame rate to 29.97 fps because that's the correct new frame rate. You're still rendering 24p frames, but after the pulldown is added the movie must have a frame rate of 29.97. Does that make sense?

However, there may not be any need to use pulldown. If you just write out 23.976fps material directly, PPro will work with that just fine in a 23.976 fps timeline. This would be the better workflow in my opinion, but it's up to you.

Did you try contacting Red Giant (http://www.redgiantsoftware.com) for support? They're very helpful.

-Stu

[Huy Vu]

Magic Bullet only works on interlaced footage, so I would think the cineframe option on the FX1 would produce odd results.

-Kevin

Thanks! But I read that the Cineframe option on the FX1 only simulates pseudo 30p and it's not actually true progressive, so I wonder how MB is looking at it. Does anyone actually know what the Cineframe30 option does?

I'll definitely try rendering it again without the pulldown and see what happens.

[Huy Vu]

I did a new test today without applying the pulldown. The results improved (no more ghosting) but I can still see interlaced lines in the footage. If my footage is progressive, then why does this happens?