24FPS to 60FPS question

[Neutral]

Hi guys,

So I'm having a bit of trouble with a project I just directed.
I shot almost everything at 59.94fps. Thinking the video files would play back at 59.94fps. I do this for most of my projects. I bring them onto a 23.976fps timeline. This way if a certain scene isn't long enough I have the option to slow it down.

Well my DP just gave me the files, and it looks like everything that was shot in 59.94fps is actually already conformed to 23.976fps. So it's already in slowmotion. I thought, no big deal. 23.976 x 2.5 = 59.94. So I just increase the speed of the clips by 250% and they should be back in real time. However when I'm doing this they're definitely not playing back in real time. They're slightly sped up. I can tell everything is moving a little quickly.

What am I doing wrong here? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Cary Knoop]

I would ask the DP for an explanation first.

 

[David Jimerson]

Hi guys,

So I'm having a bit of trouble with a project I just directed.
I shot almost everything at 59.94fps. Thinking the video files would play back at 59.94fps. I do this for most of my projects. I bring them onto a 23.976fps timeline.

Footage will not play back as 59.94 on a 23.976 timeline. Pretty much any NLE will resample it to 23.976.

This way if a certain scene isn't long enough I have the option to slow it down.

I'm not sure I get what this means. If you decide that you need a scene to be a little bit longer, you put the footage into slo-mo? This does not strike me as a very good approach. Slo-mo should be used for effect, not as a catch-all solution for extending scenes.

Well my DP just gave me the files, and it looks like everything that was shot in 59.94fps is actually already conformed to 23.976fps.

Meaning the files he gave you are 23.976 timebase?

So it's already in slowmotion.

Sounds like he might have been shooting a variable frame rate of 60p but recording in a timebase of 23.976. Is there sound?

I thought, no big deal. 23.976 x 2.5 = 59.94. So I just increase the speed of the clips by 250% and they should be back in real time. However when I'm doing this they're definitely not playing back in real time. They're slightly sped up. I can tell everything is moving a little quickly.

What am I doing wrong here? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Honestly, what you're doing wrong is the entire process. If you're planning a 24 fps (23.976) project, you should be shooting in 23.976. You should not be shooting everything in 59.94 and then converting it in post.

If you want slo-mo, you should be planning in pre-production what's going to be slo-mo and then shoot those portions, and only those portions, in 59.94 (or higher if the camera allows it).

I don't want to be too brutal here, but what you're describing overall is a process of poor planning, which is giving you all kinds of unnecessary problems.

As for the footage you have now, based on what you've said, I get the idea that it was a 59.94 VFR recorded as 23.976, making everything slo-mo. There may not be a perfect a solution for you, other than to reshoot.