Final Cut Sees 720/30P as 60P

J

jb.

Veteran
This is probably something simple, but I recorded a good amount of footage this weekend with the HMC set on 720/30P. When I do a log and transfer in FCP or a convert in Toast 9, it sees it as 59.97 fps. So, when it's played back, it's 2x speed.

How do I force FCP to see the footage as 30fps?
 
Does your timeline need to be setup as 30p? Not sure if there is an easy setup for this in FCP, don't think there is in FCE.

Alternatively, could you change the speed setting to 50%?

Stuart
 
Speed remapping won't work because the audio for the clip plays realtime, so dropping the speed to 50% makes it slow.

It's not that my timeline is set up for 30p, it's that the footage is recorded in 30p. I thought I had it setup for 60p, but it's at 30p and I'd like to salvage it. It plays back fine from the camera and even in the log and transfer window, but when it's imported and transcoded to ProRes (or anything else) it plays back double-speed with normal-speed audio.

Converting in Toast yields the same results.

I have CS4 coming this week, so I may just have to break down and edit this project in Premiere... but this is disappointing behavior from Final Cut Pro. I'd previously recorded stuff in 1080i/30p and it came out just fine... not sure why the drop in resolution is giving FCP fits.
 
I worked on stuff last week that was shot primarily in 720/30p, and after trying several different things (using both Toast 9 and FCP) here's what I had to do:

1. Log & Transfer video & audio thru FCP. You'll end up with 30p footage that the computer believes to be 59.97. This footage will play back at double speed.

2. Using Cinema Tools, conform this footage to 30p (alternately, change the speed in FCP with command-J or the motion tab). This leaves you with video that runs at the proper speed and audio that sounds deep and demonic, and is no longer synced to your video.

3. Fire up Log & Transfer again. Import only audio (uncheck the "Video" box in the "Import Settings" panel). This audio will be at the correct speed & pitch.

4. Sync up the newly imported audio with your conformed video.

PITA, right? It worked for my small project (~1.5 hrs footage). There's probably an easier way, but until FCP decides to work well with AVCHD, I'll be avoiding 30p for anything but overcranked MOS footage.

/acronyms
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top