The be-all end all slow motion thread

[Peter_Gaudry]

In searching on this and the apple forum, it seems we're all having hit and miss results with slow motion in FCP. I shot a small film recently in 60i and had some slo mo in it, which looked great until run on a tv, then I got the strobing.

I have my heart set on shooting 24pa, but I've heard the slowmo strobing is bad in FCP. If I got some bad results with 60i, then I shudder to think how bad it is with 24pa.

Do any of you masters have advice for a good Workflow with respect to slow motion in FCP? Ie what works, what should be avoided, good settings, step by steps?

Also, I'll be shooting a wedding soon in 24pa, which is almost all slow motion. What are the traps to avoid giving the happy couple a 'strobing' dvd, and turning them unhappy very quickly?

Finally, would shooting in 30p aleviate any of these probs? Is it a happy 'middle ground' for avoiding some slow mo strobing?

 

[Barry_Green]

Re: The be-all end all slow motion thread

Don't know a thing about FCP, but if you want smooth slow motion, ditch the progressive-scan modes and shoot in 60i. 60i can slow down exquisitely in Vegas, I'm sure FCP can garner similar results. 24P is the worst mode to shoot in if you want to slow the footage down in post.

 

[Todd_Mattson]

Re: The be-all end all slow motion thread

You CAN shoot in 24Pa, and get buttery smooth slow motion - but not in Final Cut Pro alone. You need to get RE: Vision's Twixtor, which actually "tweens" frames, much like a 3D animation program, unlike the frame blending or doubling most editing programs use - therefore no strobing.

 

[Peter_Gaudry]

Re: The be-all end all slow motion thread

Thanks for the input gents. I'd heard about twixtor, and wasn't sure if it was truly up to the hype. If so, it might be worth spending the cash. Am I also going to avoid having the strobing that exists once I play it on a tv? I was a little suprised when my 60i footage was strobing once put on a tv, but it's doing it across different kinds of tv so it must be the footage.

How about 24pa settings (shutter speed and the like) to get the best slow-mo later in FCP? Do they make a difference?

 

[Caveman]

Re: The be-all end all slow motion thread


If you can, shoot at a slightly faster shutter speed (light allowing). Like 120 . But if you can afford it definitely go with twixtor ... it works well.
I've pulled off pretty good slow-motion in FCHD at shutter speed of 60 in 24pa but I was only slowing it down like to 60% or 70% and I added just a little motion blur. I'll post on my site when I load up my demo reel but it probably won't be for like 2 weeks or so. Hope this helps a little.

;D CAVEMAN ;D