EDITING 24P IN FINAL CUT PRO

Editing in 24P
By Noah Kadner

The advent of 24p cameras like the Panasonic DVX100A and the Canon XL-2 has provided filmmakers with exciting new creative possibilities. 24p is a method of photographing 24 frames per second and then recording to DV tape, giving the high-end look of film with the ease and economy of standard DV.

This has also led to some confusion when handling 24p material in Final Cut Pro. The main concept to understand is that the footage on the tape is actually 29.97 DV, just like any standard NTSC camera. This happens because the camera photographs at 24 frames per second and then performs a 3:2 pulldown to conform the footage to 29.97 on the tape. Cameras like the DVX100A and the XL2 have a special shooting mode referred to as 24p Advanced or 24pA, which results in footage with a 2:3:3:2 pulldown that can be automatically detected and removed by FCP. The simplest way to deal with 24pA footage is to use the Easy Setup provided in FCP

1. Select Easy Setup from the File menu and then check the Show All checkbox. Choose the DV NTSC 24p (23.98) Advanced Pulldown Removal preset and click the Setup Button.

You’ll now be set with the correct capture and sequence settings. Let’s take a closer look at what these settings do.

2. In the Capture Tab of our Audio/Video settings, the frame rate chosen by this preset is 29.97. At the bottom of the Summary it should read: Removal of Advanced Pulldown and/or Duplicate Frames from Firewire Sources is enabled.

This is the key to the whole process: the footage must first be captured intact at 29.97 from Firewire, and then the proper frames can be removed by FCP after capture to result in true 24p footage.

3. Create a New Sequence and look at the Sequence Settings. The editing timebase is 23.98 and the Field Dominance drop down is greyed out. We can now edit 24p material in its native format.

4. Let’s take a look at the new sequence.

We should see no rendering required. If red render bars appear above any footage on the timeline, go back through your sequence and capture presets and confirm the above settings match. Also make sure the footage was shot using the 24p Advanced mode of the camera.