Frame rate question

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Hello! I'm trying to adopt a new (read: proper) vidding method and have a question about frame rates. I posted to vidding_tech (along with a separate question about editing directly with avisynth files) but didn't get any bites -- any advice you may have would be fantastic.

The question is: At the moment I'm working with Stargate: Atlantis DVDs, which come up as 29.97 FPS and FILM. When I make the D2Vs, I choose FORCE FILM, which makes them 23.976 FPS and avoids any pesky interlacing. However, I'm told that Premiere Pro doesn't like 23.976 and that I should add a line to my AviSynth scripts saying AssumeFPS(23.98) and edit that way.

BUT! What do I do once I've exported the complete, edited vid? I was reading the Encode to MPEG for con distribution instructions because that's what VividCon requires, and there is no option for 23.98 FPS. Is there a simple line to add to the new AviSynth script for the AVI? Or does it require other steps? Meanwhile, does it matter for online distribution? And does any of this affect the separate audio file I'll have exported?

Comments

[obsessive24.livejournal.com]

Oh god, I'm so not techie enough to answer this properly, but in lieu of anyone else giving much much more learned advice, I'm going to take a stab. :)

For submission to Vividcon, you should follow the instructions on this page (http://www.vividcon.com/mpeg2.shtml), and specifically you should download the LlamaEnc program which will convert your vid to the Vividcon specs required. I'm really hoping that you're on a PC, because I have no idea what to do with a Mac. :)

After installing LlamaEnc, you should export a master file (probably an uncompressed AVI) based on your project specs, namely 23.98 FPS. Then you should load the master file into LlamaEnc, which will then automatically spit out a m2v/wav pair that fits the specs required for Vividcon. Off the top of my head it could either be 29.97FPS or 23.976FPS... either way, as long as it came out of LlamaEnc that way, it should be acceptable for Vividcon.

As for online distribution through an Xvid AVI file or other web distribution format, I don't think it matters what FPS you use, so it should be fine to distribute using your project settings of 23.98.

And does any of this affect the separate audio file I'll have exported?
It shouldn't to the best of my knowledge. However to be sure I would recommend that you submit to VVC the m2v/wav pair that LlamaEnc spits out, rather than a separate audio file that you've exported directly from the program.

Hope that was helpful. And if anyone cares to chime in and point out all the places where I've gone completely wrong, please feel free. :)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

That seems like a good solution for now -- I will give it a whirl and see how it turns out. Thank you x1,000 for the suggestion!

[absolutedestiny.livejournal.com]

Premiere Pro likes 23.976 just fine, it was older versions of Premiere (such as 6.5) that couldn't handle it properly.

[marycrawford.livejournal.com]

*heaves giant sigh of relief*

Thank you! I am working with 23.976 source at the mo (in Premiere Pro CS3) and I remembered there were supposedly issues but not what they were, or what to do about them. Glad to hear it's no longer a problem.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Alas, my version of Premiere Pro (which is not the newest) doesn't include 23.976 in the setup menu options, so I'm using AssumeFPS(23.98). But from other comments it looks like it's not as big of a deal to export etc. as it sounded.