User Guide

Chapter 4 Working With 24p and Variable Frame Rate Video 65
Working With 720p24 DVCPRO HD Video
Some DVCPRO HD camcorders, such as the Panasonic VariCam and AG-HVX200, allow
you to record 720p video at 23.98 or 24 fps. This format is commonly referred to as
720p24. The camcorder actually records at either 60 fps or 59.94 fps (for NTSC
compatibility), but some frames are duplicated and tagged for easy removal.
Final Cut Pro can remove the redundant frames during or after capture.
The steps below explain the workflow for capturing and outputting 24p video using
the 720p24 DVCPRO HD format.
Step 1: Shoot 720p at 23.98 fps
1 On the camcorder, set the frame rate to 24 fps.
2 Make sure the NTSC option is enabled.
This means you are actually recording at 59.94 fps and the shutter is operating at
23.98 fps. Since Final Cut Pro can only capture and output DVCPRO HD over FireWire
when an NTSC-related frame rate is used, it is important that the NTSC option is
enabled on the camcorder.
Step 2: Remove duplicate frames during capture
Choose or create a capture preset that has the “Remove Advanced Pulldown and/or
Duplicate During Capture From FireWire Sources” checkbox selected. Duplicate video
fields are discarded during capture, resulting in a 720p24 media file on disk after capture.
If you have already captured your video at 59.94 fps, you can remove duplicate frames
from your media file after capture.
To remove duplicate frames from your media files after capture:
m Select the 720p60 clips in the Browser, then choose Tools > Remove Advanced Pulldown.
Your media files will remain the same size, but they will be set to play back at 23.98 fps.
Note: If no duplicate frames are detected, the media file remains at 59.94 fps.
Step 3: Edit at 23.98 fps
You can edit your footage in a 720p24 (23.98 fps) sequence. If you want to preview your
video on an external monitor while you are editing, duplicate frames are automatically
added whenever you view your DVCPRO HD video via FireWire. This means the FireWire
video output is always 59.94 fps.
To view your video on an external monitor, you can connect your computer to a
DVCPRO HD deck via a FireWire cable, and then connect a monitor to the output
of the deck.