Issue trying to conform 60p in a 24p timeline

so i shot a wedding last weekend, and i shot it all in 24p (23.98) 1080. i had one shot that was 60p (59.94) 720. I'm trying to get that to be a slow motion shot in my video on my timeline.

my timeline is set to 1080 23.98.

i drop the shot in that's in 60p, and then set it to automatic speed (it sets it to 40%). i let it render out, but when i watch it back frame by frame, every other frame is a repeated frame. idk what's going on. i never had this problem before trying to conform 60p footage into 24p footage for smooth slow motion footage.

what am i doing wrong?

sorry, forgot to mention, i'm on 10.1.1

more updates, i shot the footage at 720 60p like i stated before, and fcpx even describes the clip as 60p, but when i drop it in a 60p timeline, and i go frame by frame, i can tell that it's duplicating every other frame.

then i dropped it into a timeline that's at 30p, and went frame by frame and it doesn't duplicate anything, each frame is unique. but then i changed the speed on the clip to 'automatic', and it slowed it down 50% (as it should if the clip is 60p), but when i go frame by frame, i notice it's still duplicating each other frame.

i recorded the clip in 60p, but it's almost as if when i bought it into fcpx, it brought it in as 30p, but is labeling it as 60p and treating it as 60p. i have no idea what's going on

It would be good to know with what camera you have recorded the clip and what format it was shot in. If this was shot in some PSF format this would explain everything.

Another thing you can do: download MediaInfo to check the true settings of the clip. You can download it from the App store at a low fee, or you can get e free GUI version here: mediaarea.net/nl/MediaInfo/Download/Mac_OS

- Ronny

I recorded it on the Panasonic HMC-40. It records in AVCHD format. And thanks for the link to that MediaInfo App! Downloaded it

I looked at the .MTS file that's still sitting on the card it was recorded on, and MediaInfo says the following...

20.5 Mbps, 1280*720 (16:9), at 59.940 fps, AVC (High@L4.0) (CABAC / 4 Ref Frames)

I then looked at the .MOV that final cut pro x created for the file after it transcoded it to bring into fcpx. here is the information for that file as well. it's pretty much the same though...

20.4 Mbps, 1280*720 (16:9), at 59.940 fps, AVC (High@L4.0) (CABAC / 4 Ref Frames)
Core Media
Video

So it's saying the file is 59.94fps, so idk why fcpx is having a hard time conforming it to 24fps on a 24fps timeline. i use to do this all the time with fcpx and this exact camera. i'm thinking maybe it's some kind of bug with the new fcpx version. is there a way to reset the preference files or some equivalent to that from FCP7 and earlier?

Thank you for this information. It seems indeed that FCP X is treating this clip as 60i instead of 60p. I know this camera shoots 1080p60 over 60i (PSF), which would explain any possible misinterpretation by the NLE.

But as you have shot in 720p60 which according to Panasonic is native 60p, and as you have been able to achieve perfect slomo from this camera using the same 60 fps recording format on a 42p timeline, there obviously is something wrong.

Select the clip in the browser and go to the Inspector > Info tab. Select the Settings view and look at the Field Dominance Override. If it is set to Progressive, change it to None Set. If it is set to anything else, change it to Progressive. Then try again.

If this does not help: reset the Field Dominance Override to its original setting and optimize your clip to ProRes (R-click the clip, choose Transcode Media > Create Optimized Media). Then try again.

If this still does not help: refresh your FCP X preferences. The easiest way for doing this is by using a free utility called Preference Manager X: www.digitalrebellion.com/prefman/

Note: when running the current version of Mavericks it is best to restart the computer after having trashed the FCP X preferences and before relaunching FCP X.

If none of these help: post back.

-Ronny

tried all the above options with no luck. I'll try this weekend to record another 60p clip with the camera and bring that into FCPX and see if it's still causing the same problem to try and eliminate the cause being just one horribly corrupted file.

Ok, so, I have no idea what's going on.

I used my Panasonic HMC-40 camera that records in AVCHD and recorded another 60p clip. Brought it into FCPX and it still gives me the same problem. It says it's 60p footage, but it doesn't act like it. I put it into a 24p timeline, change the speed to automatic (it slows it down to 40%), and then i go frame by frame it it repeated every other frame.

THEN i did a test with my second camera. It's the Canon VIXIA HFR500. I recorded a 60p clip as an MP4 file, and it worked perfectly when i dropped it in FCPX and into a 24p timeline. I was able to set the speed to automatic (40% speed), and it played back each unique frame one at a time for true slow motion. Then I changed the Canon camera to record in AVCHD format, and did another 60p clip. That worked just as well.

So it seems to only be 60p clips that are recorded from my Panasonic HMC-40 camera that aren't working, which is my original camera I've had for years now. I've never had a problem using the 60p clips in the timeline before, because I use them on a regular basis with FCPX ever since I got FCPX when it first came out.

So idk if the newest update to FCPX has some kinda glitch in it or if it just doesn't support the AVCHD format from my Panasonic HMC-40 camera. But i didn't think there were different types of AVCHD formats, so idk how it can work with one camera and not the other.

Thoughts? Should I call Apple or Panasonic for this?

Are you running the latest version of Mavericks?

-Ronny

yea, 10.9.2

Okay, and has this exact setup worked with FCPX 10.1.1 and Mavericks 10.9.2 or did it change after upgrading?

-Ronny

bradywurtz wrote: ...I used my Panasonic HMC-40 camera that records in AVCHD and recorded another 60p clip. Brought it into FCPX and it still gives me the same problem. It says it's 60p footage, but it doesn't act like it...

How did you import the AVCHD clips? If the individual .mts files were copied from your camera card, then imported, it might be missing some metadata. It's generally better to import from the AVCHD package. Just want to ensure you are importing from HMC-40 and HFR500 the exact same way.

Also were you testing the 60p footage from both cameras on the same 24p project, or two different projects?

If you did and still have the behavior, you could try re-wrapping the HMC-40 AVCHD files with ClipWrap or similar. That would be a workaround; If 60p->24p works on the HFR500, it should work on the HMC-40.

ah, that's the thing i don't remember. i can't remember the last time i updated FCPX since the Mac App store does the updates automatically for me now while i'm not by the computer. But i'm almost 100% positive i've done it before on Mavericks 10.9.2

I import them just by plugging in my SDHC card into the iMac, then opening up FCPX and clicking the import button. From there, FCPX opens it's import screen and shows me that i have my sdhc card plugged into the computer on the left column. i click on the image of my sdhc card, and then fcpx shows me a list of all the clips on the card. I then click 'import selected' or 'import all' depending on what i want pulled in. I do this since this is the preferred way that FCPX has you import footage.

I did however go into the AVCHD package a while ago to try and pull the .MTS file out by itself and see how it worked when put back into FCPX, and it still didn't help.

I've tried testing both 60p footage from both cameras on the same 24p project AND in separate projects just to make sure the project was wrong. I've made so many different projects just trying to trouble shoot and see what the problem is. I even tried all of this on my Macbook Pro which also has the latest version of Mavericks and FCPX. Same problem on the Macbook Pro as the iMac.

What is ClipWrap exactly?

bradywurtz wrote: ...
What is ClipWrap exactly?

It's a utility to rapidly convert AVCHD files to a more Mac-friendly format without transcoding: www.divergentmedia.com/clipwrap

There are other free utilities which do this. I cannot vouch for these and have never used them:

Free AVCHD to MOV converter: itunes.apple.com/us/app/id675103877?mt=12
Rewrap AVCHD: www.macupdate.com/app/mac/39800/rewrapavchd

In theory you don't need these since FCP X is supposed to import AVCHD directly with no problems. However some users as a standard ingest procedure re-wrap all AVCHD.

This excellent tutorial on codecs and containers explains some of the background:

I'm having this problem now (found via google search).... were you able to figure it out?

Same issue, tho I could have sworn it's worked fine before.

Still the same issue here. And yes, you're not crazy, it did work before in earlier versions of FCPX. I know it did because it was part of my regular workflow.

I have, however, purchased a new camera, and have noticed it works on my new camera but not my old.

My old camera is a Panasonic HMC-40. It shoots in AVCHD where when you look at the SDHC card, it has an AVCHD Content file that is a package, where you have to right click, open package, to reveal what's inside. then you have to right click, open package on the BDMV file, then go to the Stream folder, and you will find the .MTS files for the video. This is how to find the files from the SDHC card. However, I never retrieve the files this way. I just plug my card into FCPX, go to the Media Import icon, and it shows me all my clips on my card, and i import from there. But, if you import the actual .MTS file itself, instead of going through FCPX's Media Import, it does the same thing. Still doesn't work when trying to retime it on a 24p timeline.

I've even tested to make sure that it isn't an issue with the optimized media, or proxy media. If you just use the file as is, without generating either of those files, it still does the same thing, it just doesn't work.

MEDIA INFORMATION FROM .MTS FILE FROM PANASONIC HMC-40:
Codec: H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part10) (h264)
Frame rate: 119.880120
Decoded format: Planar 4:2:0 YUV

However, my new camera works just fine. The Nikon D7100 saves the file on the SDHC card under DCIM folder, and just saves the file as a .MOV. When i put that file into my computer and load it into FCPX and drop it on a 24p timeline and conform it to automatic speed, it's smooth playback, with each frame a unique frame. Unlike when i do the same to the 60p footage from the Panasonic, which plays back with duplicate frames almost every other frame.

MEDIA INFORMATION FROM .MOV FILE FROM NIKON D7100:
Codec: H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part10)(avc1)
Frame rate: 59.940060
Decoded format: Planar 4:2:0 YUV full scale


NOTE: MEDIA INFORMATION WAS PULLED FROM USING THE MEDIA INFORMATION OPTION IN VLC PLAYER.


So apparently, it has something to do with .MTS file from the AVCHD format. Not quite sure why VLC says my .MTS file has a frame rate of 119.880120, but i'm sure this has something to do with it all as well. Even though the Info tab on FCPX tells me all my files, both the .MTS files and the .MOV files, are all 59.94p frame rate.

Can anyone shed some light on this situation?

NEW UPDATE:

Turns out with the AVCHD footage from the Panasonic HMC-40, it specifically HATES 60p footage. It doesn't know how to handle it. if you shoot 720 60p footage and put it in a 720 60p timeline, it plays back with every other frame as a duplicate, with only 30 unique frames in the footage. Basically, it's lying to you. It's telling you the footage is 60p, it was originally shot in 60p, but FCPX is only showing you 30 unique frames in the footage. and that's when viewing it on a timeline set for 720 60p! Where it should playback normal! Even going frame by frame on the file in the inspector for the project that it's in, you will see it duplicates each other frame, so it's a problem before it even gets put into a timeline.

I even went ahead and recorded footage on my Panasonic in 720 24p, 720 30p, 720 60p, 1080 24p, and 1080 30p. Everyone of these files worked perfectly with the correct number of frames in the footage EXCEPT for the 720 60p footage.

I'm going to attempt putting the Panasonic camera's 720 60p footage into a 720 60p timeline in Adobe Premiere Pro as soon as I go into work this morning, and I will updated on if it works or not. This should resolve the issue as a Camera problem, a FCPX problem, or a missing codec problem

Well, i took the 720 60p footage and loaded it up into Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 at my work, and it's doing the same thing. If i watch it back, it only has 30 unique frames in the 60 frames it has. Not sure what in the world is going on, but apparently I can no longer use 60p footage from this camera anymore on any editing system. Use to be able to use it all the time. Would use it as a normal workflow at least once every two months or so. apparently the internet has put out a curse on me.

if anyone else has any clue as to why 1080 30p footage, 1080 24p footage, 720 24p footage, and 720 30p footage works fine, but ONLY 720 60p footage doesn't actually play back normally, please let me know.

again, Premiere Pro is saying the footage is 59.94fps. I put it in a timeline for 59.94fps. but when i go onto the timeline and use the left and right arrow keys to go frame by frame, every other frame is a duplicate. There are only 30 unique frames out of the 60 frames I get per second.