Created a 24p project in AE, need to export for broadcast - Now what do I do?
 

Hello,

So I'm working on a 30-second spot that will be broadcast on television. I shot my footage in 24p and created an AE project with a 23.976 framerate. To get it to the post house to transfer and dub, I'll need an uncompressed AVI or QT file. I am not sure what the proper framerate should be, and whether I should change it in my Comp Settings, Render Settings, or Output Module.

Do I need to get the framerate to 29.97? Can I keep it at 23.976? Did I completely screw myself by doing things this way?

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

I was always told by the engineers at the TV station I worked for that anything destined to be sent over the airwaves has to conform to the NTSC standard, which is 29.97 fps. So as a rule, if I know I'm creating content for something like a TV commercial or anything I know will end up on TV, I'll just create it using 30fps/NTSC settings. It bypasses that whole 2-3 pulldown thing which always gives me headaches by just thinking about it!

A typical 30-second spot for TV at 30 fps will have 900 frames, while your 24 fps spot will only have 720 frames. That means your system will have to generate the remaining 180 frames (6 seconds) out of what's already there!

In your position, I would try rendering it out as 29.97 fps and see how it looks. I suppose another more convoluted idea would be to burn it to a DVD at 24fps, and then recapture from the DVD disc into your NLE, since the player will have to process the pulldown before it outputs to your monitor.

Personally, I think 24 fps is just a headache and should only be used if you're going to transfer to film, but that's just my humble opinion. There are plenty of people here that think the the world of 24 fps, so they might be able to shed more light on this than I can. Good Luck!

Hi Joshua,

You're not screwed at all. I used to have to do this because I shoot on a PAL camera and would slow down the footage to 23.976. You've set up your project as if it originated on film and now you just have to set your output so that it works in a broadcast environment.

FROM MAGIC BULLET FRAMES MANUAL (slightly reworded):
Send your project to the Render Queue . Go to the Render Settings and choose the Best Settings preset. Set the Field Render option in the Render Queue to the field order that matches your video card (if in doubt, start with lower field first), and select the last choice from the 3:2 Pulldown menu (WWSSW) in the Render Settings dialog.

You'll notice that the frame rate will have changed to 29.97.

You're now good to go. Don't be alarmed when you see interlace in in the final video (when viewing on your monitor). Essentially, you've had to add it to conform to 29.976 FPS; but, on TV it will look like progressive-originated material, the same as any film.

Finally, if you have a weird stuttering effect happening, reverse the field order and try again.

Good luck!

Tom and Shawn, thank you both very much for your information. I feel a lot more confident now.