Re: AVCHD footage choppy after import to FCP 10.3
 

William,
Here is the link to a brief clip until I upload one in Vimeo.

Regards Gregg.

Re: AVCHD footage choppy after import to FCP 10.3
 

That looks very much like 24 fps progressive judder to me - that's why I prefer interlaced.

Re: AVCHD footage choppy after import to FCP 10.3
 

Interlaced looks awful on modern screens. Why would you shoot interlaced at all? If you want to eliminate judder, shoot 60p.

Re: AVCHD footage choppy after import to FCP 10.3
 

I could spend hours filming trains at a working freight yard, you are very lucky.

There was very little motion blur when I would still frame the movie so I am assuming that the camera was on a faster shutter than 1/48. It might be 1/120 but I am guessing. I am not familiar with the working of your camera but I do know that some cameras, if put on full automatic, will use faster shutter settings as a way to control exposure in bright daylight situations if there isn't a neutral density filter on the lens. Works OK for people being interviewed but action can look odd. 24p (or 23.97) should normally be 1/48 shutter. 25p - 1/50. 30p - 1/60. These look the most natural for those frame rates.

Re: AVCHD footage choppy after import to FCP 10.3
 

Hi William,
That video cost me $15.000.and a trip halfway round the world..LOL I've always been a fan of US railroads.
You are spot on , that was shot at 120 at 25fps. I was trying a few different shutter speeds but I still get the jitters at 50 sec at 25fps. I shoot on manual and the camera has three ND filters. The problem is the footage is silky smooth when played on the camera regardless of shutter speeds? So the plot thickens I guess. I have more than 10hrs of footage from the States so I ant it to look the best it can.
Gregg.

Re: AVCHD footage choppy after import to FCP 10.3
 

It's obvious the camera settings. I can't believe you could be shooting such a thing @25fps. Just changing setting without an understanding of what you're doing is a recipe for disaster. The camera playback is not designed as a definitive representation of the actual video. It be like saying something is wrong with your computer because it looked brighter in your camera's viewfinder.

Re: AVCHD footage choppy after import to FCP 10.3
 

I'd suggest you put a native clip on Dropbox or whatever and we can have look ourselves.
I shoot 25p most of the time and stick to a 180 degree shutter whenever possible (which is almost always).

Re: AVCHD footage choppy after import to FCP 10.3
 

Hi Duncan,
I will get a clip up there shortly. I have tried 180 degree shutter at both 25p and 50p, no difference in smoothness and I actually prefer 25p overall.

Gregg.

Re: AVCHD footage choppy after import to FCP 10.3
 

It depends what your distribution format is to be - B'cast tv is interlaced and Blurry does not support 50fps.