Cannot print to tape using a 24p framerate

[Bill Binder]

I may be wrong here, but most of those "true" 24p cameras are recording 29.97 fps with a 3-2-2-3 pulldown inserted. This allows the editor to easily strip out just the 24p from the 29.97 video once loaded into Vegas. And theoretically, you should be able to print BOTH 2-3 and 2-3-3-2 pulldown 24p to tape because BOTH are just a standard 29.97 60i NTSC signal like all other video is. Just because someone says 24p doesn't mean it's actually "saved" that way to tape. Maybe I'm wrong, but all cameras that are recording NTSC to MiniDV tape are actually recording at 29.97, it just has the pulldown inserted.

[Stephen van Vuuren]

I have the same exact problem with Vegas 6 and did not find a fix in the Sony Forums a few months ago.

[Jarrod Whaley]

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread....

I'm having this problem too with Vegas 6.0d and it's driving me crazy. I'd like to archive a widescreen 24p project on tape with pulldown intact so that I can potentially go to 24p DVD later. The project is on a 24p timeline. The only print-to-tape template that Vegas will let me use is plain old vanilla NTSC DV--it won't even let me do an interlaced anamorphic widescreen PTT. I have tried to print to an XL2 and a GL1--no dice on either camera.

Please tell me there's something I can do to make this work. BTW, Edward's earlier suggestion of turning on the camera before starting Vegas doesn't seem to work for me.

[David Jimerson]

You should have a full range of 24p options in the drop-down when the Print to Tape dialogue box comes up. Is there no down arrow in the field where it says NTSC DV?

You'll want to pick the Widescreen with 2-3-3-2 pulldown option.

[Jarrod Whaley]

David--Thanks for the reply.

I do get the drop-down menu, and eveything seems to be working fine immediately after I select 24p 2-3-3-2 widescreen. The problem arises when the dialogue box gets to the screen where you select which method of device control you want to use. When I get to that point, all of the options are greyed out and all it allows me to do is hit the "back" button.

[Stephen van Vuuren]

My understanding of this issue is that you can only Print to Tape at 29.97 NTSC DV (either 4:3 or Widescreen) to a NTSC DV device.

To get 24p on tape, you must first render a AVI with pulldown 2:3 or 2:3:3:2 inserted, drop that AVI in a 29.97 project and print to tape.

I may have missed some function somewhere but thats all thats worked for me.

[David Jimerson]

Well, the point of the pulldown is to bring it up to 29.97. Vegas will insert the pulldown and you should be able to print to tape using any camcorder or deck.

If you render with pulldown, then drop into a 29.97 project and print as NTSC DV, you will lose all of your pulldown information -- and you don't want to do that, especially if your plan is to make a 24p DVD.

Weird -- I just got the same problem. And whoever posted earlier is correct; it was never a problem in V5.

What I'm seeing right now is that I'm not able to print to tape no matter what the project settings are.

I think it's a bug, and an intermittent one at that.

[Jarrod Whaley]

Stephen--

Then what is the purpose of Vegas offering several varieties of 24p template for print-to-tape purposes? My feeling is that is has to be possible to do this, and it really should be. I see no reason why the XL2 and DVX can write progressive to tape using pulldown while shooting but not from an NLE. That doesn't make sense.

David--

I'm glad I'm not crazy or stupid. :) Seems like a very major bug to me. I hope I don't have to reinstall V5 just to do this.

[David Jimerson]

It looks like it's a general print-to-tape bug in Vegas 6, not something having to do with 24p.

Any time you print to tape, it must be 29.97, because that's what NTSC DV is. Inserting the pulldown allows you to remove it and extract the 24p frames later.

[Stephen van Vuuren]

I've always assumed that template was just a mirage for devices that "could" do it but since most DV equipment is pulldown ignorant, I've assumed it's greyed out (as it always has been on my system) with standard NTSC DV devices.

[David Jimerson]

Any Mini-DV deck should be able to do it.

[Jarrod Whaley]

Right... if my Canon GL1 can play back 24p thanks to the pulldown, it should be able to handle it the same way if Vegas is re-inserting it before recording.

[David Jimerson]

Holy COW . . . this is a serious freakin' bug. I wonder why it was never a problem before?

Of course, I don't print to tape much, so I haven't had a reason to see it often.

[Jarrod Whaley]

Yeah, this bites. PTT is pretty basic functionality. I always try to archive my more important projects to tape so I can save hard drive space and make redundant copies.

I wonder if this is an issue with Vegas 7...

[David Jimerson]

Originally Posted by Adam Woodworth

After re-thinking about what DJ said, I realized I screwed up my test of the workaround. Rendering to 24p (2-3 pulldown) first, and then printing to tape using the DV (not 24p) template works fine. This is still a workaround, not a resolution to the problem.

The problem you'll run into here is that your pulldown info is gone. Your footage is now just NTSC DV and you won't be able to remove pulldown automatically. You may not be able to do it manually, either.