"F" v "P" and Avid capture
 

I am sure this must have been covered somewhere already, but I can't find it using search, so I apologize in advance if my questions are redundant of earlier posts.

First, can someone explain to me what the difference is between Canon's "F" and the normal "P"? I assume the F is like the old frame mode on the GL1, but to be honest, I never really understood how frame mode differed from true progressive scanning...I just liked the way it looked. I just bought a XH A1 and assumed I'd shoot in 30F, but I'm having trouble capturing that to Avid Xpress Pro HD. Am I condemned to 60i because I use Avid?

Thanks.

Stu

At this point, Avid will only read 60i. In order to edit 24F I made the switch to FCP, and given that the latest FCP will allow multiple formats on one timeline, I am starting to not mind the change.

Rumors says that something happen in the Avid-camp. At least there are an upgrade to Avid Liquid (v 7.2) near shipping, where the following formats are supported:
Native capture from Canon XL H1, XH G1/A1: 1080/24F, 1080/25F og 1080/30F.

That would figure.
I switch to FCP to edit 24F then Avid releases 24F capability (or so I hope). I guess it can't hurt to be able to work in either.

There is a workaround to convert the 24f m2t files to something Xpress Pro can edit

Capture using HDVSplit

Convert to 1080 24p DNxHD using MPEGStreamclip

downside: much bigger files and the time it takes to convert
upside: you're now using the Avid codec to edit with, going multiple generations and color correcting will all be sweet.

As to the first part of your question, that's been talked to death around here. There is no difference at all in the end result between 24F and 24P. 24F IS 24P. The way Canon gets there from interlace chips is different from the way you get there with progressive chips, but the end result is the same.

We switched from Avid to FCP last year. As far as I know FCP, as long as you have the latest 5.2.2x version, is the only one that will take Canon's 24f footage direct. That workaround for Avid sounds workable, and I'd assume they'll have an upgrade eventually that will deal with it better. In FCP, I've been capturing with the 1080p24 Easy Setup, editing in an HD 24p timeline, and everything works perferctly.