60i > 25p, 30p > 25p

[Plamen Petrov]

Hi everybody,
Would anyone tell me a really effective method of converting 60i to 25p and 30p to 25p, no mather in Vegas or some other software, so that to eliminate the visual choping the frames in pieces and to get a smooth video motion, please?

[Richard Hunter]

I think it's probably best to do this in 2 stages. First convert 60i or 30p to 24p. and then squash the 24p to 25p without resampling, which basically just speeds up the video a few percent and avoids any skipped or interpolated frames.

This method for converting 24p to 25p is a bit complex until you get used to it, but there is a detailed description of how to do it in the Vegas Help. If you can't find it post again and I'll try to dig it out.

Richard

[Robin Lobel]

can't you just drop the 60i file on a 25p Vegas framework ? I thought it would interpolate the frames so to get smooth motion, just as it does when speeding up/slowing down any footage...

[Richard Hunter]

Originally Posted by Robin Lobel

can't you just drop the 60i file on a 25p Vegas framework ? I thought it would interpolate the frames so to get smooth motion, just as it does when speeding up/slowing down any footage...

Hi Robin. Yes you can, but the results you get by this method are not as sharp due to all the frame blending that has to be done. Below is the procedure from Vegas Help that describes how to do it with less frame blending artifacts.

Of course, if you are happy with the results using the frame blending method then there is no need to go to these lengths.

BTW, if you need to slow down a clip to examine individual frames (I often have to do this for accident investigation purposes) you get much sharper results disabling the clip's resample attribute.

Richard



Converting NTSC 24p DV into 25p PAL video

If you want your project to be the same length, just render to the PAL DV template with no changes as described in the previous procedure. Vegas software will perform field rendering and frame blending, which will look just fine.

If you want to match the way feature films are transferred to PAL, follow these steps:

Render your 24p project using the NTSC DV 24p (inserting 2-3-3-2 pulldown) template.

Start a new project using the NTSC DV 24p (720x480, 23.976 fps) template.

On the General tab of the Preferences dialog, select the Allow pulldown removal when opening 24p DV check box.

Add the NTSC 24p DV rendered clip to the Vegas timeline.

Right-click the clip, choose Switches, and then select Disable Resample.

Set the ruler format to Absolute Frames.

Press Ctrl+End to move the cursor to the end of the clip.

Copy the cursor position to the clipboard:

a. Press Ctrl+G to select the cursor position in the status bar.

b. Press Ctrl+C to copy it to the clipboard.

c. Press Esc.

Change the project format to PAL DV (720x576, 25.000 fps).

In the Project Properties dialog, choose None (progressive) from the Field order drop-down list.

Return the cursor to the previous position:

a. Press Ctrl+G to select the cursor position in the status bar.

b. Press Ctrl+V to paste the value you copied in step 8.

The cursor should move to a location about 96% of the way through the clip.

From the Options menu, select Enable Snapping.

From the Options menu, deselect Ignore Event Grouping.

Hold Ctrl and drag the end of the clip until it snaps to the cursor.

You’ve just sped up the clip by about 4%, exactly matching the 24p material to 25p frame locations and stretching the audio to match.

Verify that the audio event's pitch shifting is tied to its stretching length:

a. Right-click the audio and choose Properties from the shortcut menu to display the Event Properties dialog.

b. Verify that Classic is selected in the Method drop-down list.

c. Verify that the Pitch change: Lock to stretch check box is selected.

d. Click OK.

Render the project:

a. From the File menu, choose Render As. The Render As dialog is displayed.

b. Choose a drive and folder from the Save in drop-down list, or use the browse window to locate the folder where you want to save your file.

c. Type a name in the File name box, or select a file in the browse window to replace an existing file.

d. Choose Video for Windows (*.avi) from the Save as Type drop-down list.

e. From the Template drop-down list, choose PAL DV.

f. Click the Custom button.

g. On the Video tab of the Custom Template dialog, choose None (progressive scan) from the Field order drop-down list.

h. Click the Save Template button and save this template as PAL 25p DV for future use.

i. Click the OK button to close the Custom Template dialog.

j. Click the Save button to render your file.