5D Mark IV high frame rate footage in Premiere

[Dustin_Rabin]

Hi.  I have a sequence in Premiere Pro CC 2017 that I have set to 23.9760 fps because that's what the majority of my footage was shot at.  I'm also working with footage at other frame rates from 60fps 120fps and 240fps.

CANON FOOTAGE:

When you import 5D footage shot at 60fps it remains 60fps until you interpret it to whatever you want it to be.  In my case it's 23.9760.

When you import 5D footage shot at 120fps it imports it at 30fps and looks nice and smooth in slow motion.  My question is, do I drop it into the sequence at 30fps or interpret it to 23.9760 first.  I know this will make it appear slightly slower which is fine, but do you know if it will affect the quality or smoothness of the slow motion?

I've tried both and they both look pretty similar in smoothness but I'm worried that changing it to 23.9760 might actually be making the motion slightly less smooth.

iPHONE 7 FOOTAGE:

The standard footage is 30fps and when dropping it into a 23.9760 sequence in Premiere you have to keep it  at 30fps because if you interpret it to match the sequence it slows it down to an unnatural speed.

But when you import footage shot at 240fps it still shows it as being 240fps.  So my question is, to slow it down to its smoothest speed, do I go to 30fps because that seems to be the native frame rate for iPhone footage, or do I interpret to 23.9760 to match my sequence settings?

I hope that all made sense... Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Dustin

[DigitalSpatula]

Hey Dustin

Great questions. I shoot using your same issues as well.

I've found that trying to put footage that's interpreted as 30fps into a 23.976 sequence, it gets choppy in a weird way. I would reinterpret the footage to be the same as your sequence framerate. It will be slightly less smooth but without the framerate conversion issues (pull down). If you really need to put 30fps footage on a 23.976 timeline, then you need a good plugin to create that conversion. Something like Twixtor pro does a great job of fps conversion from 30 to 24.

Some cameras will shoot at high framerates and record it back to the card at 29.97 or 23.976. Some footage stays at the high framerate (like 240fps iphone footage). There would be no difference between the camera shoot at high fps and laying down to the card at regular framerate or you interpreting it to your desired frame rate.

Hope this helps,

Steve

[Dustin_Rabin]

Hi, Steve.  Thanks for your answer!

I've heard of Twixor but have never used it.  If I interpret the footage in Premiere and select my desired frame rate isn't that doing the same time?

My only issue with the 30fps footage is that I want it to be played back at normal speed and if I interpret it to 23.976 it slows it down, which is the only reason I would want ti insert it to the sequence at 30.

As for the other higher frame rates obviously I shot them that way to get the slow motion effect, so I agree with you about interpreting to 23.976 instead of 30fps.

If you can let me know exactly what you meant by converting with Twixor vs interpreting in Premiere.

Thanks again!
Dustin

[DigitalSpatula]

Hey Dustin

I use twixtor to convert my realtime 29.97fps down to realtime 23.976 for use in a 24fps timeline. Just dropping 29.97 footage into a 23.976 timeline makes for stutters in your footage since PrP is not good at doing that conversion. In fact, when reviewing masters for distribution, the QC teams at the studios kick back footage that they can see is 30fps on a 24fps timeline.

Steve

[SAFEHARBOR11]

I don't use iPhone, but judging from many recent posts, it records video using a Variable Frame Rate, which Premiere doesn't play well with - might explain the funky slow-mo results. Many users convert footage to Fixed Frame Rate by running it through HandBrake software before importing into Premiere to edit with.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera

Safe Harbor Computers

[DigitalSpatula]

I'm quit sure iPhone does not record with variable frame rate. It has capabiolites to slow down and output your clips but the base footage is one rate. in fact, when you import iPhone high framerate footage into your computer, a metadata file comes with it to control the realtime/slowdown points in your footage when viewed in Quicktime. But... the footage itself is still all 240 or 120fps.

Steve

[Dustin_Rabin]

Hi, Jeff.  Thanks for your reply.

Would it make sense to convert the video file while it is still on my iphone, then use that new file in Premiere to edit with?  I heard that you can slow it down and export from iMovie app on the iPhone.  I have a feeling it would get compressed and lose a lot of quality though.

Thanks,

Dustin

[SAFEHARBOR11]

Dustin and Steve,

I don't have an iPhone, but am on this forum every day reading every post and there have been a ton of recent posts from users having issues editing iPhone clips and everyone (including Adobe reps) says that the footage is VFR and that HandBrake is the solution. That's all I can tell you. Your mileage may vary.

Thanks

Jeff

[Dustin_Rabin]

Hi, guys.  How are you?

I downloaded HandBrake and used it to convert my 30p footage to 23.976 and it worked great.  I did this to keep the footage in realtime so it would look and sound normal.  Thanks for the tip on this!

As for the rest of my footage that was shot at a high frame rate in order to be used as slow motion footage, can I just interpret that to 23.976 in Premiere? 

I like this option because you don't have to create a new video file and end up with a way bigger file like when you used to have to do it with MpegStreamClip.

Thanks again,

Dustin

[Dustin_Rabin]

And just to be clear I understand that dropping a 30fps clip into a 23.976 sequence will keep it in realtime but to do so it drops frames, which is where the stuttering comes from.  And using an app like Twixtor or HandBrake fixes that stutter problem. (just learned that yesterday thanks to you guys )

So for the footage mentioned above that was shot at 60fps I want to bring it down to 23.976 to make them slow motion, will interpreting the footage using Premiere create that same loss of quality?  Should I be using Handbrake for all footage that I want to change the frame rate?  Is the stuttering / frame dropping only a problem with footage that you want to remain playing back in realtime?

Thanks again,

Dustin

[DigitalSpatula · Accepted solution]

Stuttering is only a problem when you are making 30fops footage go onto a 24fps timeline.

Reinterpreting for slowmotion doesn't introduce any problems. It's just playing back the frames at a 1:1 ratio.

Thx,

Steve