Appendix 1

The Filmmaker’s Guide to Final Cut Pro Workfl ow
The workfl ow for HD DV is therefore very similar to standard defi nition DV. DVC Pro HD can be
captured and reversed, or captured at 23.98 to the hard drive if advanced pull down was used in
production. HDV can be shot directly to drive at 23.98 with the proper equipment. All of these formats
can now be edited and color corrected with Final Cut Pro in their native format with no need for an
online.
Workfl ow for 23.98 FPS and 24 FPS HD Cam is very similar to workfl ow for fi lm telecined to 23.98
HD Cam. (See Chapter 1 on fi lm to HD Cam workfl ow.) In this case, however, the HD Cam tapes
are the original shooting media. There is no negative, telecine log, or Cinema Tools database to create
a batch list with. So, in this regard, the workfl ow is also very similar to the 29.97 HD FPS workfl ow
discussed earlier in this chapter.
There are two basic systems:
• Capture from the 23.98 FPS or 24 FPS HD Cam shooting tapes in their native frame rate at a
lower resolution in Final Cut Pro and recapture at full resolution later in online.
• Capture from 29.97 FPS DVCam clones of the 23.98 FPS or 24 FPS HD Cam tapes, reverse
telecine back to the original frame rate, and edit at that frame rate. In online, recapture from the highresolution
tapes at this same original frame rate.
As in 29.97 FPS workfl ow, in this fi rst workfl ow, you log and capture the shooting format tapes at
low-resolution to your drive in a facility that supports your fi nish format. They can capture at whichever
frame rate you shot at, off-line, real-time photo JPEG is available for all frame rates. Here, too,
this can be expensive because you need to log the tapes at the postproduction facility.
The second workfl ow requires making DV copies or “down converts” of the shooting tapes. If the
shooting frame rate is 24 FPS, then the original tapes will be “pulled down,” in other words, played
at 23.98 FPS in transfer to 29.97 FPS. This is the same process as fi lm shot at 24 FPS being pulled
down in telecine. Just as in 29.97 FPS workfl ow, the time code on these tapes must match your higher
resolution tapes This is a problem because the frame rates no longer match. The 24 NDF time code
now needs to become 29.97 NDF time code.
While the down converts are being dubbed, the time codes of both tapes will match except for the
frames counter. The DV down converts will have 29.97 NDF and the original will have 23.98 NDF.
This is even true of 24 FPS originals because they are being pulled down in transfer to 23.98 FPS.
Because of this dual time code problem, it is essential to have the down converts made with two
window burns, a window showing the original time code and another window showing the new 29.97
NDF time code. When the down converts are captured at 29.97, the 29.97 NDF window will be
accurate with the 23.98 NDF window showing overprinting of some numbers. After the video is
reversed, the 29.97 NDF window will skip one number in 5, but the 23.98 NDF window will be
accurate. If you shot at 24 FPS and wish to edit at 24 FPS, reverse to 24 instead of 23.98. Your 23.98
NDF window will now read in 24 NDF.
It’s interesting to note that the reversing process not only changes the video frame rate, it also changes
the time code frame rate of the captured video QuickTime fi les. The imbedded QuickTime time code
will be 29.97 NDF on the original capture and therefore match the 29.97 window burn, but the
reversed video fi les will have imbedded 23.98 NDF, which matches the 23.98 window burn. This is
how Final Cut Pro and Cinema Tools are able to manage frame-accurate databases and edit lists in
this new frame rate. Notice the two time code window burns in Figure 2.7.
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