Need help: Is there a way to convert 23fps to 23.976fps and sync to 2nd system audio?

[Steve Conry]

Hey guys,

We are trying to use some interview footage that appears to have been shot at 23fps rather that 23.976fps (our project timebase). Whenever we go to sync the audio (recorded separately) it begins slipping out of sync because of the missing frames in the video track. :frown5:

I was wondering if there is a way to convert the files from 23fps to 23.976 using a program like Twixtor or something and effectively gain back the missing frame.

Ideally the workaround would allow us to use the video layer and audio layer, and it will appear in sync without much quality drop visually--ie not too framey or odd looking. The subject isn't moving around too much so it potentially isn't worst case scenario.

Has anyone had any luck in the past or any ideas on how this could be achieved? Kind of a quick turnaround on this project so any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Simon Dunne]

With Premiere, you can interpret the footage at a different frame rate, or convert it with Media Encoder, or use RubbaDub to sync the audio in Audition CS6;

http://blogs.adobe.com/audition/2012/04/adobe-audition-cs6-multitrack-enhancements.html#.UTSg46WeOSo

 

[D Fuller]

Hey guys,

We are trying to use some interview footage that appears to have been shot at 23fps rather that 23.976fps (our project timebase). Whenever we go to sync the audio (recorded separately) it begins slipping out of sync because of the missing frames in the video track. :frown5:

I was wondering if there is a way to convert the files from 23fps to 23.976 using a program like Twixtor or something and effectively gain back the missing frame.

Ideally the workaround would allow us to use the video layer and audio layer, and it will appear in sync without much quality drop visually--ie not too framey or odd looking. The subject isn't moving around too much so it potentially isn't worst case scenario.

Has anyone had any luck in the past or any ideas on how this could be achieved? Kind of a quick turnaround on this project so any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

A couple of points first: Are you really sure that the footage was shot at 23.00 fps? That would be unusual. (Take a look at the camera settings, but also take a look at the audio recorder settings. It would be more common for the error to be there.)

Assuming that you did shoot at 23fps, you do not want to re-interpret the footage at a different frame rate. That's what is going on now, and its the reason for the time error. You want to play back at the same 23fps that you recorded at. If it were mine, I'd create a 23.976 comp in After Effects, make sure the footage was interpreted to 23.00fps and put the footage into the 23.976 comp. Turn on frame blending if you see any twitches from the frame rate mismatch.

If you really did record at 23fps, you have no audio on your video source, so Rub-a-Dub won't work for you. But when you go to sync, you may have a small error you still need to deal with. You can do that by speed-changing the audio in a good Audio program like Audition, but it'll take a bit of trial and error to find the correct rate.

 

[David Battistella]

You can also try to use APPLE COMPRESSOR to batch the clips to the correct framerate. I would try one clip first setting up a preset to convert from existing framerate to 23.98. Make sure you turn on the optical flow engine (will take longer to render but will give you best results) or just do that part with the final part of the interview picture used in the final edit.

Compressor does really nice framerate conversion because it uses the technology from SHAKE, which was very well known for it's clean retiming.

David

 

[Steve Conry]

Thanks for the great ideas guys. After trying some workarounds, I've settled on an option that Cody Cuellar at Red Sky Pictures came up with.

I simply dropped the 23 fps onto the timeline as is, lined up the where the slate hits on video and audio layers, and then right clicked the audio and changed its speed to a slightly higher rate (something around 104.5%, i believe) until the clip no longer falls out of sync with the audio over time. Then i've gone in and slightly shifted the pitch of the audio file to make up for the speed change.

So far, in my exports it actually coming out great, and I can't really tell the difference.

In the end, it's almost like we've timelapsed the interview very slightly or something! Kinda weird, but looks and sounds just about right, just a little quicker than the day we recorded it... :thumbup:

Thanks again for the input guys!

Steve