Flame newbie here looking to figure out how I achieve this workflow that has been pretty seamless in Premiere Pro. I’m working in 23.976 Timeline but some of my deliverables for TV are 59.94DF ProRes422HQ. Maybe I’m missing something but I do not see an option to change the frame rate in the export window options when I choose ProRes422HQ. I found a way to use a convert tool and create a copy of my timeline that was converted to 59.94 but this is a whole extra step I’m hoping to avoid. Would love any thoughts as I’m trying to convert my PP/Resolve workflows into Flame.
Unfortunately there isn’t a conversion you can apply on export that would work.
I might not be the most experienced at this exact standard conversion. Being from a 25fps region, I don’t need to do this regularly but I have done a few.
If I had a 30s edit at 24fps I would need to do a 3:2 pulldown to make a 30s edit at 30fps. If I just reformatted and changed the frame rate it would be short.
I believe that there needs to be a process that makes extra frames so that you can go from 23.98 fps to 59.94DF.
Hopefully someone with some firsthand experience can guide you a little more accurately.
In HD 59.94 is really 23.976 → 29.97 via either a field based conversion (3:2 pull down) or a frame based one ( an 80% time warp set to no mix), or a Convert Rate tool in Utilities methinks (automatically changes the timecode and does a 80% time warp on either video or audio).
So the first question you have to ask is does your client really expect to see interlaced 3:2 pull down? Likely not. It’s increasingly rare to see that. So if I was a betting guy I’d suggest the Convert Rate tool. Set it to Adjust Video, not Audio. In one click that changes the timecode metadata to run at your new desired frame rate and apples the required timewarp.
It doesn’t really matter what the client expects to see. What’s important is fulfilling the requirements on the spec sheet. If it calls for 59i, which uses 29.97 timecode, you add a pulldown and export (DO NOT RESIZE ON EXPORT) The specs should be very clear on this as they will refer to things like “upper field first.” My experience with flame is that at HD and SD, it always does it correctly. You may need to change the timecode to Dropframe after this process. If it is 59P, then use the convert tool, or change the timecode to 59.94 DF and timewarp the picture to 40% to fit. With longform (which I seldom do) I would add a tail pop before doing the conversion so that I have a visual reference that I maintained sync. Drop frame code can get confusing that way. As for the client, don’t send them the 59.94 if it is interlaced. Just send them the 23.98 version. A few years back I had a client make sure I understood that I would be shipping at 59i. When I showed him the final he freaked out screaming that he could see interlacing on his computer display. I asked him if he understood what the “i” stood for after 59.94. I explained to him the process of interlacing. He was adamant that he "had never heard of that . . . " He got less adamant after I pointed out to him that I had been working in TV for over a decade before he was even born. I decided, however, not to send clients the interlaced version, after that incident.
I second the convert rate method, or you can reformat your timeline to 29.97 and do the time warp yourself on the video if you control issues . I’ve also just start playing with Topaz’s AI video enhance for 23.98 to 29.97. Have not used it in production yet, but the tests I’ve done look great without repeat frames. Two downsides are, it doesn’t handle audio, so you have to retrack, and it’s not fastest tool on the planet.
I’ve never trusted the convert rate for interlaced. The 3:2 pulldown add does it just as fast and has never failed me. Convert rate is the better alternative for a progressive final, however.
So first off thank you all for the detailed answers and discussion! It is clear that using flame is going to radically improve my understanding of what goes on under the hood in this video world ( or drive me insane lol).
So my exact delivery spec is 1280x720 59.94p. In reality it should be drop frame but I’ve only had issues with 60s spots since they should really be 00;01;00;04 and can come up short. In Adobe premiere I usually nest my 23.976 timeline in a 59.94 timeline and export with no problems. For 30/15/10/05 I just convert to 5994 on export and haven’t seen any problems.
That being said there are definitely times where I have additional deliverables that require 1080i etc but lol I want to conquer my primary deliverable first.
Is the consensus that I should use the convert rate utility? That’s actually what I did last night as I was trying to use flame for the first time on a live project but I got scared haha and just went back to resolve and converted in media encoder.
If I have say 12 versions of a project (SAT/TOM/TON, 60/30/15/05) what’s a good and fast (and organized) workflow to run them all through the convert tool and export after?
Hahahaha we were all wrong. So, if you ever see 1280x720 @59.94p then that is basically a 40% timewarp then change to timecode to 59.94p and you’ll be good. In one button you can use Convert Rate and Adjust Video option and you’ll see the segments in the timeline will have a 40% timewarp applied. Render that and Bob is your newest Uncle.
This is the only time in commercials where you’ll see timecode with a hash and numbers higher than 29 in the last digit of your timecode.
When I used to deliver SD along with HD, I had a pre-built batch with slots for 60’s, 30’s, etc. I used action to down rez, and TW to change the speed. I could drag and drop a dozen or so spots onto the thumbnails in the batch schematics, then sit back and let them all render. You can even connect the audio to the render node so your finished piece would be ready for export. I think that there is even a python for exporting directly from batch with prorez.
That does sound easy and makes sense technically. In practice how exactly should I do this? Can I select a bunch of sequences at a time? Does it create new sequences when I do it? Or is it creating new media?
Sorry super noob here, learning fast but still not able to easily follow some of the explanations.
I’m nerding out like crazy on flame lately. Also loving the community vibe here. Thanks again!
This is a one at a time operation. Should only take a few seconds per master. This is definitely creating new media. And this shall create new timelines.
You could do like Tim suggested and do this a little bit more like a comp instead of timeline by making this all a comp I’m Batch. But my recommendation at this time based on what I think your experience might be is just to do it one at a time using the convert rate button in utilities. Step one, make sure you understand how to achieve it in flame and it passes QC. Then perhaps at a later time, step two, optimize how you do it.
Definitely helpful! I will try this out for now. Thank you for the help/suggestions. I would definitely like to get this to be a seamless workflow at some point but I agree, first task is to pass QC…then we’ll worry about optimization.
appreciate everyone who has contributed their thoughts on the workflow!
. I’ve also just start playing with Topaz’s AI video enhance for 23.98 to 29.97. Have not used it in production yet, but the tests I’ve done look great without repeat frames. Two downsides are, it doesn’t handle audio, so you have to retrack, and it’s not fastest tool on the planet.