Mixing frame rates
Yes, it's possible to mix footage with different frame rates. However, at the time of writing, the Media Composer only allows each Project to be at one frame rate. So, here's one method to make the mixing of frames rates possible.
Getting ready
You will create two separate projects, each at the required frame rate. Be sure to label them accordingly to avoid confusion. For example, one project would be named [Project Title]29-97 (project names cannot contain a period) and the other would be named [Project Title] 24p.
How to do it...
The following are the steps to mix footage with different frame rates:
- Capture and/or import your video into the corresponding projects based on the frame rates.
- Decide which project will be the main/primary project that you will actually work within to edit and craft your movie. Most likely, this will be the project that contains the majority of your footage or matches the final delivery format that is required.
- In your main project, ensure that no bins are currently selected in the Project Window.
- Go to the File menu and select Open Bin…. (Alternatively, you will find the Open Bin... selection under the Project Window's Fast Menu as well as in the menu that will appear when you right-click in the Project Window.)
- In the dialog window, navigate to the project that's at the other frame rate and contains the bin file that you want to open.
- Select the bin and either double-click on it or click on the Open button in the dialog window.
- The bin will open in your Project and you can access the contents.
- Once the bin is open, it will be inside a folder created by Media Composer labeled
Other Bins. This is short for other projects' bins. It means that the bin file does not reside inside the same folder as your Project's bin files.
At this point you can elect to begin editing right from those bins, or you may elect to copy the clips into a bin that does reside in your Project folder. See the next There's more... section for two methods of copying clips, called Duplicating and Cloning.
There's more...
There are two methods you can use to copy the clips (making a Duplicate or a Clone), each with a unique behavior. Whether you Duplicate or Clone a clip, you will never create any new media files, but will simply create an additional clip that refers (or you could say points) to the media file(s). Media Composer calls this reference a link and would say that the clip is linked to the media file(s).
- Duplicating a clip: Each clip acts independently of the other. For example, one clip could be named
Horseand contain several Markers while the Duplicated clip could be namedWhite Horse Runsand have no Markers. Making changes to the name, adding/removing I/O marks, and adding/removing Markers to one Duplicated clip does not have any affect on the other. Further, the creation date of a Duplicated clip will reflect the new date and time it was created. - Cloning a clip: Cloned clips are able to communicate to their cloned brethren. For example, if you change the name of one Cloned clip, the other's name will also change. The same is true for adding and removing Markers as well as In and Out points. The creation date for all Cloned clips will be the same (the original date).
The following are the steps for duplicating clips:
- Select the clips you want to Duplicate.
- Go to the Edit menu.
- Select Duplicate. Alternatively, you could right-click on one of the selected clips and choose Duplicate from the Contextual menu, or use the keyboard shortcut cmd + D (Mac) or Ctrl + D (PC).
- New clips will be created and will have
.copyadded to the end of their names. - Create a new bin by clicking on the New Bin button in your Project Window, or go to the File menu and select New Bin.
- Move the clips that you just created to the new bin.
- If you no longer want to have the borrowed bin appear in the
Other Binsfolder, select the borrowed bin and either press the Delete key or right-click and select Delete Selected Bins from the Contextual menu. It's helpful to note that you are not actually permanently deleting the bin file, but rather just telling Media Composer that you no longer want to use it. The bin is still intact inside the other project's folder. For emphasis, this only applies to bins that are inside theOther Binsfolder. Deleting a bin created within the currently open Project will place it into theTrash.
The steps for Cloning the clips are as follows:
- Create a new bin by clicking on the New Bin button in your Project Window, or go to the File menu and select New Bin.
- Select the clips you want to Clone.
- Press and hold the Alt/option key while you drag the selected clips to the new bin.
- New clips will be created in the desired bin when you release the mouse button. These clips will not have
.copyadded to them. - If you no longer want to have the borrowed bin appear in the
Other Binsfolder, select it and either press the Delete key or right-click and select Delete Selected Bins from the Contextual menu. It's helpful to note that you are not actually deleting the bin file, but rather just telling Media Composer that you no longer want to use it. The bin is still intact inside the other Project's folder.
On a related topic, you can use either of the methods mentioned previously on a sequence. Both of the methods will produce a Duplicate of the sequence. In other words, both of the methods will make a sequence with the word .Copy added to it, and no matter which method you used to create that sequence, it will never, ever, communicate with another sequence in any way. They will always be totally independent. The changes made to one sequence will never be replicated in another.
Note that when you edit mixed frame rate clips into your Sequence, they are automatically adjusted. You'll see a small green dot on the clip that indicates that it contains what Avid calls a Motion Adaptor. The method used to adjust the image (for example, Blended Interpolated or Both Fields) can be changed by promoting the clip to a Timewarp effect. The Motion Adaptor is applied only to the video and preserves the original duration of the clip; further, the audio is not altered in any way.