Frame Rates and Aspect Ratio

[The Sumerian]

Is there anyway to change the frame rate of a video? I have something I shot a regualr 1 CCD miniDV camera. It looks nice on the computer screen, but when I burn it to DVD it looks really home video-ish. Is there anything I can do about this? Bacically I want it to look like it was shot in 24fps rather than whatever the standard frame rate is. My other question is changing the aspect ratio of a film, can this be done in something like final cut? Or maybe a simpler program?

[terryj]

You can process and change frame rates in ffmpegx
or Compressor, from NTSC to any other, but it might
not improve the quality of the footage.

[AntnyMD]

... and you may lose audio sync.

[RatVega]

There are a number of things that can be done, but changing the frame rate and aspect ratio of the video are probably the least effective and most time consuming. If you have a fast G5, Compressor 2 could give you a first quality format conversion in a day or so, depending on the length of the video, and the result would be a 24-frame home video letterboxed to 16:9...

Final Cut (Express or Pro) is absolutely the place to get what you want.

Go back to the timeline and look at the footage on a broadcast monitor (all computer screens lie about color and usually about final look). There are dozens of "film look" filters that will crush your blacks, etc. to get what some consider closer to film. I suspect what you really want is to make it look like "really good video", not film. The good news is that to some extent, this can be done. BTW, what really makes video look like film is how you shoot and light it, to a great extent.

What most people perceive as "home video-ish" can frequently be fixed with a very slight blur and some color correction (saturation & gamma typically.) If you want a "dreamy" look there are "Silk & Fog" filters.

If you really know what you want, FCP can probably get you there. If you don't or aren't experienced in video editing, then you'll probably find yourself buying specialized filters that get you where you want to go.

You can do this! It's just a matter of getting the tools and making the effort. My favorite analogy is hot rods - everyone wants one, but few are willing to get the gear and build one. The others buy a used one or go without... The really great ones are expensive and difficult, but most are fun and worth the effort.