23.98 clips playing back in slow motion... Why?

[JuliaSola]

Hello!

I am using Avid Media Composer 8.7.0 (subscription, student version) and I have some clips that are playing back in slow motion in the Source monitor and when I put the clip in a timeline. When I "Get info" on the clips, it says they are 23.98 FPS so I don't understand why they are playing back slow. All I have done so far is AMA linked the clips from my external hard drive into my project, transcoded to a lower resolution, and started syncing audio. I have four camera cards: there are a couple of slow clips from Card 1 and all of Card 2 is playing back slow, but most of Card 1 and all of the clips in Cards 3 and 4 play back at normal speed. I'm very confused!

I've been having this problem since yesterday. I was hoping it was because my laptop was running low on battery last night, but it's plugged in and at 100% now and the problem is persisting. If anyone has encountered this as well and found a fix, or has any suggestions in general, I would really appreciate the help!

My Computer Details
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)
OS X El Capitan Version 10.11.4

Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory: 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 (personally updated)
Startup Disk: Solid State Drive (personally updated)
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB

Personal External Hard Drive: OWC Mercury Elite Pro 2 TB USB 3.0
2 partitions - 1 TB each, I am only working off one partition

Footage Details
Camera: Sony FS7
Original Clips: 4K, 23.98 FPS, .MXF files
Transcoded to 1/4 Raster Dimensions, DNxHR LB MXF, 1/8 Linked Source Scaling/Quality

[smrpix]

When you cut the clips into the timeline, is there a motion adapter indication? Sounds like the clips may have been accidentally shot at a higher frame rate.

Low batteries on the computer wouldn't have anything to do with this.

If you have a short original clip you're willing to post here, I'd be happy to try it out.

[JuliaSola]

smrpix: Thank you for your response. What does a motion adapter indication look like? I'm at work, without my hard drive, so I could upload a clip when I get home. After you read the below, though, you may not need it.

You are exactly right, after talking with one of the grips that was on set, he said he overheard the camera op say something about realizing they shot in a higher frame rate. Then they switched the memory cards and that magically fixed it. So they must have accidentally shot all of Card 2 in 60 FPS (based on my test last night to speed up one of the clips, 250% seemed to work best), realized the mistake on the last take and switched the memory card, but failed to 1) check the rest of card they were just shooting on and 2) tell anyone they may have made a mistake. The joys of student filmmaking! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I didn't realize that when you AMA link into a project, it automatically converts the footage to the project's frame rate. I've worked with slow motion before, but in Premiere where you have to tell it to interpret the footage before it plays back in slow mo.

So now I'm looking for solutions in Avid of how to change 60 FPS footage to 24 FPS when it was accidentally shot at the wrong frame rate... As I mentioned, I tried speeding up one test clip to 250% using the Timewarp effect in Avid (four ways - Interpolated, Duplicated, etc), but it looks kind of choppy. Are there any other effects in Avid that could work better, or even third party softwares that could make the clips look more smooth/realistic? I heard After Effects might work, but how exactly would I use it if the original clips are .MXF?

[smrpix]

Best to stay within Avid if you can. That way you can relink to the original files after editing with the motion effect still applied.

The 250% speed up is the correct way to go.

Is the choppiness showing on playback of your original linked clips or the transcodes? The transcodes should be smooth because they are smaller files. Before you go any further make sure you chose to keep the source framerate on the original transcodes. If not, redo the transcodes or you will not be able to link back.

Hope I said that in a way that makes sense.

[JuliaSola]

The choppiness happens when I playback the test clip that I put the Timewarp effect on. The clip is a transcoded clip, so it was playing smoothly before, just in slow motion when I don't want it to. It's only choppy now that I've sped it up. I am now currently trying the FluidBlur effect on the sped up clip, so we'll see how that goes. However, I'm finding it frustrating that if I want to change it even a little, I have to re-render.

I went back and confirmed that I indeed checked the box for "Keep source's frame rate" when I transcoded. But, when I right click the original AMA clips, then go to Source Settings, under Playback Rates it says they are playing back at the Clip's FPS (23.976). I don't think that's right, since it's playing back in slow motion.

I'm leaning toward downloading the Adobe Creative Cloud to my laptop and starting this project from scratch in Premiere instead. I've found a few other forums/threads on the Internet about Premiere workarounds that I can try. Or if it still looks unnatural, I have also found a few threads on possible After Effects solutions.

smrpix: Since you're the only one to respond to this thread, what do you think? I am willing to try and stick with Avid, but I'm not finding any benefits from doing that as of now...

[smrpix]

If you're never going to use the clips at anythiing other than normal speed, link to the clips, add your motion adapter and do a mixdown to DNxHR HQ or better (you probably won't need better unless this is going to be shown theatrically.) It will take some tim, it will take some space, but the mixdowns will become your new master clips. You can transcode these with the effect now baked in to a lighter offline resolution for editing.

I love Avid for creative editing. It's still, IMHO, the fastest most stable platform for building scenes and refining. In my experience, Premiere can get you up and running more quickly, but it tends to bog down towards the end of the process as timelines get more complex. Avid needs more futzing and preparation, but it's smoother sailing once you're going.

Your system is pretty lean for 4K, whichever platform you land on. Both Premiere and Avid have very solid proxy workflows. Premiere's is simpler once you're familiar with it, but I've found its wise to burn timecode windows or other visible data onto Premiere proxies so I know at a glance which version I'm working with.

It appears you are early enough in the process that you can try both without getting too far behind. See which you prefer. It's probably worth a few hours.