Removing 3:2 Pulldown

When transferring film to video using a telecine, a process called 3:2 pulldown is used. This process converts film shot at 24 fps into NTSC video's 30 fps by periodically creating a "split frame," which is a frame made from one field each from the frames before and after the split frame. This process can create image artifacts that you may need to eliminate before you can use the footage in your effects.

The telecine process can use one of five different 3:2 pulldown sequences:

WWWSS, WWSSW, WSSWW, SSWWW, and SWWWS.

In each type, "W" refers to a complete (whole) frame, and "S" refers to a split frame. The repeating pattern of complete and split frames consists of three complete frames and two split frames. The two split field frames are always adjacent to each other and may cause image artifacts.

You can use the options in the 3:2 Pulldown list to eliminate the split frames (and therefore, the image artifacts).

Note: When you remove 3:2 pulldown, your clip's playback speed changes to 24 fps.

To remove 3:2 pulldown:

1. In the Workspace panel, select the Footage operator you want to change.

Note: You can also select the Footage operator in the Footage Library.

The Footage Controls panel appears.

2. Click the Source button.
3. Click the Guess 3:2 Phase button.

The footage is analyzed to determine which of the five 3:2 pulldown types was used on the original film footage. If the type of pulldown cannot be determined, a dialog appears with the message "Sorry, couldn't determine channel settings from the footage."



Note: You can also manually determine the 3:2 phase by selecting a 3:2 pulldown type from the 3:2 Pulldown list.

The 3:2 pulldown is removed from the footage and the footage frame rate becomes 24 fps. If you want to set the footage frame rate back to NTSC upon rendering, use the 3:2 pulldown settings in the Render Queue dialog. For more information, see Setting Field Dominance.