A Potentially Impossible Problem

So I'm desperately trying to finish my Star Trek 2009 edit and want to upgrade it to HD. The problem is my edit is already done in SD. Instead of completely re-doing the edit, I'm trying to trick my computer to recognize the existing video file as the HD file. Both files are the same frame rate, but there is a roughly two second time difference in the footage. It's completely off set the edit.

Is there anyway I can fix this?

eldiablosuizo said:

So I'm desperately trying to finish my Star Trek 2009 edit and want to upgrade it to HD. The problem is my edit is already done in SD. Instead of completely re-doing the edit, I'm trying to trick my computer to recognize the existing video file as the HD file. Both files are the same frame rate, but there is a roughly two second time difference in the footage. It's completely off set the edit.

Is there anyway I can fix this?

Click to expand...

Crap. I fail at reading comprehension. Yeah I doubt you're going to be able to fix it if there is a time difference between the SD and HD footage.

eldiablosuizo said:

So I'm desperately trying to finish my Star Trek 2009 edit and want to upgrade it to HD. The problem is my edit is already done in SD. Instead of completely re-doing the edit, I'm trying to trick my computer to recognize the existing video file as the HD file. Both files are the same frame rate, but there is a roughly two second time difference in the footage. It's completely off set the edit.

Is there anyway I can fix this?

Click to expand...

No. You'll have to go through and tweak manually. I had to do this with my Indiana Jones edit. Some shots were a couple frames off so I had to go and re-sync. It actually isn't difficult, just time consuming. If your edit is 2 hours expect to take 3 to fix it. Well worth it though for HD.

I targeted the specific different frames and trimmed them down to where they are the EXACT same duration. For some reason, it still isn't syncing up.

What are the frame rates of the two versions? In theory, they should both be 23.97, unless one is from a PAL source, which would make it 25 and require speed adjustments. If one's at 30 frames, something went wrong with deinterlacing (as opposed to IVTC).

Since this is the Mac forum, It might help to tell us what editing software you are using, and also what format your source files are in (e.g., what IS your frame rate? Do please confirm the frame rates are actually identical, AND that you aren't changing the frame rate within your editing software.)

Depending on what tools you are using, it might be possible to fix the problem either outside or inside your editing application.

Some ideas off the top of my head (without knowing the above info) is that perhaps your editing software is showing you a cached rendered version of the old footage. Make sure to "force re-render" your timeline, or clear the cache, or whatever is the equivalent. If you removed the extra frames on the source file you will almost definitely need to do another reconnect. (Force it to reconnect).

Finally, I tend to agree with the sentiment that you will end up having to manually check every edit point, since even if you think you got it exact, you still might end up with flash frames here and there.

eldiablosuizo said:

So I'm desperately trying to finish my Star Trek 2009 edit and want to upgrade it to HD. The problem is my edit is already done in SD. Instead of completely re-doing the edit, I'm trying to trick my computer to recognize the existing video file as the HD file. Both files are the same frame rate, but there is a roughly two second time difference in the footage. It's completely off set the edit.

Is there anyway I can fix this?

Click to expand...

I'm sorry, maybe I'm reading this wrong, but are you saying you used an SD source to edit this and you want to trick your computer into thinking that the SD files are actually HD files? How would that even be possible?

Frantic Canadian said:

I'm sorry, maybe I'm reading this wrong, but are you saying you used an SD source to edit this and you want to trick your computer into thinking that the SD files are actually HD files? How would that even be possible?

Click to expand...

Nope. I have two different files, one being HD and the other SD. Right now, the SD file is plugged in, but I want to make this offline and use the HD video file instead.

^Okay. That makes more sense. :lol:

If you tell us what software you are using, that might help us help you! ;-)

Final Cut Pro.

Ok, so did you use the "reconnect media" command to connect to the HD file?

Did you change your timeline/project/sequence settings so that they are no longer SD settings? I am so used to FCPX that I forget the nomenclature, but you have to manually change settings to the new resolution, since FCP won't do that automatically. In other words you have to go into all the sequences/clips/projects/whatever they are called that use your source files, go to the settings area and change it to be HD resolution as opposed to SD, which they are currently set at.

Finally, if that doesn't work, did you force re-render your timeline?

If the two video sources are off sync but can be put in sync by shifting their positions (I.e. the same length), you might be able to sync them. Try making a fresh timeline and lay both sources in it. Move the HD source to be in sync with the SD source, then export. Rename the resultant file to the name of the SD source and see if FCC can plug it in. Make sure edit points are still as expected.

Hal's advice is good (though truthfully I think this won't completely fix the problem regarding edit point locations, unless the length difference is purely due to extra "blank" time at the very beginning or very end), but we still need more info to really help you with this problem. Also, if you use nested sequences, this complicates things further.

In FCP, the reconnect media functionality is very flexible and will pretty much let you reconnect just about anything in place of the existing source (you just need to click through warnings to do it). However, it is critical that you then use a sequence that has new setttings -- HD settings. Your original sequence has SD settings, and I'm not sure if that can be changed on the fly (it might, I just forget these kinds of details regarding FCP7). You might need to create a new sequence, ensure you have the settings set to match your HD material, then copy/paste your entire timeline from the SD sequence into the new HD sequence. I've done this myself as a way of moving from 29.97 material to 23.976. I did have to go through and fix all the edit points (as was pointed out earlier by Q2), but this is really no different than what you are trying to do in terms of mass-replacing your media. Plus, I used nested sequences and I think I might have had to create new nested sequences with new settings and place those inside the timeline of the new main sequence.

You need to let us know if you've been trying this at all. Or perhaps you've solved the problem already? In which case, please let us know because (1) it would help other editors who might have the same issue now or in the future and (2) people will not waste time trying to keep solving your problem!