QuickTime is stupid.

709709
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
OK. I've been dealing with this issue lately, and the only reasonable explaination can be....QuickTime is stupid.



I render a 4 second clip at 29.97...QuickTime says it's 4 seconds long, but when I scroll to the last frame it's at 00.00.04.00!! QT doesn't start at 00.00.00.01, so why in the hell is my last frame 00.00.04.00 instead of 00.00.03.29???



This is driving me nuts.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Just guessing, buy you are probably using drop-frame timecode instead of nondrop-frame timecode. Drop frame kinda scales the media to fit your said time instead of using an actual timeing signal.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    rara Posts: 623member
    It starts at 0, right?



    So then

    • 0 - 1, 1 second

    • 0 - 2, 2 seconds

    • ...

    • 0 - 60, 60 seconds, 1 min



    So 00.00.04.00 should be exactly 4 minutes.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    "•" - Is that intentional or does it mean something? Timecode drives me nuts. I don't worry about it unless something is wrong. I did have a Quicktime conversion issue months ago where the exported quicktime movie would be squished thinner than the Final Cut Pro preview window. Turned out to be a pixel size difference. (rectangle vs square) Simple change and all was well.
  • Reply 4 of 8
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    Woah there cowboy, it's not Quicktime that is stupid. I'm going to resist continuing that sentence.



    29.97 is known as drop frame timecode. Like non-drop timecode, neither of these alter or drop frames per se, they're just different ways of counting. Drop frame timecode counts each video frame until that .03 finally adds up to an entire frame, and then it skips ahead, or drops, a number. It does not drop an actual video frame, it only skips a number and continues counting. This allows it to keep accurate time. So if you're cutting a scene using drop frame time code, and the duration reads as, say, 24 minutes and 0 frames, then you can be assured the duration is really 24 minutes.



    This is all because electricity operates at 60 Hz, but the NTSC standard operates at 59.94 Hz. If you double 29.97, you get 59.94, ergo, two fields per video frame and why you have drop frame timecode at 29.97 fps; There is nothing wrong with QuickTime or your composition.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    709709 Posts: 2,016member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by LoCash

    (post instruction 101)



    Yes, I get that.



    The problem seems to be that the longer my render, the more frames QT adds. This is especially annoying for me this week because I'm laying these to DigiBeta for encoding through a Sonic DVD workstation. I'm going with a GOP 10 and my menu transitions MUST start at an even :00. The longer my comp...the more frames QT adds...the more my menus are out of whack.



    My non-drop comps are fine. My render que tells me it's rendering the proper amount of frames. Somehow, somewhere QT decides I need more frames.



    Another bone: Even in a tiny little 00:04:00 comp, QT gives me my last frame at 00:00:04:00 and not 00:00:03.29. 121 frames? WTF?



    ....or maybe it's this Blackmagic Codec....\
  • Reply 6 of 8
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    I don't recall running into this problem before, but I see what you're saying now. Does the codec allow you to set the frame rate, or are you doing it in the application you're working within? Try using a different codec to see if you count the same number of frames, and then try doing so in a separate application to see if you can export the correct amount.
  • Reply 7 of 8
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ra

    So then

    (weird garbage) 0 - 1, 1 second

    (weird garbage) 0 - 2, 2 seconds

    (weird garbage) ...

    (weird garbage) 0 - 60, 60 seconds, 1 min



    You've got to be careful about using special characters on message boards like this. A lot of us are seeing the following, rather than whatever is is you meant to show:

    Quote:

    • 0 - 1, 1 second

    • 0 - 2, 2 seconds

    • ...

    • 0 - 60, 60 seconds, 1 min



  • Reply 8 of 8
    709709 Posts: 2,016member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by LoCash

    I don't recall running into this problem before, but I see what you're saying now. Does the codec allow you to set the frame rate, or are you doing it in the application you're working within? Try using a different codec to see if you count the same number of frames, and then try doing so in a separate application to see if you can export the correct amount.



    I've tried rendering as a pict sequence and that does output the proper amount of frames. Although when I bring them back into AFX (6.0) to join/output a QT file...I get those damn extra frames again.



    It seems the codec used makes no difference, so I'm back to blaming QT. I hate this.



    As for the short 04.00 comps, it seems that QT is displaying the last frame twice. It's not adding one at the end, just showing the same frame at 00:03:29 and 00:04:00. Weird.
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