Looking at Field 2

Is there a way to step through a cut point or transition to look at field 1 individually and field 2 individually? Thanks for your help!!

<<<Is there a way to step through a cut point or transition to look at field 1 individually and field 2 individually? >>>

No. We keep after Nattress to program something like that because it would help solve a lot of problems in a big hurry, but so far, no luck.

The best you can do is watch field one by itself and then both. You can't ever get to field 2.

Field one display is the default canvas.

Force the canvas to be 100% with the llittle tab on top. Pull the canvas window larger and larger until there is a little gray around the picture. You are now watching *both* television fields. It reverts to field 1 in play/motion, but it will freeze and step in complete frames.

It's a pain in the butt to do it this way, but with a ruler, grease pencil, and a lot of luck, you can tell when the field progression is backwards (the motion blur will "go the wrong way".

We blow the video off to a Beta SP machine. They still and slow play in fields--and they tell you which field they're on. Oh, for a digital tool like that.

Koz

There is a cumbersome, painstaking method that might do what you're looking for (not sure what you're looking for). Put the De-interlace filter on the clip you're concerned with and load it into the Viewer. Under the Filter tab, you can select Upper (odd) or Lower (even) as the field to retain, and switch freely back and forth. The image in the Canvas will change subtly or dramatically depending on how much motion is in that frame. You will only be able to view the chosen field one frame at a time (not in motion) unless you render, which may not be a good thing to do.

I would advise FCP's native de-interlacer for this, as third party ones may complicate the issue by automatically filling in the "missing" field through interpolation could interfere with what you're trying to find out by doing this.

Scott

<<<FCP's native de-interlacer for this>>>

Grand idea. I would have bet you couldn't do it at all. Yes, certainly, you don't want the program "helping you" by interpolating what you picked to fill in the missing pieces.

What the BetaSP machines do is play one field back twice so you still get 486 lines, but made up of 243 lines of picture. They they produce a timecode burn which has a * on field 2.

That's saved our bacon any number of times.

Why do you want to do this?

Koz

I am working with film transfers that have pulldown and I need a more accurate way to check for flash fields -- setting the timeline canvas to 100% and being able to look at both fields is a quick solution. Thanks to everyone for their input!!

Dirk

Of course you can also do it easily on an external glass television monitor. Those will show you the flash in real time every time.

Koz