24p DVD - Scrolling Titles - OMG...

Hey All,
I've encountered a real conundrum and wanted to see if anyone had a solution...

Here's the result we need:
Simple scrolling end credits (Times font, or whatever)
82 seconds long
24p timeline in FCP...that will be output and encoded for a "24p" DVD.

Here's the problem:
We've been following the formula that says 82 sec @ 23.976 = 1966 frames
4 pixels per frame of movement = 7864 pixels over 82 seconds.
So we made a long .psd file 7864 pixels long and keyframed it to move up over the 82 seconds...The result is so herky jerky, we can't believe it.

Oddly enough we built three 3000 pixel high .psd files and keyframed them in a 29.97 timeline (3600 pixels over 30 seconds), then strung them together, encoded in DSP and it looks absolutely fantastic on DVD. Probably the clearest I've ever seen.

Why the difference? Is it because the DVD is still playing at 29.97 even though it's a "24p" DVD?

Any solutions? Is our math off?

Thanks as always.

Zack Coffman
producer/director
Choppertown: the Sinners [www.choppertown.com]
Brittown: a Brit bike documentary [www.brittown.com]

MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo 15" 2.4Ghz
Matte Screen
4 GB Corsair Ram
OWC 1TB Raid
Dell 2405FPW
FCP 6.0.4
OSX 10.5.5

If it's truly a 24p DVD it's playing at 24p and something encoded at 29.97 would be playing back at 20% slow motion- which might account for the perceived better look. You'll get better results by adding some motion blur to your credits for 24p. Remember it's animation so animation without a blur is going to look jerky past a certain speed.

Noah

Final Cut Studio Training, featuring the HVX200, EX1, EX3, DVX100, DVDSP and Color at [www.callboxlive.com]!
Author, RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera available now at: [www.amazon.com].
Editors Store- Gifts and Gear for Editors: [www.editorsstore.com]

Hey Noah,
Thanks for the comment. I'm not sure that's the issue though, because it's night and day different. One is crystal clear and the other (24p) is really jerky.

It must be that my math is off somewhere because if the titles scroll nicely when I keyframe them on a 29.97 timeline, with the right speed the same titles should look nice on a 24p timeline, right? I think I'm just not figuring out the right speed... do you notice any errors in my math above?

Z

Zack Coffman
producer/director
Choppertown: the Sinners [www.choppertown.com]
Brittown: a Brit bike documentary [www.brittown.com]

MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo 15" 2.4Ghz
Matte Screen
4 GB Corsair Ram
OWC 1TB Raid
Dell 2405FPW
FCP 6.0.4
OSX 10.5.5

I'm not a big fan of mathematically figuring out animation rates. Do what feels right... it's very easy in FCP to adjust your keyframes.

Noah

Final Cut Studio Training, featuring the HVX200, EX1, EX3, DVX100, DVDSP and Color at [www.callboxlive.com]!
Author, RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera available now at: [www.amazon.com].
Editors Store- Gifts and Gear for Editors: [www.editorsstore.com]