I have a 1080p video i made last summer at 30 fps and Media Info tells me it is 29.970 fps. I hope that helps. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

What was your video format when initially imported into PD? I haven't had problems with video whether 30 or 29.97. My concern is using a series of PNG files in slideshow 1 frame per image. if my animation was done to audio at 30fps and PD is rendering at 29.97, the audio will come out of sunc through the duration. So the question basically boils down to this: should I animate to my audio at 29.97 or 30 to be optimized in PD?

You can change the frame rate in Powerdirector to 30 fps instead of 29.97 fps.

Preferences > General. 30 fps, Select Drop frames = No.

If you have Drop frames at Yes, PD generates 29.97 fps.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Quote: What was your video format when initially imported into PD? I haven't had problems with video whether 30 or 29.97. My concern is using a series of PNG files in slideshow 1 frame per image. if my animation was done to audio at 30fps and PD is rendering at 29.97, the audio will come out of sunc through the duration. So the question basically boils down to this: should I animate to my audio at 29.97 or 30 to be optimized in PD?

In preferences if you set NTSC (30 FPS) the timeline is 29.97fps. You would want to create your animations at 29.97fps and when you "Produce" with a NTSC profile, your output is 29.97FPS. The drop frame timecode does not change the basic FPS. A basic article explaining drop frame timecode is here, http://documentation.apple.com/en/finalcutpro/usermanual/index.html#chapter=D%26section=6%26tasks=true That's why regardless of how you set it in PD, if you drop a true 30FPS video in the timeline PD will throw up a warning and rightfully so. Many say ignore, however, that can lead to significant issues for those that care about timing or artificially added or dropped frames to make up proper framerate. To prove it to yourself, create a custom H.264 "Produce" profile in PD and set video FPS to 30 and then input and drop on timeline. If you have not turned off the warning you will get the caution.

jmone posted a good 30fps pinwheel that works good for testing, http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/25402.page

If you duplicate the 30 frames in the PD timeline for a total of 2040 frames each with a 1 frame duration, at 29.97FPS, you have 2040/29.97=68.068seconds or 68seconds and 2 frames of exact time. If using drop frame timecode, your timeline will be 01;08;02 long, non drop frame would be 2040/30=68seconds even, 01:08:00. ONLY the time indicator is adjusted, not the actual framerate or timeline frames. PD uses ";" timecode delimiter for drop frame and ":" for non drop frame.

I created a true 30FPS video with a custom profile of the 2040 frames of the pinwheel to drop in the timeline of my NTSC (30 FPS) pref setting. I also produced a default NTSC 29.97FPS file. Yes I get the warning about FPS mismatch for the true 30FPS file but not the 29.97FPS file. Additionally, since the output was 30FPS vs my timeline pref setting of 29.97 FPS, PD needed to add the 2 frames someplace since at 30FPS it's too fast by 2 frames. It added one frame right at the beginning as shown in the attached pic. By the second frame, the 30FPS produced file already lags the desired pinwheel frame by 1 frame. The 29.97FPS produced file and the original background pinwheel match frames.

I've noticed each major release of PD does something a little different in this regard. The above does not exactly match for instance PD11, I guess one could say, constantly improving!

If you really want 30FPS, you would probably have to play with the 60FPS pref setting.

Jeff

Jeff, thank you so much for that detailed answer. I think I'm getting it now. So to paraphrase, if I'm understanding correctly, I animate at 29.97 fps, and leave the drop frame option on. I wonder why in the world does PD say 30 fps in the general preferences if it's actually 29.97? Thats bunk. One concern, I'm running PD11, and you wrote "I've noticed The above does not exactly match for instance PD11, I guess one could say, constantly improving!" So do you know is there something extra I should be aware of because I'm running 11?

Drop timecode does not change the FPS, it only changes the display of duration of time. If someone asks you to create a 3600second movie for a given spot to be shown on a NTSC broadcast system, how do you know your have exactly 3600seonds and not 3603.6seconds or something else? Drop a long video in the timeline with the NTSC (30 FPS) setting and toggle drop frame timecode on and off and compare the overall length that the PD timecode indicates and you will see the issue. Your big buck payout for your video spot it totally tied to nailing 3600seconds exactly. Short you get nothing, long you get nothing.

If you create 29.97FPS and use the NTSC (30 FPS) in preference and produce to a NTSC format your timings should be okay. Having drop timecode on or off will only affect the indication of how long your video is and what exact frame is at a given point in time, it will not actually affect any relative timings. If you have mixed frame rates of video on the various video tracks, during the PD produce operation, PD will either duplicate or remove frames of your input video to match your produced framerate which can lead to undesirable effects for those that care.

Jeff

Ok, I may be overlooking something mentioned above, and apologize if I have. Here is my problem. I have taken video on my Samsung galaxy S5 which is mp4 and 29.97 frames. The video looks great when I initially import it to PD12. When I drop it into the timeline and/or produce the video, it is blocky, and very distorted. I've tried several output formats and toggled the drop frame to on and off and always produce the same undesirable results. Any suggestions? Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit, 5 GB Ram, AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0 Ghz, ATI Radeon HD 4200, 750GB HD, Free Space Greater than 100GB.

My daughter and I hare having the same problem! Please forward any private message answers you get about this.

Thanks in advance,

Tammy

Quote Ok, I may be overlooking something mentioned above, and apologize if I have. Here is my problem. I have taken video on my Samsung galaxy S5 which is mp4 and 29.97 frames. The video looks great when I initially import it to PD12. When I drop it into the timeline and/or produce the video, it is blocky, and very distorted. I've tried several output formats and toggled the drop frame to on and off and always produce the same undesirable results. Any suggestions?