Removing 3:2 or 24Pa pulldown from video transferred from film or DV cameras

It's important to remove 3:2 pulldown from video footage that was originally film so that effects you add in After Effects synchronize perfectly with the original frame rate of film. Removing 3:2 pulldown reduces the frame rate by 4/5: from 30 to 24 fps or from 29.97 to 23.976 fps, which also reduces the number of frames you have to change. To remove 3:2 pulldown, you must also indicate the phase of the 3:2 pulldown. (See About 3:2 pulldown.)

Before you remove 3:2 pulldown, separate the fields as either upper-field first or lower-field first. Once the fields are separated, After Effects can analyze the footage and determine the correct 3:2 pulldown phase and field order. If you already know the phase and field order, choose them from the Separate Fields and the Remove Pulldown pop-up menus in the Interpret Footage dialog box.

After Effects also supports Panasonic DVX100 24p DV camera pulldown, called 24P Advance (24Pa). This format is used by some cameras to capture 23.976 progressive-scan imagery using standard DV tapes.

To remove 3:2 or 24Pa pulldown from video:

1. In the Project window, select the footage from which you want to remove 3:2 pulldown.
2. Choose File > Interpret Footage > Main.
3. In the Fields and Pulldown section, select Upper Field First or Lower Field First from the Separate Fields pop-up menu.
4. Do one of the following and click OK:
• If you know the phase of the 3:2 or 24Pa pulldown, choose it from the Remove Pulldown pop-up menu.
• To have After Effects determine the correct settings, click Guess 3:2 Pulldown or Guess 24Pa Pulldown.

Note: If your footage file contains frames from different sources, the phase may not be consistent. If this is the case, import the footage once for each phase. Then, add the footage to your composition as many times as there are phases and trim each layer to use only the appropriate frames for each phase.