Running Media Composer 2.8.1

Quattro FX 3500

HP xw8400

We just set up our new suite and whether I am in a 24fps or 29.97 project, when I hit the space bar for play or stop, the picture jitters, we are trying to figure out if it is a reference problem or what.

Even when I output to tape and redigitze the picture in either frame rate again, it still jitters.

Any thoughts...please help!

Irene

Can you explain the jitter a little more and how it's related to pressing of the space bar?  Is the jitter during playback?  Is it in the monitors and the composer playback? 

And does the "jitter" go away if you go to internal reference?

Are you talking about the Video output setting, and if so yes the sync lock is set to reference, we tried both options. What I am seeing is not on the composer monitors at all but on my broadcast monitor, it is whatever I am playing off the timeline. It happens in both 24p and 29.97 projects. So when I hit the space bar to play it is fine, but when I hit stop it looks like it advances a couple of frames and then settles back to the orginal place in which I stopped it at.

We send out our master tapes to a facility called Deluxe located in Toronto, Canada, and they can see it on the digibeta tape I sent them. They said the error is sort of strange and because we convert from NTSC to PAL the convert has all sorts of jitterying and so forth. WE talked to Avid for over and hour and half on the phone and he couldn't figure it out. I am very frustrasted and now behind schedule. Any ideas anyone?? Thanks so much!

Irene

And how is the original footage shot? What format? What frame  rate?

We are an animation company we start at 24fps and end up at 29.97. Also, this only started occuring when we upgrading to the Media Composer 2.8.1, before that I was working on Media Composer Adrenaline 1.5.1, yes it was old but it worked and we were on an older Unity, but we couldn't use that version on the new unity which everything was installed 2 weeks ago. I tested out my master tapes created on my old Adrenaline and they jitter as well when I digitize them and playthem back into the system.

Ok...sounds like a field interpolation may have changed between version. From what  software are you exporting your  animation and in what field order?

Hi there, we work in SoftImage and they work at 24fps, frames no fields at all!

They save them as pict sequences and I import them as that!

It does sound like a field order issue if you see it in the monitors but not the composer.  Have you tried stepping through your timeline one field at a time, during a high motion shot, to see if the fields are in the wrong order?

 At what point is the pulldown occuring to convert from 24 frame to 29.97? 

Hi there, I do my color correction to the shots in 24 fps, I output to 29.97 Digibeta tape and then digitize into a 29.97 project. So on the output from the avid the 2:3 pulldown is done....If it is a field issue, I would I fix that???