Michael Phillips

One of the advantages of working on a native 24p project (or 23.976) is the ability to create what is referred to as a "progressive DVD." DVD has the ability to payback material that is 24p native and insert the 2:3 pulldown for NTSC viewing. This allows for 20% more program to fit on a DVD for the same bit rate, or a higher quality bit rate for the same length program.

The MPEG2 encoding process adds a 2:3 pulldown flag to the frames telling the player how to create the NTSC signal. This allows for very clean still frame advance (no inter-field motion twitter) as well as a smooth playback on either progressive or interlace monitors.

Working progressively also allows the frame to retain its full vertical resolution throughout the process and the steps outlined here for Sorenson Squeeze are also valid for 30p and 25p except for the references to the NTSC pulldown from a 24fps frame rate.

Click here for a PDF file of the steps needed to create a progressive 24p NTSC DVD.