Final Cut Pro - Preferred Video Media Time Scales and Sample Durations

Q: When creating video for import into Final Cut Pro, are there specific time scales and sample durations that should be used?

A: Yes, there are a number of preferred values.

As mentioned in the "QuickTime Image Rates and Video" section of Ice Floe Dispatch 19, a media has a time scale and each sample in a media has a duration. Together the duration and time scale specify the frame rate of the video.

When creating video media for Final Cut Pro, the time scales and sample durations listed in Table 1 are the preferred values and should be used to accurately represent the frame rate of your content.

Table 1: Preferred FCP Media Time Scales / Sample Durations.

Frames Per SecondTime ScaleSample DurationTime ScaleSample Duration
606000100or601
59.945994100   
505000100or501
303000100or301
29.972997100   
29.97300001001   
252500100or251
242400100or241
23.98239761000   

Note: 23.98 fps can be represented as either 23976/1000 or 2997/125. Final Cut Pro prefers 23976/1000 since this form is very clear without the application having to examine media sample tables.

30000/1001 is a more accurate representation of 29.97 fps and doesn't suffer the frame time deviation as discussed in Ice Floe 19. However, this does make a difference in duration. A media time scale of 30000 and media sample durations of 1001, along with a movie time scale of 30000, currently provides 19.9 hours of time while 2997/100 provides 8.2 days of time.

Reference:

QuickTime Image Rates and Video - Ice Floe Dispatch 19

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Document Revision History

DateNotes
2005-10-24Lists the preferred time scales/sample durations for media created for use with FCP.

Posted: 2005-10-24

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