I mixed 24, 30 and 60 fps MP4 clips on one timeline. Preview seems mostly okay, but some pans judder in the final. How should I choose the project frame rate?
Choose delivery cadence first, then decide how each source maps to it. No single frame rate preserves every unrelated cadence perfectly.
Color & tone mapping
60 to 30 at normal speed is straightforward because frames can be sampled cleanly. 24 to 30 has a different cadence and can show judder in pans even when conversion is technically correct.
Handle slow motion intentionally. Interpreting 60 as 30 for half speed is different from normal-speed 60 footage on a 30 fps timeline.
Action Video Lab Editorial Team
I had not separated delivery rate from source rate. I will keep a 30 fps deliverable and inspect the 24 fps pans specifically.
For the 24 fps pans, no 30 fps timeline can invent a perfectly even native cadence without changing motion. That section is worth judging at normal viewing speed rather than frame-stepping and expecting every frame interval to be identical.