PLEASE help with 24p editing mixed with 29.97

Question

Hello--I am a newbie to all of this 24p editing. I shot a zombie movie last summer and have a MESS with the footage. Half was shot in 24p advanced mode on the Panasonic AGDVX100a with a 16:9 anamorphic lens, and half shot at 4:3, 29.97 with a Sony DVX2100.
I realize I need to "conform all of this footage".
Can I stay on a 29.97 timeline? I heard that dropping 24p adv footage onto a 29.97 timeline results in a "jittery" picture once output to TV.
Should I edit on a 24p timeline, and convert the 29.97 footage?
It seems that when I drop my 24p advanced footage into Premiere (CS4), on a 24p timeline--the fouth frame is identical to the fifth. Does this mean that pulldown removal is not happening correctly? How do I fix this?
Even if I do figure out how to edit on a 24p timeline, when I do my final render, what should my output file be? should I try a 24p DVD?
Also...This is an EFFECTS HEAVY film. So I need to do an edit in Premier, then render it and bring it into After Effects, do the effects, and do another render...then I will take that render back into Premier. Will this work? What render setting should I use? How will the pulldown be affected, if at all?
ANY HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!! I have scoured the net, but have not come across the right answers yet...please help!!!!

Answer 1

Hello orion,
Your HDR-CX550V records HD as MPEG4 AVC/H.264; and SD as MPEG2-PS. It appears to be an AVCHD camcorder (at least for HD video).
Storing your +original footage+ could be done at least two ways:
1 - record to removable flash media and save the Memory Sticks as your originals, as you formerly saved your tapes. (If I did my math correctly, you could fit up to about 6.5 hrs. HD video on a 16GB memory stick depending on the recording mode you select.)
2 - copy the +entire directory structure+ from the flash media to a hard drive; this is important, you need the entire directory & files from the root folder on down, not just the AVCHD folder or just the .mts files. Test this before committing to it as your archiving method.
The third way (and what I would probably do myself):
3 - Log & Transfer into FCE and then archive the resulting QuickTime .mov files to a hard drive. (Admittedly, this is technically not the 'original' footage because it has been transcoded to Apple Intermediate Codec; however the quality is excellent and should be almost indistinguishable from the original AVCHD video.)
If you convert the video files yourself (you mentioned iSkysoft), you need to convert to QuickTime/Apple Intermediate Codec to use the video in FCE.
FCP can handle 5.1 audio however the state of the art of these camcorders does not lend itself to direct import or conversion from the camcorder. Even the pros need dedicated 5.1 audio hardware. Frankly, 5.1 audio on these consumer camcorders is more a marketing gimmick than something actually useful at present.
The filenames 00001.MTS, 00002.MTS etc. are assigned by your camcorder and there is nothing you can do to change that. (Although you could rename the QT .mov files after you Log & Transfer from your camcorder).
- hoping this helps ...