3:2 Pulldown

3:2 pulldown (sometimes written 2:3 pulldown) is a way to show 24 fps film on a 29.97 fps NTSC video system. It works by repeating film frames in a set pattern across video fields.

Here is the basic idea:

• Film runs at 24 frames per second.
• NTSC video at 29.97 fps has roughly 60 fields per second.
• Those 24 frames have to be spread out to fill 60 fields, so some frames get repeated.
• The pattern goes like this: one film frame fills 3 video fields, the next fills 2, the next fills 3, the next fills 2, and so on. That back-and-forth is the “3:2.”

Why it exists:

• The move from cinema to TV. Film started at 24 fps, and US TV broadcast used 30 fps, later 29.97. To show film on TV, you have to convert it.
• It is an NTSC thing. PAL systems run at 25 fps and handle film differently, so 3:2 pulldown is mostly an NTSC issue.

Where it comes up:

• Film-to-video transfers. Older content moving from film to video.
• Telecine. The process of transferring film to video uses pulldown.
• Archive material. Older content that started on film may already have pulldown baked in.
• Reverse pulldown. Sometimes you need to undo it and get back to clean 24 fps for editing or display.

In modern production:

• Most digital work skips it. Digital cameras usually record at the delivery frame rate from the start.
• Some workflows still use it. Certain projects that want a film look for TV.
• It is mostly a legacy concern. New production rarely involves pulldown at all.

For client work, 3:2 pulldown matters when you handle film-originated material or specific NTSC projects. It is rare in modern production.

Here are a few reasons it helps to know about pulldown.

Archive content uses it. Older film-based content has pulldown built in, so working with it means understanding how it behaves.

Reverse pulldown helps editing. Removing the pulldown lets you edit film-originated content cleanly at 24 fps.

It protects quality. Handle pulldown wrong and you get visible glitches in the picture.

Broadcast rules include it. NTSC broadcast standards have pulldown specifications.

Theatrical content needs it for TV. Film shot at 24 fps needs pulldown when it heads to broadcast.

For client work, this is mostly a legacy concern. New production rarely needs it.

Here is how it works in practice.

Spot the pulldown content. The file’s metadata often flags it. You can also catch it by eye, since pulldown can leave a combing pattern in the picture.

Let your software do the conversion. Modern editing and conversion software handles pulldown for you when it is set up right.

Reverse it for editing. A lot of the time, you convert pulldown content back to 24 fps before editing. Your software can do this.

Check the result. Pulldown conversion can leave glitches, so look over the output.

Write down what you did. On projects with pulldown content, note how you handled it.

In modern client work, pulldown is mostly automatic when it comes up at all.

A few things to keep in mind for modern work.

New production rarely uses it. Digital projects shot at one steady frame rate skip the whole issue.

Archives still matter. Older film-based content lives on in archives, and working with it brings pulldown back into play.

Streaming has moved on. Most modern delivery is progressive at a steady frame rate, so pulldown is far less relevant.

Cinema is still 24 fps. Theatrical film stays at 24 fps, so converting it for broadcast still uses pulldown.

For client work, pulldown is mostly a legacy concern. Knowing about it helps when you handle film-originated archive content.