Fields Node

Fields manipulates the fields of an interlaced video. It lets you strip a field, interpolate, interlace two images or de-interlace. Essential for legacy broadcast (old PAL / NTSC TV) or archives.

With progressive formats now dominant, interlacing is becoming rare, but it is still present in some broadcast and archive workflows.

• Effects Library: Tools > Miscellaneous > Fields
• Quick add: right-click in the Node Editor → Add Tool > Miscellaneous > Fields

Interlacing

To save bandwidth, legacy TV transmitted each frame in two passes: even lines (Field 1) and odd lines (Field 2), 50/60 times per second. The eye merges them into a complete image.

PAL (50i)

The European standard. 25 frames/sec = 50 fields/sec. Typical resolution of 576 lines.

NTSC (60i / 59.94i)

The North American standard. 30 frames/sec (29.97 drop-frame) = 60 fields/sec. Resolution of 480 lines.

Field Dominance

Which field comes first: Upper / Lower. A mismatch = judder / artifacts.

Progressive (P)

The whole image is transmitted at once. The modern standard (HD 1080p, 4K). No interlacing.

• Stream1 (orange) - the primary 2D image for interpolation / conversion.
• Stream2 (green) - an optional secondary image to interlace two images together.

De-interlacing broadcast footage:
MediaIn (interlaced) → Fields (Operation = De-Interlace)
                    → MediaOut (progressive)

Interlacing two images into separate fields:
ImageA ─┐
        ├── Fields (Operation = Interlace)
ImageB ─┘    ↓
           MediaOut (interlaced - A on odd, B on even)

Stripping a field (first or second):
MediaIn → Fields (Operation = Strip Field 1 / Field 2)
       → MediaOut (resolution × 0.5 vertically)

PAL → NTSC conversion:
MediaIn (PAL) → Fields (Process Mode = NTSC Fields)
            → standards conversion → MediaOut (NTSC)

Operation (default: Do Nothing)

Operation to apply:

• Do Nothing
• Strip Field 2
• Strip Field 1
• Strip Field 2 and Interpolate
• Strip Field 1 and Interpolate
• Interlace
• De-Interlace

Reverse Field Dominance

Reverses the field order (upper-first ↔ lower-first).

Process Mode (default: Auto)

Processing mode:

• Full Frames
• NTSC Fields
• PAL Fields
• PAL Fields (Reversed)
• NTSC Fields (Reversed)
• Auto (default)

• De-interlacing broadcast footage - old PAL / NTSC TV footage to convert to progressive for an HD/4K edit.
• Standards conversion - PAL → NTSC or the reverse. Implies a frame rate conversion (25 ↔ 30 fps).
• Field-only processing - process a specific field (cleanup, color) before re-interlacing.
• Combining two images as interlaced - two sources in separate fields to create a visual effect or for compatibility with a legacy workflow.
• Archive restoration - VHS / Betamax / U-matic archives: de-interlace + cleanup in a modernization pipeline.

• Check the source dominance - a dominance mismatch = visible judder. Test with and without Reverse Field Dominance to confirm.
• Process Mode Auto - lets Fusion detect it from the project settings. Only override it if Auto gets it wrong.
• Strip + Interpolate vs De-Interlace - De-Interlace uses advanced algorithms. Strip + Interpolate is more basic but predictable.
• Stream1 = dominant - in Interlace mode, Stream1 is the dominant field and Stream2 the secondary one.
• Modern HD = progressive - modern footage is almost always progressive. Fields is rarely needed.
• Combine with Optical Flow for quality - de-interlace + Optical Flow for smooth interpolation of missing fields = higher quality.
• For precise frame rate conversions (25 ↔ 30), consider Optical Flow + Time Stretcher as a complement.