Ok first things first. I'm just seeing if anybody knows what this thing is. I'm using Premier Pro 7 with a Canon XM1 which has just been serviced and declared free of faults, on a P4 System.

Thing is sometimes this little black square (this time it is black, sometimes it is green, sometimes white) appears when I slow a clip down using the "speed/duration" method.

In some clips it is visible in the raw footage captured straight from the camera and the clip must be re-captured however in the case of this clip, it wasn't.

Here is the URL for a pic of the square in the preview window, and yes it does still appear when exported to a movie file and the DV tape.

http://www.wakeboardvictoria.com.au/blacksquare.jpg

I'd appreciate any help on getting rid of it, or even an explanation.

Now, second thing. I am in Australia, which means I am using a PAL camera, (Sorry, I know you're not stupid, I'm just trying to eliminate a line of questioning in later posts.) at 25FPS, it's a Canon XM1. When using the "speed/duration" tool and slowing my clips down to 30%, I notice considerable choppiness, I mean not bad , just not ultra smooth like what I've seen in other wakeboard videos. Is this a Frame Rate limitation? I am shooting wakeboarding (getting towed behind a boat on a board doing flips and stuff) with a shutter speed of 400. I was told shutter speed wouldn't so much affect the smoothness of Slo mo, but the clarity of the stills that make up the motion. I have read all the tips on de-interlacing the clip, but I have tried this and if anything, this seems to enhance the jerkiness, not smooth it out more. Now I am assuming, from looking at a slowed clip frame by frame that Premier Pro 7 is one of these programs that creates intermediate frames to create a smoother clip. So I needn't look for a program that does that. So that leaves me with this question, is there anything I can do (short of buying a camera that shoots at 60FPS, way out of my proce range!)? Or am I stuck with this "feathery" (Best word I could think of to describe it) slow motion. . . .

Any help would be greatly appreciated. . .Thankyou