If this isn't the right place to ask, please redirect me to the right place.

hey! I'm a beginner TASer, and I am having problems with the FPG. I've already done a couple of TASes without it, and wanted to learn how to, so I tried with the sockfolder setup. my issue is, I get to the stairs, and I do the walk for 2 frames there, but I can't seem to figure out the end inputs. I'm clipping into the block, but I do the 3 left frames and one jump frame, and right as mario touches the ground, mario clips out of the block. how would I fix that? here is a video of it.

Looks to me like you did the stair inputs one frame late. So do the B, B, B+A, ... inputs one frame earlier and then make sure to do a full jump (which you didn't do here) and then you'll be set up properly for the FPG.

Note that, based on the frame counter at the bottom of your video, even when you get it you'll still miss the optimal framerule by 10 frames or so. Part of that is that you weren't holding R+B from the start of the room after coming out of the pipe, but even after that you will still need to improve your underground by several frames in order to save the framerule.

(EDIT: Wait, you couldn't have gotten a 380 underground if you lost all of the frames there. Also double-check that you're moving as soon as you gain control of Mario at the start, and that you're entering the pipe on the first possible frame.)

(Also, it seems like you didn't start the game on the first possible framerule? Double-check that your start press happens no later than frame 41.)

alright, I did it, and I think I save the framerule as well. not quite sure though. seems really fast though, so I think so. also, the I know the TAS Accel doesn't help save the framerule, I just did it for swag.

That's actually slower than the last one coming out of the underground, and misses the optimal framerule by 14 frames. Most of that is actually from the fast accel at the start, where you stopped holding right after you jumped and thus stopped accelerating. I think if you fix that and also really make sure to enter the pipe as early as possible (you pushed down a couple of frames late here), then you can barely save the framerule even without touching anything else. (If that's not enough, then I'll also add that for the underground, you can save a bit of time by doing a smaller jump to land on the platform earlier. Keep in mind that you're stuck at walking speed until you touch the ground, so you want that to happen as soon as possible.)

alright thanks for the info. if I press start at frame 41, what frame would the optimal framerule be on when it fades out? (on the first black screen frame after clearing the level)

The screen should go completely black on frame 1948