FCP "Export - QuickTime Movie" gamma shift

Above is an example of what happens when I do a direct export in Final Cut Pro, using the Export -> QuickTime Movie function. As you can see, the image is significantly brighter and the colors are a little more washed out (this image isn't particularly colorful, but trust me, it washes them out). I always thought the Export -> QuickTime Movie meant the image would not be compressed--that it was a straight export using the sequence settings.
The image you see above was shot natively in ProRes 422 (HQ) using an Arriflex Alexa. It has never been transcoded. The bottom image is what it looks like using Export -> QuickTime Movie. Totally unacceptable for a piece of professional software, if you ask me.
I can't express how infuriating this is, to have everything looking perfect in FCP and then exporting only to have it look like garbage. I've been able to play with gamma correction a bit and have gotten it PRETTY close to the original look, but this seems like a horrible workaround.
Anyone else know why this is happening? Is there a fix for this?
I'm working with FCP 6.0.6 and QuickTime 10.1.

Sure thing, Meg.
Here's a source clip with "approximate" gamma correction:
"Approximate" gamma correction makes the image look flatter within Final Cut Pro than it actually is.
Now, the very same clip and frame, but with gamma set to "Accurate" :
Now, things are switched. The exported image looks flatter than the source clip within FCP.
Here's another tidbit of info--the frame from my first post was professionally color graded and exported as a self-contained movie--so there were no filters, FCP or otherwise, being applied there. But the difference is just night-and-day to me.

Similar Messages

Export Quicktime movie in FCP comes out as a Final Cut Pro Movie File

Does anyone know why when I Export Quicktime movie in FCP it comes out as a Final Cut Pro Movie File? I can still play it in Quicktime and it's possible to set the Quicktime Player as the default software, but it still says in my finder window that it is a Final Cut Pro Movie File.
Does anyone know if there are any settings for the clip to come out as a Quicktime Movie instead? Thank you!

+Jim Cookman :+
+"The studio apps "brand" their exports. Actually kind of useful...+
In the words of the venerable Forest Gump, "Useful is as useful does" ... or something like that.
I actually use similar "icon" techniques in other areas of my workflow. But most of the time I just modify the file title for quick ID - I also use dashes & underscores to get things to stand out and stay at the top of lists etc.
But QT is my Go-To App for quick media reference and I have it set up to play almost all types off media when double clicked. I started doing it years ago when iTunes opened up every time I wanted to check a few seconds of an mp3 file.
I guess the best solution would have been for Apple to leave the "export FinalCut movie" option intact and simply add in an "export Quicktime movie" option as well. Or maybe add another drop down option for the tagging (branding).
At least we would have been able to make the workflow choices in-the-box rather than doing it with the OS.
Andy Neil,
I think using the OS is the better option rather than re-compressing your movie just so you can double click into QT.
best
g
Message was edited by: Goldfish

FCP 7 crashing on render and when exporting quicktime movie & rendering

Hi Guys,
I recently upgraded to Lion and am still using Final Cut Studio 3.
I have a 1.37min sequence which i wanted to export and burn the DVD. My normal workflow for this is:
- Export/quicktime movie/make self contained
- Open compressor and convert
But FCP 7 keeps on crashing on export, in fact is very unstable recently. It also crashes on rendering, and quite often when im editing.
- Final Cut Studio 7.03
- Footage is HDV 1080 50i
Any ideas on a solution??

Are you converting those clips to ProRes in ClipWrap? Or keeping them native? You MUST convert them to ProRes.
The NXCam came out just before 7.0.3. FCP did update to mesh with that camera, but it's still rocky. And now that FCP 7...legacy...has been discontinued, there will be no more updates. But you have ClipWrap so that should be fine. As long as you convert to ProRes.

FCP 7 Export Quicktime Movie Suddenly Stopped working

I use FCP7 on Mavericks 10.9.2. Working in Final Cut with raw ProRes 422 footage and wanting to export my sequence as Export Quicktime Movie. Worked fine until one day it just didn't. Final Cut exports a QT file that QT opens and immediately attempts (and fail) to convert. Then I get a message that QT cannot recognize file type, even though file is a .mov.
I send the file to the VLC media player, and it opens the file but only plays the audio. I have no idea why any of this is happening.
Using "Export Using Quicktime Conversion" I can still get the uncompressed ProRes 422 sequence out of Final Cut, but that's a pain. I want Command-E back. Any ideas?

If you love FCP7, you don't move UP to FPX - you move over to a new set of operational activities, a new vocabulary and a new media management structure. Notice the word "new" as in different, not "updated" as in a faster version of the same system.
If you want a 64 bit version of FCP7, look into Premiere Pro CC.
Best,
x

Export QuickTime movie with Compressor running in background

I've rummaged through the forums many times to figure out the absolute fastest way to get an FCP sequence compressed for DVD Studio Pro while maintaining the best quality. I always seem to come up with:
Export QuickTime Movie (not self contained) --> Compressor (DVD best quality settings)
This seems to work fine. I am currently exporting sequences in HDV 1080i60 and they take an extremely long time to export into QT movies. Because of that, I am editing a sequence, waiting for it to export, then dropping it into Compressor. At this point, FCP is available for editing again while Compressor is working, so I repeat the process. However, when I export to QT from FCP while Compressor is still running in the background it seems to take much longer to export.
Here is my question:
*Am I doing anything wrong by allowing Compressor to work while I am trying to export QT movies from FCP to the same drive?*
Is FCP actually taking longer to export, or is that my imagination? Would it be faster if I only did one at a time, or should it take the same amount of time either way? Am I putting the data on my final movies at risk by doing these things at the same time?
Any help would be appreciated as this is a time sensitive project. I am working in both FCP 5 and 6 on two different computers. 2.5 GHz Core 2 Duo, 4 GB.

Compressor takes a lot of system resources. It will slow the computer down in other tasks.
Because Compressor can run unattended, why not take advantage of that?
Do your regular work that needs you to be there and run the Compressor Batch overnight or at other times when the system is idle.
Compressor's default destination for its processed files is the same directory as the original -writing the files to a different drive might help, at least that way your media drive is not reading and writing at the same time.

Final Cut Pro exporting Quicktime movie and file size

I make short stop motion animations in FCP and usually when I export using current setting the file size is about 230MB for 60 seconds movie. However with the current project the exported quicktime movie file is only 32.1MB for 57 seconds movie. I don't think this is normal even though I set it with "current setting" and check off the make movie self-contained box.
How could I make the export setting back to normal so the exported quicktime movie will still be in high quality in a big file size?

Hi Ian,
it looks clear and same quality as usual. Maybe this is just how it is.
I am still worried because I exported another project to test and this one also is now exported into reduced file size. This is a 60 seconds movie and when I last exported, FCP created a 225.2MB quicktime file and when I exported exactly the same project again just now it is only 22MB... again, this is not self-contained movies.
To be honest with you I am really not familiar with digital settings, and I was trying to figure out export setting for a required file size and aspect ratio etc. for a projection the other day and it has been since then that my FCP started exporting smaller size QT files.
My project is in 4:3 ratio and all images on video sequence are digital still images. If you could kindly point out some places to look at to make sure that the settings are correct, that might be helpful (?)
thanks much!

Export Quicktime movie is not rendering video track, just the audio track. However, everything works when using Quicktime Conversion menu options. What is wrong with my setting for Export Quicktime movie?

Export>Quicktime movie is not rendering video track, just the audio track. However, everything works when using Quicktime Conversion menu options. What is wrong with my setting for Export>Quicktime movie?

When you converted the original files via MPEG Streamclip, what did you convert them to?
Have you tried trashing your preferences in FCP? Trashing FCP prefs is usually the first step when FCP is performing strangely.
Download Preference Manager from Digital Rebellion (free) at:
http://www.digitalrebellion.com/prefman/
It will allow you to archive your current preferences if you wish to restore them later.
MtD

How many times can you "Export - Quicktime movie" the same ProRes 422 file until it starts to lose quality?

Lets say you are done with your project & you want an uncompressed copy of it as your master. If you keep importing it back into Final Cut Pro, & keep exporting (Quicktime movie), will it ever start to lose quality?

I've never seen a number given, but would think it is very high.
Apple describes ProRes here:
About Apple ProRes
And in that document says:
"while remaining visually lossless through many generations of decoding and reencoding."
I don't think I've ever seen degradation caused by recompression or multiple compassion, but as a workflow if you output a master file, then re-import it to add graphics and export that, you would only be 1 generation down from the master file. If you wanted to make multiple versions, you can always go back to, and re-import, the master file and make the changes, then export, so all you exports stay only 1 generation down from the master file.
MtD

No more alpha in exported QuickTime movie from Keynote '09

Hello
In Keynote '08, I create a slide with no background (None).
I add some text with some fancy text IN and OUT features.
I export using the Animation codec and the transparency option.
When I reimport the movie in another Keynote '08 file, it inherits the transparency of the imported file and thus everything is perfectly blended.
In Keynote '09 it is not possible anymore.
Even if I import an exported QuickTime movie from Motion with a transparent background, it is not possible to have a perfect blend, all layers are opaque.
Last but not the least, adding transparent files on top of each other in QuickTime player does not preserve transparency despite the fact that the Animation + transparency features are added in the files.
Thank you in advance.

Hey Gary - first off, thanks for your reply! I am currently forcing spotlight to re-index to see if that might help me out. After that I will try your suggestion and run a system software check.
I need a ProRes export as this is going to be combined with IMAG footage from a live presentation as well as additional video from an Arri Alexa. I want to preserve as much quality as possible so that there isn't a discrepancy in the final edit. Originally, I was rendering a small test to the desktop to gauge output quality of animations etc. I did go ahead and re-export a second time to an external drive, but it doesn't seem to matter as Keynote appears to initially render everything to the startup drive no matter what. The second export still ate about 15 gigs from my startup disk and I am unable to find any sort of temp files anywhere!
I am showing all files in Finder and searching around the ~/private/tmp folders to no avail. In the image below there appears to be a discrepancy in the size being reported by finder and the size I'm seeing listed in terminal...

I work with Premiere Pro on a mac and export quicktime movies to be played on pc's or mac's

I work with Premiere Pro on a mac and export quicktime movies to be played on pc's or mac's. When I export a qt from Premiere with audio it will not play on a pc only a mac. After extensive research I have narrowed down the problem to this: if you use the inspector in quicktime it looks like this
DV, 720 x 480 (640 x 480), Millions
16-bit Integer (Little Endian), Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz
I have to run it thru AE to make it look like this....then it plays
DV, 720 x 480 (640 x 480), Millions
16-bit Integer (Big Endian), Stereo, 48.000 kHz
SOOOO the problem is the Little/Big Endian. I googled that and it looks like a file/bit structure....anyone know how/why to change it in Premiere? Because everytime I make a movie in Prem I have to drag the sequence into AE and render it there so the sounds works.....
thanks

Two questions:
1. What CODEC are you choosing when exporting on the Mac?
2. Do you have any Blackmagic hardware/software installed?
Cheers
Eddie
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Export Quicktime Movie only exports fades and composites (FCP6)

I'm trying to add a couple of lower thirds and a fade in and out to a live capture of a lecture; but for some reason, it's only exporting the effects - the fades and lower thirds. Everything else is skipped in the final QT movie.
I right-click the sequence and say 'Export > QuickTime Movie', leaving the settings as they are. The exported movie is 1.45GB - around the same size as the imported movie - but it's only 29 seconds long. Can anyone enlighten me as to what's going on? I tried clicking 'recompress all frames' but I have two problems with this: (1) it's going to recompress unnecessarily, and (2) it's looking like that will take about two hours.
Any help would be appreciated.

FCP6. Right there in the question title. Version 6.0.6, if that's important.
It was actually recorded off WireCast, with one camera and desktop streaming. Sequence settings are 720p square pixels, H.264 video.
Export from the File Menu has the same effect.

Audio and Video option missing from Export Quicktime Movie Include

Today as I was exporting a clip, I noticed that the Audio and Video option was missing from the Include drop down. I only have the options of Left, Center, Right.
I highlight the sequence, control E (or File>Export>Quicktime Movie) and the Save window comes up. The Settings drop down is the same, the Markers: drop down is the same, but the Include: has the options of Left, Center and Right. I thought the Video and Audio dropdowns were always there. I hate to admit it, but I have not paid attention to them in a while. Getting old I guess.
Sequence settings is 720x480 NTSC DV (3:2)
NTSC - CCIR 601 / DV (720x480)
Lower (Even)
29.97
QT Video Settings
DV/DVCPRO - NTSC
100%
Audio
48 kHz
16-bit
Channel Grouped
Did I miss something?
Thanks

Thanks, forgot about that.
For what ever reason it started working correctly a couple of hours later, after I started an SD project. The video came out fine
I had been trying out a couple new applications, so maybe one was causing it. I will see if it happens in the future.
Jim

Missing Render Files / Problem Exporting Quicktime Movie

Everything was going great on my 21 minute project.
I had exported it to iDVD via a Quicktime movie and it looked great in widescreen format. It worked perfectly.
Now, for whatever reason, when I load my project, I get a message saying the Render Files are missing. I am unable to locate them anywhere. I had them stored along with my project on an external firewire 400 drive.
So I press "continue" without finding the missing files.
Now when I export my movie, it appears 4:3 with gray vertical bars on the side!
When I view the project on the canvas, it looks perfect as 16:9. Everything looks normal in FCE.
Did a render file get corrupted or something? Is there a way to delete all the "old" render files and tell Final Cut Express to re-render my entire new project? Would that solve my problem?
Any help is greatly appreciated!

I did what you said and the "exported" file says:
Kind: Final Cut Express Movie File
Under More Info it says:
720x480 Integer (Little Indian) Timecode
Total Bit Rate: 30,313
Why am I trying to export?
Before I ran into trouble, I would export my FCE project using the Export Quicktime Movie command.
I then used iDVD (set to 16:9) to burn to DVD.
It worked perfectly before.
But now, all of a sudden, the same project always shows up at 4:3, whether played in Quicktime or when burned to DVD using iDVD set to 16:9.
The version of FCE is 4.0 and the version of Quicktime is 7.4.5
Thank you again for trying to help me!

Not able to export quicktime movie from Flash CS5 or CS6.

Hi! I am not able to export quicktime movie from Flash CS5 or CS6. When I export it the progress bar is showing and says Recording Flash content and nothing happens

I havent exported any videos in the past from Flash. The movie is around 45 seconds and the size is 470KB.
I tried both, the memory and the hard drive.
In the attached image you can see the settings and in the other image you can see the progress bar that remains without something to happen.
I dont mind what type of video to export it can be also .avi but again I have troubles there. It is very large and the animation is distorted.
The animation consist from two scenes. The first one can be exported without any problem but the second one cannot be exported. May be because it has some masks layers and guide layers?

Visual glitches in exported QuickTime movie (but not in FCP); any ideas?

We shot a short film with a Sony camera (standard def), but it apparently isn't compatible w/ FC Studio software. So we captured and did a rough-cut on my friend's PC rig (Adobe Premiere Pro), burned raw files of our rough cut on to dvd's, then transferred from those discs to my rig. The codec of this footage worked fine in FCP, but wasn't supported by Color. So I used Compressor to convert all referenced files to Apple ProRes 422 (HQ), as it seemed the best conversion I tried (no loss of film quality) and obviously now is supported by Color.
However, the final rendered QuickTime movie (exported from FCP) had some odd visual glitches that occur right before the end of a clip (perhaps 10-15 frames before the end): it's like the brightness or gamma level suddenly drops a noticeable amount right at the end of a clip (again, ~10-15 frames). I couldn't say for sure if it's the last 10-15 frames that are appropriate and the REST of the clip is what's out of whack.
Initially, I thought it was a problem with Color (as these were Color-corrected sequences I was exporting). But I just tried it with a non-color corrected sequence, and the errors are still there.
Any ideas what's going on? Any suggestions/solutions? Did I pick an inappropriate conversion on Compressor?

I think this may be an AVI conversion glitch.
Well I am guessing that from Premiere Pro they came out as AVI? If that is the case well the best thing to do would be to open it with Quicktime Pro and export it as DV/DVCPRO NTSC .MOV
From there you should be able to bring it into FCP without a hitch and then put color down,
But in order to save time I would try first exporting just that last little segment again throwing it into Compressor and see if it comes out okay. It may be that on capture there was some dropped frames on the end so double check that last little bit.

FCP "Export - QuickTime Movie" gamma shift

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