Any Quality loss in FCE using H.264

I have shot video using the new Canon SX30is with 720p. The files are H.264 (1280x720). I have put them directly into FCE and then rendered them. This took some time, but worked fine. My question is did I loose any quality be doing this? I saved it as a QT. I want to get Roxio 10 Toast Titanium w/HD plugin. Basically I'm asking if the edited video is in 720? In FCE I set the sequence to 720.
Thanks,
Rod

Thanks for the quick response. I have streamclip and have tried it, but not sure about the settings. The streamclip default export settings to QT are as follows - Compression: Apple Motion JPEG A, 1260x720 (unscaled), I can set quality to 100%, Interlaced Setting checked, and Field Dominance: Upper Field First.
Not sure where 'converting AIC' is located or if it part of exporting to QT.
Since I have completed editing, I will leave it, but would like to know how to use streamclip in the future.
Thanks for your help skalicki.

Similar Messages

Importing .MTS files without any quality loss!

I recently shot a short documentary in Uganda for a non-profit with an HD camera. I left the camera with the organization and took the .Mts files back home on an external hard drive. Found out they won't import, oh no!
So I looked into converting them and have downloaded almost a dozen programs to convert the files but there is ALWAYS a noticeable quality loss. It has become REALLY frustrating and I need some solid advice on how to get this video in the Premiere at good quality. I need a good converting program Work arounds? What format should I convert into?
I also have Premiere Pro 1.5. I know it's a little older but it's all I've got (and can afford). Thank you VERY MUCH for the help!

The link I posted http://forums.adobe.com/thread/390605 is in the Premiere Elements FAQ area, but the software discussed at that link has nothing to do with PrElements... it is software to convert AVCHD to HDV so the HDV files may then be edited
As I said... I do not convert because I have CS5... but, the two programs mentioned in the 1st posting should, according to Steve, do what is needed
http://www.newbluefx.com/avchd-upshift.html
http://www.shedworx.com/voltaichd
The 3rd link in that message was blocked by Norton, so I do not recommend clicking that one

Photos transfer : any quality loss ?

Hello everyone,
It's been quite a long time since I got my iPod touch v.2 but I'd never really cared about uploading photos on it until now.
Nevertheless, I'm now trying to upload a few pictures I took with my new camera on it. I actually did it by choosing the iPhoto folder I wanted in iTunes and everything worked just fine, except that I kind of noticed a loss of quality : the pictures I uploaded look a bit noisy on my iPod and they all get pixellized whenever I try to zoom in, which is really bizarre considering their awesome quality and resolution (10Mpx)...
Here's my question : does iTunes decrease the quality of the pictures you upload on your iPod/iPhone in order to save some disk space ? If so, is there any way to stop it ?
Thanks in advance !

I find this unacceptable.
Just purchased a 64 GB iPod willing to store and view my large collection of pictures (~20 GB) and I find zillions of support topics where Apple customers are asking for the most basic features: copy pictures and videos from Mac/PC to iPods and back.
Apple's philosophy (I've been an Apple user since 1981) would traditionally be to drag-n-drop from/to the desktop. Instead customers are forced to use iSync and/or iPhoto and these products produce a very small subset of expected capabilities, not the least being the forced low-resolutions pictures, requirements to convert videos to a specific format, no easy files transfers, unable to copy or delete a selection of pictures, etc.
One can understand that musics are different animals with copyright issues, and would explain why the iPod/iTunes combination is such a locked configuration.
This is definitely not the case for personal pictures. Currently the iPod should not be expected to be of any serious use as either a portable picture/video viewer or a backup device. Something that Palm PDA's offered 10 years ago. Apple, please wake up and re-consider.
/A

Ingesting less than FXP quality AVCHD in FCE (using Canon HF-10)

Hi,
I've been ingesting AVCHD clips from my Canon HF-10 and have had no problems. I thought I'd read somewhere that you must have shot the footage in the highest quality (17 Mb/s) in order for it to be ingested properly. However, I just tried SD footage, and it seemed to ingest fine. Is this because I recently upgraded to FCE 4.0.1 ?
Thanks,
Vic

Sorry to poke my nose into this thread, but to clarify, the pixels on the screen of your notebook are etched in, and cannot be stretched or multiplied. Each physical pixel is driven by a transistor pair in and matrix configuration, and only whole pixel can be displayed. The 1440 vs. 1920 are virtual pixels in some frame buffer, and need to be re-sampled and filtered by H/W-S/W, before they are actually displayed on the square pixels your MacBook's screen. Just the data as it is being stored and transmitted from the camcorder to the PC represent 1440 or 1920 pixels per scan line. Actually there are macroblocks (4x4, through 16x16 and color sub-sampling involved - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC ), so it is more complex that what I just said. For all practical purposes, there is theoretically less detail transmitted per scan line in the case of 1440 pixels/line, but it maybe impossible to see on a notebook (which cannot display all that detail anyway) and would depend on the actual image captured. Unless you are viewing this on a large display, and are viewing a video that contains and is actually captured very high detail, great optics, etc., you will not see the difference. You just have to match the resolutions between the camcorder and the computer, so it receives the amount of data it expects or it will get confused and quit with an error. To see the difference between the 1440 and 1920 requires the right pattern, equipment chain and trained eye, to really appreciate it.
Message was edited by: ComPH1
Message was edited by: ComPH1

Quality loss within FCE

Hi there,
I've imported a .mov into FCE, but when I look at it in the Canvas window it looks all grainy and bad (compared to the original, that is). Look at http://www.sparkreclame.nl/example.png to see what I mean... Left is the original mov in the viewer, right is placed on a timeline.
The movie is rendered, and even when exported to Quicktime Movie it's bad...
Any help?

,mov doesn't mean anything. DV can be .mov. HDCAM can be .mov. When you put it into a DV sequence you're converting the material to an interlaced television. The format is designed for display on a television set only. You must monitor your output on a video monitor or television set. QuickTime player playback has to be set to high quality to see the full format. The viewer displays your original video, whatever that is, while the Canvas usually displays a limited resolution output in DV.

Serious quality loss with MTS files and iMovie '11

Hello,
I have some issues with my brand new Panasonic HDC SD700 (a full HD camera)
I experience serious quality loss when I use iMovie to create a movie.
I did some tests, but still puzzled int this world of codecs and formats.
Maybe some of you can help.
I have made a short shot of 450 sec with highest mode (1080p 24fps)
It show is finder as a .MTS file size 99MB, I'm very happy with the quality when I play this with VLC.
iMovie turns this file into a .mov file with 635MB size, in Apple Intermediate Codec, Linear PCM, Timecode. This quality is already poor compared to original MTS file.
No wonder that the output file (select 1080p H.264 codecs) results also in unacceptable quality.
I'm running latest imOvie version with all updates etc.
I have no idea were to look to solve this issue. It is quite annoying since I have invested in a top Cam recorder. Not sure is Final cut express will sure the issue either.....

I have made a short shot of 450 sec with highest mode (1080p 24fps)
Have you tried shooting at the PAL standard of 25fps? I checked the specs for your Panasonic but didn't see any mention of a 24fps mode, but most reviews seem to miss mentioning the shooting modes. If you did indeed shoot at 24fps, did you choose this frame rate when importing to iMovie '11?
I export as 1080p (same as original. My output is a bit blurry and colors are a bit pale.
Did you use the 1080p preset under Share to Media Browser, or Export using QuickTime? If the latter, be sure to select an appropriate data rate - if set too low this may result in poor quality output.
And yes you are right I'm using IMovie '11, quite confusing that '11 means version 9.0
Yes - very confusing! In the forums, iMovie versions are generally referred to by their year number, not version number. It's a pity that we have version 9.0 (iMovie '11) and iMovie '09.
Glad you liked the video - it looked very clear on YouTube at 1080p Full Screen, at least to my ageing eyes!
John

Doubts about quality loss from analog to DV.

Hi, friends. Can anyone help me clarify this doubts, please?
From analog media to miniDV tape to iMovie DV file, is there any quality loss? If the answer is yes, in which step does the loss happen? In the analog to miniDV or in the miniDV to iMovie DV file or in both steps?
Resulting quality of imported analog footage to iMovie DV file is the same using either the above technique or the pass through technique that skips DV tape use (8mm camcorder media send to Mac through miniDV recorer)?
Thanks in advance.

Hi onClick,
inside your mini-DV camcorder, some chips do the converting "on the fly" - from that moment, you realize no loss, because then, everything is digital, 000 and 111.- so, you shouldn't realize any difference by taping or pass-thru.
in technical terms, DV has a much better quality then analog, but, for sure, any conversion is lossy. DV has a high compression rate, compared to what is done in a professional studio . but for the normal John Doe as us, you will not recognize any loss in quality after converting.
besides: never judge the quality of the pic on your Mac's screen! computers and tv-sets have very different techniques in displaying video! you can just judge pic quality after playout on tape/tv....-

How to shoot 1080p/60, output to 720p/60, so Warp Stabilizer or zoom/crop has no quality loss?

I'm new to AE, and making a painful transition form FCP to Premiere, so please be patient, I don't understand many of the subtalties of these apps yet. :-)
Also, please forgive the long explaination, I'm having trouble articulating the problem...
I'm shooting in 1080p/60, AVCHD. I plan mainly to output to 720p/60.
The idea being, that if I need to warp stabilize footage, or zoom/crop, I can do so without any quality loss.
I don't want to edit the project in 1080p/60, because if I stabilize it, and it blows up the image, it will result in quality loss. Then when I scale down for final output, that pixilated/crapified footage will be present just in scaled down form.
I don't want the footage to be scaled down first, then, when I stabilize it, I'm blowing up 720p footage (thus defeating the whole purpose of doing this) and once again, outputting pixilated/crappified footage.
What are the steps / workflow to set up Premiere and the stabilizing shots in AE, such that I'm working in 720p, but using the 1080p footage, so that extra resolution is available when I need to crop, zoom, stabilize, etc. the footage... and can do so without any quality loss? It would be great to have that ability to zoom in on elements in post, almost 2x, and not see any loss of quality.
Thanks in advance!
-Jason Wallace

100% positive. There is a family of lesser known Prosumer Panasonic cameras (my particular model is the TM700) that record 1080p/60. It's a 3-chip, CMOS, that genuinly records at that resolution and frame rate. Has audio input, headphone output, shoe mount, zebra stripes, touch screen, good battery life, and a manual focus ring (fly by wire, can be set for exposure, framerate, or focus). Also has very good low light capabilities, that are much better than the published specs would lead you to believe. The firmware is a bit goofy, and was clearly designed by engineers, not people who have ever shot video. For example some things that should be easily accessible, are buried in menus, while other useless "fluff" features are front and quickly accessible.... but if you can live with a few stupid firmware compromises, it's absolutely AMAZING bang for the buck, and well under $1k to buy.
Note: if I'm not mistaken, the camera can only output via HDMI 1080i/60, but for absolute certain the video files being recorded are genuine 1080p/60. (This has lead to some confusion and forum arguements as to whether the camera is actually 1080p/60)
This was one of the main reasons for my moving from FCP to Premiere, as Premiere Pro handles the 1080p/60 AVCHD files, while FCP requires they first be transcoded and inflated to a intermediate codec.
-Jason W

A question about quality loss...

If I export one track (or several tracks) from GB to iTunes, and then import the resulting AIFF-file back onto a GB track (ie. if I want to collide a number of tracks), does any quality loss occur?
If I export one or several GB track(s) to iTunes, then open and edit the resulting file with Audacity, and then import the new, resulting file back onto a GB track, does any quality loss occur? (Disregarding, of course, any editing or tweaking I might have done in Audacity...)
If I repeat either of these processes with a sound file, say, 30 times, does any quality loss occur?
Or perhaps a better way to phrase the question: Does bouncing the same sound file back and forth between AIFF and WAV formats, by exporting and importing, have an influence on its sound quality?
When exporting from GB, I always try to export it turned up as loud as it will go without distorting. Often, my aim is to level it out and make it louder (or make it seem louder) in Audacity, and I have this vague idea that it is better to do this with a GB file that is already as loud as possible, rather than one that could easily have been louder. Sort of a signal-to-noise-ratio thing... Is that a correct assumption?
Should you always, and under all circumstances, keep sounds/tracks from moving into the red area in the meters in GB before exporting a track/song?

If you captured using TIme Code, and you still have the (properly labeled) original tapes with no breaks in Time Code, you can safely trash your Media files as FCP will accurately recapture if needed in the future. But if you used Capture Now, without time code. you’ll need to preserve the original Media Files as they can’t be accurately re-captured.
All still images, Motion files, Titles etc etc should also be preserved in the same folder as your Project File.
If you just want to save your movie as it is, you can print to video - BUT . . . it will only give you an replica of the movie - there will be no clips to edit in the future and all transitions are embedded, so they can't be edited either.
If you had several audio tracks, they'll be boiled down to one track - so no editing there either.
Alternatively, use Media Manager to copy the project to one folder on an external drive - giving it a new name. (MM can move just the part of a long Media File that's needed - and junk the rest) .
This will free-up loads of space if you have large or duplicated Media Files.
Then, after you're satisfied that the new project will play from that drive, you can trash the original. But remember, MM won't copy Motion files etc etc - check that everything's there before you trash the original. I like to make certain of this by having the drive which contains the original, disconnected when playing back the copy. You can't be too certain!
Render files can be trashed as you can re-render at any time.
Hope this helps.
Andy
G5 Quad 8GB. 250+500 GB HDs. G-Raid 1TB. FCP 5.1.1. Shake 4.1. Sony HVR Z1E Mac OS X (10.4.7)
"I've taught you all I know, and still you know nothing".

Convert VOB files with mininal quality loss

I have a media player called WD TV. It does not support playback of VOB files. What format should I convert this to so that it mininizes any quality loss? The player supports raw mpeg2.

There are several programs and workflows that allow one to rip the MPEG-2 contained in the VOB. Depending on the full structure of the VOB and also if the MPEG-2 spans more than one, often the simple renaming of the file from .VOB to .MPEG will work. Remember, this can depend on many factors. See this ARTICLE for some background on VOB's. See this ARTICLE for some suggestions on ripping workflows.
Good luck,
Hunt

Quality Loss When Importing Video into Timeline...Any Ideas??

Hey all -
I'm fairly new to CS4, so excuse me if this question is a little dumb.
I've offered to edit a friend's actor showreel to familiarize myself with CS4. He gave me a bunch of HD clips: they're .MOV files, and are 1920x1080 and 23.976fps.
I can import a clip and drag it into the preview screen in the middle: it looks fine. However, when I drag it onto the timeline, it suddenly looks faded and blurred. It's not horrible, but it loses the vibrancy of color, the sharpness and the contrast of the original clip. A lot of the quality is gone.
I've tried opening the project with a number of different settings, no difference. I thought it might look OK when I exported it, but it looks just like it does on the timeline monitor: a little washed-out, blurred, just not as nice as the original.....
I'd hate to present it to my pal looking like this, can anyone suggest a solution? I tried everything I could think of already....
Thanks!!
B

Hi Hunt -
many thanks for your reply. I've spent the last couple of days trying to follow your advice and do more research.....still no luck.
Firstly, I upgraded my OS to Windows 7, thought it might help for some reason. Didn't. I downloaded a bunch of codec packs.
Gspot reports:
Codec: AVC1
Name: H.264
Codec Status: undetermined
So I'm basically running through all the possible output formats, but really it doesn't seem to be an encoding problem: the quality loss happens as soon as I move the file from the preview screen to the timeline.
If you have any othe suggestions I'be very pleased!!
Thanks
Bruce

I burned an edited movie to disc using H.264 codec and a second movie to MPEG -4 Video both worked well on my iMac but will not play on my Sony DVD Recorder/Player which accepts both DVD RW and DVD-RW. Any suggestions?

I burned an edited movie to disc using H.264 codec and a second movie using MPEG-4 Video. Both played well on my iMac but would not play on my Sony DVD Recorder/Player which accepts both DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs. I have tried other 'codecs' DV-PAL; DVCPRO-PAL; DVCPRO50-PAL; AIC; and finally share to iDVD. iDVD works on both my iMac and DVD Recorder but the picture is very poor with major shimmering which is unwatchable. Can anyone assist? The other codecs I used either do not pay on my video recorder or fail when I play them back on my iMac. I am at a loss as to what I can do. I am from the UK so using PAL is essential.

If the source video is interlaced, you may have problems using iMovie. It de-interlaces everything on output which can cause picture to look strange. Final Cut Pro X supports interlaced video, but it costs a lot more.
Standard DVD Players don't support H.264 or MPEG4. You might want to look at this article on transferring HD video to DVD. I wrote this article mainly for Final Cut Pro, but many of the same principles apply.

QT7: movie export using h.264 codec results in darker colors/loss of white

Movie export using QT inbuilt H.264 (Sorensen and Mpeg4, too) codec results in a shift of white to soft grey (about 5 .. 10% of black). This also pertains all colors used. It looks like a certain amount of grey is added to all colors, that darkens whole movie.
I don't have a clue where this comes from. It can be reproduced, even when using a 2 seconds single picture slideshow. Think it's Apple's turn now ...
Found a work around for *.mov video files containing a single video track.
Use QT for this:
- Open video file which has to be compressed. In Properties window, select the video track and click Visual Settings and flip video horizontally. Save by name.
- Open flipped video and compress using H.264 codec
- Open compressed video, use Properties window, select the video track, click Visual Settings and flip video horizontally again. Save by name.
That's it. White is back again, colors differ slightly, but that's ok.
acer laptop travelmate Windows XP

QuickTimeKirk ... the win version doesn't seem to do what you are familiar with when using a mac ... and HSL Balance filter doesn't compensate correctly ...
Thanks for contributing,
regards,
opalla
acer laptop travelmate Windows XP
acer laptop travelmate Windows XP

Edit 1080p with QT7 without losing any quality?

I suspect and hope this one's a quick Y/N for someone out there ...
I'm editing my first full HD movie. The footage comes off a Sony DSC-HX9V point & shoot as 1080p at 60fps, AVCHD format (.MTS), which I re-wrap as .MOV using Media Converter w/uncompressed audio (free download) -- I like to use QT Pro 7 for doing fast pre-edits before importing (or not) into a fancier editor.
Just want to make trebly sure I'm not losing any quality:
I set Preferences>Recording to "Device native" which claims it's "best for post processing, Raw and large files." Admittedly this is the first time I've changed that setting as it was always on "Best, H.264" in the past, because I never paid attention to it (was prob fine for simple 640x480 30fps videos) - is this a correct move?
Also, before editing I change the view to half size (960x540) so I can see the QT controls and have been saving the edits that way. NOW, I just noticed that when you do a "get info" on an edit it shows "Dimensions" as half size (960 x 540).
But, when you look at the Properties of the video in QT7 - and expand it to full sized view - it does indeed show 1920x1080. File size appears to be same -
the .MTS file is say, 51.2 Mb, and the converted .MOV file is also 51.1 Mb. Clicking on Movie Inspector on both shows data as 48.76 mb, whatever that discrepancy means.
Thank you for your smarts!

Muchas gracias ...
Moving along a bit (really poor internet connection here in Peru, forgive me)...
- Well, I think I've answered my own concern ... Editing a file with QT Pro seems to reduce it to 24 fps or there abouts. i.e. Media Converter made the .MTS file into a .MOV with no apparent reduction in filesize, and Movie Properties shows the .MOV file to be 60 fps - as long as I don't touch it with QTPro. Correct?
I wasn't planning to use iMovie to make the big edit, but progress to something a little more advanced, i.e. FCPX.
1. Will FCPX retain the the 60fps advantage? If not, what about Adobe Premiere? I'll even consider buying a PC (shock horror) dedicated to editing if it comes down to it.
2. Again, since I trashed the directory structure that comes of the camera for the first 9 days of shooting, can I get by without it without loss of quality?
Appreciate your help as always!

Quality loss after exporting 1280 x 960 30fps footage

Hello everyone,
Everytime I edit and export footage shot with my GoPro camera (1280x960p, 30fps) the quality gets a little less. Very frustrating as I am clueless after a long time of looking for what I'm doing wrong..
I use Premiere Pro Version 4.2.1
Sequence presets:
General
Editing mode: Desktop
Timebase: 29,97fps
Video Settings
Frame size: 1280h 960v (1,0000)
Frame rate: 29,97 frames/second
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels (1.0)
Fields: No Fields (Progressive Scan)
Export settings:
Format: H.264
Preset: Custom
TV Standard: NTSC
Frame Width: 1280
Frame Height: 960
Frame Rate (fps) 29.97
Field Order: None (Progressive)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels.
Has anybody got an idea what could help here?

Thanks for the replies guys, but unfortunately the problem isn't really solved yet..
I tried checking the maximum render quality, but that only resulted in my laptop not being able to smoothly play the exported video.
Filming with the 1280 x 720 setting is possible, but then the footage just doesn't look that sharp.. (as I can't film in 60fps, I got the first GoPro 960).
I installed Cineform and converted a little test video to AVI. This resulted in an export video without quality loss, but the conversion with Cineform took way too long for it to be a practical solution cause I edit a lot.
At last, Abhishek Kapoor, I couldn't find the video setting you're talking about to increase the maximum bitrate.
Any other ideas that might work?

Any Quality loss in FCE using H.264

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for