Codec quality of motion clip

I have a question about codec quality when creating slow motion effects in FCP 6 vs. motion 3.
I slowed down a clip in fcp 6 by 50% with simple frame blending and then sent the same clip to motion 3 and sent it through optical flow. While the clip from motion looks better I was surprised to discover the codec quality (when analyzed in fcp) stated it was of least quality and the same clip with the 50% speed reduction in fcp stated it was most quality.
I’m confused. ? I’m screening on a monitor not the computer screen. I would have expected the opposite. Can anyone explain?
Footage was shot DV NTSC 29.97
Here is the analysis of the fcp clip:
Video Track 1 (40.2 MB)
Duration : 00:00:10:03 (at 100 % speed)
Frame Size: 720x480
Color Depth: 24-bit Color
Codec: DV/DVCPRO-NTSC at Most Quality
Frame Rate: 29.97 fps
Average Data Rate: 3519k/sec (117k/frame)
Here is the analysis of the motion 3 clip:
Video Track 1 (11.8 K)
Duration: 00:00:20:06
Frame Size: 720x 480
Color Depth: 32-bit Color
Codec: at Least Quality
Frame Rate: 29.97 fps
Average Data Rate: 1k/sec (0k/frame)

Perhaps the "quality" being referenced is simply the interlace flag. If you open the clip in QuickTime player, open the properties window (⌘J), and select the Video Track, is the High Quality box checked? If you check it and save the clip (⌘S), how does it affect the analysis?
Patrick

Similar Messages

...last question : what's the best quality codec for exporting a clip?

I have to export a Motion clip with the best possible quality (with no loss of image or compression whatsoever).
what do you guys suggest? H264? or is there any better codecs? (I noticed that H264 create 'bleeding stains' on gradient backgrounds...)
thats all, many thanks

Animation codec
Peter

Quality of reduced clip size

Hi,
I have noticed a reduction in picture quality when the frame is reduced in a clip (in the timeline and later when converted to a DVD) - for example, when a clip is added above another in the timeline and is reduced to show in the corner of a frame as a sort of 'insert' or 'montage'. I understand that the picture is being compressed to make it smaller but can the pixelation or chunky effect be minimized or eliminated when the picture is made small in the timeline? Is there a size that should not be used (a minimum reduction in size as a safe level)?
I noticed that this irritating chunkyness (is that a word?) or pixelation also happens when the clip is reduced in other programs such as DVDSP (when inserting motion clips into , say, a movie strip template - where each segment of film strip shows a different moving scene. It makes the filmstrip template almost useless as an option.
I use FCP4.5 HD and DVDSP 3
Any ideas?

For anyone with this problem buy the WOW book on Photoshop - it takes you through it very well.

Searching for a low-cost plug for doing better slow motion clips.

Where can I find a low-cost or free plug-in for doing better slow motion clips? I produce alot of sports videos and use FCPHD but am looking for better quality. I am not necessarily looking for time-remapping (it confuses the ** out of me). Just want to simply slow down clips and not be as choppy as FCP turns out.
Thanks for any help!
Ymir

New Discussions ResponsesThe new system for discussions asks that after you mark your question as Answered, you take the time to mark any posts that have aided you with the tag and the post that provided your answer with the tag. This not only gives points to the posters, but points anyone searching for answers to similar problems to the proper posts.
If we use the forums properly they will work well...
Patrick

FCE codecs vs. FCP codecs: Quality?

Hi,
I'm using a Canon HF10 (AVCHD) to shoot and Final Cut Express to edit. Quality is good for the most part, but I am wondering if the quality would be better if I upgraded to Final Cut Pro. If so, how?
Thanks very much.
Vic

Wow! I've been away from the forum for awhile. Thanks for all your inputs, folks! And, I actually understood some of it. I realize my HF10 is of limited quality capability, but the problem I'm having is this: I operate a real estate video tour business (just started it). I'm new to digital video, and really don't know a whole lot about codecs, etc. Nonetheless, I obviously want good quality for all my projects, and would like to be able to create video for television, eventually. In fact, that's what prompted my question. I recently began to run some 30-second clips on the local cable station, as a way to attract more business from Realtors. What I'm finding is that the picture quality (of MY clips) on the cable station is somewhat jittery and a little pixelized. Certainly, not what one would call 'pro' quality. (For the record, my videos look fine on the Net)
I use a Steadicam Merlin and a tripod for all my shooting, so my original footage is good. In fact, it looks really good on my HD TV which I use for a monitor. But how can I get the 30-second clips which I show on cable TV to look closer to pro-level stuff? I mean, if I could keep the quality up to what I see on my monitor, I'd be delighted. Here's where I think the problem lies: I shoot in AVCHD. I ingest into my MacBook Pro with FCE. I output as a QT movie, and then compress as a Flash video. I then email the footage to the cable station and they convert to their preferred format of MPEG-2. I don't have the ability to output to MPEG-2 (at least not to my knowledge). FYI, I'd bring them the files in QT format, but when I tried that, they couldn't open the files. A glitch???
Anyways, that's the situation. ANY advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Can you touch on what the weak links in my workflow might be? Also, can an HF10 camera shoot with enough quality for television??? Should I upgrade to FCP so that I can output in MPEG-2??? Other comments or advice???
Thanks very much for your help (all of you)!
Vic

FCP Send to Motion - clips missing in Motion

I have a sequence I'm sending to Motion for tweaking and rendering. The FCP sequence has Templated transitions at chapter markers (templates I built in Motion) that work fine in the sequence. When I send the sequence I don't get the option to embed the Motion transitions unless I select all the clips in the sequence first - when I do that the Motion project only contains the first transition - none of the other clips in the FCP sequence appear. If I send the sequence from the project bin then all the clips arrive in Motion, except for the Motion templates.
A few other details. The FCP sequence is a chopped up screen recording session at 1024 x 768 in the Animation codec. All the clips have been conformed to 29.97 and play fine in FCP. I'm sending them to Motion as they are intended for 640 x 480 MPEG on DVDs. Some of the clips are time remapped in FCP and play fine but render terribly. Motion does a great job of scaling and time remapping the clips (unlike FCP) otherwise I'd just render from FCP.
Anyone have a solution?

Thanks Peter,
I can't find anything in User Prefs that would apply. After pushing the Send to Motion button in the "Export Selection to Motion Project" pane, if I leave "Embed 'Motion' Content" selected, it fires up Color. If I deselect the check box, and leave the clips as is on the timeline, it fires up Motion. It seems like an XML transfer bug. But I seem to be the only bonehead getting it. Which suggests user error.
Thanks again,
Bear

How can I match sound quality between video clips and audio clips?

Hi guys,
First of all let me say that I enjoy using the latest Media Encoder. However, as a novice, I have two related problems.
1.I am recording video to use with PowerPoint slides in Adobe Captivate. I am encoding the video with best quality FLV. This produces very good video,
      but with a degraded audio track, even though I had filtered the audio in soundbooth. The post encoding sounds like it did before Soundbooth corrections.
2. Some of the video recording has been set cut into audio clips to be used as background narration behind PowerPoint. The logic behind this is: that if both are
      recorded at the same time, the voice quality should match.
This is far from the outcome. I have tried MP3 for the audio which of course produced the best sound- but is entirely unlike the rest of the video. I have also encoded the audio with Windows Waveform preset figuring that since the soundbooth edit was a .wav file, that there should be a reasonable match. Wrong again!
So, the audio quality of all clips is poor, and the difference between the encoded video clips, and the audio encoded clips spoils the otherwise professional result in Captivate.
Please help, all of you experts.

Thank you.
OS Windows 7 x 64; 3.2 MHz; 2 TB; 12 GB Ram-9GB ram allocated to Adobe.
My process is this:
1. The whole video and audio narration material is shot in one continuous video sesseion.
2. The microphone is only mono, but the camera is set to stereo. Noone can work out how to change the camera to mono.
3. In Premiere Pro 5, I select render and replace in SoundBooth.
4. In Soundbooth, I choose Add Multichannels.
5. In Multichannels, I delete the unwanted noisy channel, and any other unused channels.
6. With the remaining mono channel, I then select Export and Save As option, then Stereo.
7. Next I edit the stereo channels as needed.
8. The imported stereo won't automatically update in Premiere Pro, so in PPR I import the new edited stereo track.
9. I test this track in PPR, to check that it is playing R & L channels. It is. OK.
10 On the timeline, I proceed to cut apart this single stereo wavelength .
11.These clips are saved as Video, or Audio subclips.
12 From the video subclips, I export to Media Encoder, and choose either FLV4 match attributes (High Q). This I modify to custom 2 pass (Custom save).
     The summary says that this is saved to MP3 Stereo.
13. I import this into Captivate 5, but the Video outcome is Left channel only. I have tested this on Media Player/Real Player where it is also L channel only.
14. I export my Audio subclips to Media player, and select MP3 option and this summary also reports stereo. The Audio outcome is stereo, when played in any player and in Captivate 5.
I cannot understand how a single, continuous track edited uniformly in Soundbooth to stereo, can produce different outcomes in Media player.
I would so appreciate a solution to this problem, because, in the Captivate 5 e-learning production, the switch between stereo audio (behind PowerPoints), and l. channel video is distracting. Naturally, the l. channel only is a thin sound. It is as if it had never been edited in SoundBooth at all.

How do I create a split screen on a motion clip in Photoshop CS6?

I have a project due soon and the last requirement is to "create a split screen on a motion clip". Any ideas? Thanks!

In the time line panel you will either need to split the video by moving the playhead to the location then click the split button. Or you can add another video if you want two different video's playing.
Because one video is on top of the other you need to scale both videos so they fit the screen. Select one video the press ctrl-t on windows or cmd-t on mac to enter transforms mode. Click and drag the corner to scale the video. Then repeat for the other video. You will also have to move the video's into place.
When satisfied click enter or return on keyboard.
Ex. For standard video the document should be (in the USA) 640x480 pixels. (I believe Adobe states it should be 720x480 for video, but this is only an example)
So, to place two video's side by side each video would have to be divided by 2 for the width. 320x480
When you move the video's they should snap into place.
For two video's that stack, the height would be divided by two - 640x240

Can't add anything on top full motion clip

I have several full motion clips in my simulation. Each has
some sensitive information I want to block out by inserting a
Highlight Box. I've done this on several of my full motion clips
with no problem. However, I have one clip that simply will not show
ANYTHING that I put on top of the clip--only the clip will display.
You can see a screencast of the problem at the link below. Any help
is greatly appreciated!
http://researchadmin.asu.edu/Training/CaptivateProblem/

A civil request for more information! Of course, it isn't
really meant to be civil, and it isn't really a request for
information, but still, it's a suggestion worthy of taking
seriously. I've already answered that question in a general sense,
but I can repeat my thought processes in a step-by-step, and hope
that "jsheeha" and others might benefit (assuming that everyone
hasn't already tried it on their own).
And if you can learn something in the process, all the
better, Rick. Glad you asked, though the application is so simple
that explaining its use feels ~ odd, somehow.
(by the way, what is "an OP"? I have seen you use that term
before but am unfamiliar with its use - thanks)
To continue, what "jsheeha" gave us appears to be a
(Camtasia?) clip of a larger project clip. I don't like making
assumptions, but that one is required in this case. The below steps
won't work in every situation, perhaps, but they represent some of
the capability of the FMREditor for Captivate, and as such, are
worth a look, a little thought, and a little imaginative use.
1) Create a new movie without the offending title-bar
contents.
2) Be sure it is the same physical size (X pixels width by X
pixels height)
3) Publish it to SWF (HTML file is unnecessary at this
point).
4) Load the entire original full-motion recording (published
SWF) into the FMREditor.
5) Go to the point at which the offending material appears.
6) Click the "Toggle Marker" and change to "Insert SWF" mode
if necessary
7) Select the previously published replacement movie (or
isolated frames, as necessary)
8) Insert it into the original FMR, combining the two.
9) Using the Toggle Marker once more, change to "Delete" mode
10) Move to the beginning of the "bad" section and mark it.
... you can "mark" beginning and ending frames by moving the
playhead to the point you want to begin or end, then "click" the
inward-facing black arrows, the left will set the beginning, the
right will set the ending frame ...
11) Go to end of "bad" section and mark it as well.
12) Delete the portion containing the sensitive information.
13) Save the changed project.
I realize that you are probably not
really interested in learning how to do this, Rick, and are
just continuing in your efforts to prove me wrong in everything I
recommend to others. But I wrote this anyway, in the hope that the
thoughts might be helpful to "jsheeha" or other interested users.
If it doesn't work in this particular situation, the FMREditor
might be helpful to someone in a different situation now, or at a
later time. Again, I hope this was helpful, and by the way Rick, no
apology is necessary - just quit trying to prove me wrong every
time I contribute to a thread. Thank you.

Heavily filtered Motion clips crashing FCP

Hi,
I am having some serious issues with a fcp project involving a lot of keying of clips done in Motion. All was running more or less smoothly until I apparently let one too many of my completed motion clips remain unrendered in my fcp timeline. Now I can't access my timeline without hanging/crashing every time I try to navigate within fcp.
I would really appreciate anyone who can help/present a workflow that might save my butt and allow me to continue working on a project with a very swiftly approaching deadline.
My G5 power mac has 8 gigs of ram, and a Geforce6600 graphics card. The material is XD cam EX 1080p 25.
Many thanks in advance!
-Tom

Well, rename or hide the Motion projects (or at least a few of them). FCP won't be able to find them and your crashing should stop.
Render the ones you have left in your timeline. Save. Exit. Bring back one or two more Motion files. Open your FCP project again. Render them. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Post back,
Patrick

Adobe After Effects CS3 crashes with Codecs such as Motion JPEG and Avid DnxHD

Hey guys, I'm new here
I'm having a problem with After Effects CS3 crashing with .mov files (exported from Adobe Premiere) with codecs such as Motion Jpeg A and Avid's DnxHD. Its driving me crazy.
If I import a Motion Jpeg A file, AE crashes immediately. If I import a DnxHD file that works fine with Premiere, it seems to import ok. However, when I try to play it in AE it comes up as a plain white... thing. If I move the slider across it previews one or two frames before AE crashes. Its driving me crazy.
AE works ok with H.164 and animation files.
I'm reinstalled quicktime and Avids codecs, uninstalled ffdshow, disabled Open GL and multiprocessing, changed between 10bit and 8bit (whatever that is all about) with the dnxhd and I'm really stumped. If I can get Dnxhd working I'm fine with that. I thought I'd mention the Motion Jpeg A codec to see if they're a result of the same problem.
I've also tried Avid's RGB packed Codec with the same results.
I'm running Windows Xp 32 bit with 3gbs of ram, a GeForce 8600 gt with a Intel Pentium Duo Core Processor 2.00 GHZ.
Can anyone help me please?

I'm mistaken, Animation files don't work either!
I tried that with no luck. I even tried a few more Quicktime codecs with the same results.
Only H.164 and some png compressed .mov files seem to work. Very frustrating.
I'm surprised thats the case - I am defintley due for an upgrade. Even though this system seems to work ok, struggling a little bit with HD .mov files but yeah, I've been planning a new system for a while.

Combining stop motion clips into one?

Hi I am trying to create a stop motion music video(1 minute long) but considering what is the best method to take. Everything in the scene will be moving through stop motion. Can I create separate motion clips for each element in the movie and then combine them in layers in after effects and using the transparency to get rid of the background information in each clip(im using just a white background)
OR will I need to do the stop motion with all the elements moving together?
Help! Thanks

You could do it that way, using a white background and making that transparent. Making white disappear is not trivial.
But "create separate motion clips for each element in the movie and then combine them in layers in after effects and using the transparency to get rid of the background information" is a highly unusual way to approach stop motion. You would only do it that way if your individual elements or characters do not interact with each other in any physical or implied way on your set. I think most of us would use a dedicated stop motion application with onion skinning and variable playback to an external monitor, create scenes with all active elements, edit the scenes together with music and sound effects and dialog in a video editor and use After Effects for effects and compositing.
Have you done stop motion before? If so, what made you decide to, or what about this particular project suggests that you try this approach?

Motion Clips Come Up Short In FCP

I'm working on a 30fps motion project. When I bring it across into FCP it shows as the right length on the timeline, but cuts to black a few frames (roughly equivalent to the number of drop frames you'd expect) before the end of the clip.
The same thing happens in both FCP 30fps and 29.97fps timelines. The motion clip just ends before it ends (if you see what I mean).

Hmmm it's working for me but I'm running Motion 2.0.1 and higher.
Maybe something buggy in Motion 1?
I go to file>export and then choose
kind: Quicktime Movie
export preset: DV NTSC Movie (but this doesn't matter right now)
then I go into options and click the advanced button which should open up Compression settings and change the Compression type from DV/DVCPRO - NTSC to Animation and make sure the depth is set to Millions of Colors+
and voila! ....any luck?

Motion Clip help

Okay, I have my motion Clip done with an actions layer and
the code in the actions layer. I have my MC instance named jiggle.
When I test the MC it moves like I want it to and the rollover with
the hand works to. BUT , what doesn't work is, The MC goes without
me clicking on it to go. PLEASE HELP!
My code is below, what am I doing wrong?
jiggle.onRollOver = function() {
jiggle.gotoAndPlay(2); //assuming stop(); is on frame 1
jiggle.onRollOut = function() {
jiggle.stop(); //or my_mc.gotoAndStop(1);
jiggle.onRelease = function() {
getURL("seeOurOffice.htm");

Well it's a 5 second clip which I exported from FCP and made self contained. and it's HDV, so it's not very large.
I actually just started sending the clips to motion from fcp and it works but I'm wondering if when I do optical flow in motion does it analyze the entire clip that it came from or is the FCP - Motion function smart enough to only send that clip?

Loss of quality in loaded clips

Problem:
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/3715/probka.png
It's sample of video I have. It's quality isn't already gratifying, but when I load it to Premiere CS4, sample looks this way:
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/7840/probka2.png
Second picture shows apparent distortion and pixelize, general loss of quality.
How can I fix it? Any settings which I could change to improve quality of loaded clips?
thanks for help and sorry for my poor english

Did you drop your footage in a PAL widescreen sequence with the fields set default to lower or did you set up a sequence with the fields set to upper
because that is what the mpeg files are: TFF
Sequence should match the footage.

Codec quality of motion clip

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for