Exporting HD footage turns into low res pixel mess

I have the following problem. I imported Video files into a HD 720p60 FCP timeline. Sequence settings are: HD 960x720 (16:9)
compressor is HD720p60. fps accidentally is 23.98 but no sound so sync is not an issue.
Now every time I try to change the settings (say to 29.97) or export as a quicktime movie, the picture quality goes to ****. it turns super pixely and low res. I never had this issue and I am at the end of my wits. I tried converting the footage to every possible format with different compressions, no luck.
The original video files are 854x480, codex is interger (big Endian) HDV 720p60. I used MPEG STREAMCLIP to create the video files.
Thanks for any help,
Kris

If your original files are 854x480 (and the source could easily be 720x480 anamorphic) I would advise working with a timeline that is at the source resolution and frame rate. EVERY conversion you make will degrade your image quality. This includes the frame rate change you have going on in Compressor.
Work in Final Cut with the same sequence settings as your source, then send it to Compressor at the end and make only one change. This is the big point. Your 720p60 is upconverting your resolution and change your frame rate to 60 progressive. From there you're dropping down to 29.97. That's two converts when you could probably be getting away with one. Also the HD720p60 is anamorphic if I remember right, so unless you're feeding it anamorphic clips you'll be cutting your horizontal resolution down.
If you are working with some clips captured using MPEG Streamclip and some HD video that is in fact 720p60 my advice would be on using Compressor to change your Streamclip videos to have the same settings as your other video. Just drag them from the Finder into Compressor and find/build a setting that matches what you have. I would probably add a mild sharpening to them so they hold together a little better when blown up.
As far as Final Cut is concerned you are then working with the same kinds of clips on the timeline despite being from two sources.
Codecs/formats are a mess. Just like a paper airplane flies worse every time you refold the paper into a new model, video looks worse every time you switch to a different codec/frame rate/resolution.

Similar Messages

Converting Thumbnails of lost files into low res useable files

My Network Storage hard disk recently failed completely and I have lost about 3 months of family photos (new baby). The new baby was the reason for forgetting to back-up (inexcusable).
I am using Photoshop SE and it still happily shows the thumbnails of all the lost photos even though the NAS is disconnected and in bits.
Is there ANY way that I can get to the thumbnails and save them as files.
I realise that they will be in low res but I don't have another option as the hard disk has failed mechanically and according to the maufacturer will not be recoverable even if I could afford the services of a proper data recovery company.
Hoping you can help,
Mike

I'm sorry to hear about this problem. I can imagine it's very upsetting.
You can certainly do what you want, but you'd need some photo editing software to get it done. Photoshop Elements would be a good choice, but there are lots around - probably even free ones.
The approach is to display a thumbnail as big as PSE SE will allow. Then to a screen capture [PrintScreen button]. The paste into the editing program, crop off the excees dross and save the image. It will take some minutes for each one.
How many do you need to recover? There may be a few shortcuts if the number is very large.

New Mac Pro/ Final Cut X User--Jaggies and Low Res Playback

Good morning,
New Macx Pro with Cinema display and Final Cut X (demo) user. Working with P2 footage and noticed jagged egdes in upon playback. In other words, the footages appears as low res. I have the program monitor is set to full res and "fit". I am also testing Premier on my Mac (I've used Premier for years on a PC) and noticed a similar issue, but the jaggies aren't quite as bad.
This issue has me worried. Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks,
GL

Okay, problem solved...whew! It turns out the playback setting in preferences was indeed set to "better..." and not high. Well, that deserves a...duh!!!
Thank you for the recommendation.
I also fixed the Premier issue. I had to specify custom presets for the project.
Regards,
GL

Script to save out PDFs in High Res and Low Res and name them accordingly?

Hello
I'm on Indesign version 9.1. I previously had a script for this and have since had my mac wiped and re-installed (big company rules). So, here I am asking if someone can help me again..
Basically I have to create artwork and nearly every time I have to export it as a 150dpi LOW RES version and then a 300dpi HIGH RES version with time marks, bleed, etc. I then end the file name with either LR.pdf or HR.pdf. I have presets for these and obviously, it's not the worst thing in the world having to scroll down menus, etc but this is maybe up to 50 times a day. I used to be able to select an icon on my desktop (or wherever) then I used Indesign scripting and automator on the mac to press a kay command and it'd open the document, then save it out as the two designated PDFs, then close it.
Can anyone help me on this?
I can probably search on here for the previous thread asked and the script given to me...

Adding somthing like below to Script 2 pdf outputs?
var myLayer = app.documents.item(0).layers.item("Background");
myLayer.visible = true

ID CS 4 exporting PDF books with low-res graphics

I've been exporting ID CS 4 documents to PDF with absolutely no problems, but today I created a book containing multiple documents, and I'm running into a snag when exporting.
If I open a single document and export as PDF, everything is fine. All the images in the document are rendered in high resolution.
If I open a book containing that very same document as well as another document, then I export the book as PDF, many, but not all, of the graphics in the original document are rendered in very low resolution. See image below.
Why? I didn't change a single thing in the dialog box for exporting to PDF.
I did several tests and it appears that if I open all the documents which comprise the book, all the images in the exported PDF are high resolution as desired. However, ultimately I want to create a book with 120+ documents, and there's no way I can keep them all open in memory without ID crashing. Yes, I suppose I can open a subset of the documents, export them, then combine the PDFs in Acrobat, but that's a cludge workaround.
Surely ID CS4 should be able to properly export as PDF a book containing a lot of documents with images, but damned if I can figure out what's causing these low-res images to appear.
If anyone has a solution, I would be very grateful if you'd share it with me.

I don't have a lot of files to test with, but I have one book that has about a dozen component files and around 200 images that's still in CS4. I just tried and export withthe docs closed here, and ID opened them all, as expected, exported, and reclosed them. I see no signs of image degradation, but these are not scaled images -- they were all converted to the correct profiles and scaled in Photoshop and then re-linked during the editing process, and I run Windows, and I'm only at 6.0.5 because this book has a number of Illustrator charts that I spent hours getting right in the first edition and I didn't want to risk them changing, so it may be an apples to oranges comparison.
The last thing I have for a suggestion to try would be a manual prefs replacement (so you can put your current set back when it turns out to be irrelevant). See Replace Your Preferences
Other than that, I'd say you may have found yourself a bug, and there's not a chance in the world that it will ever be fixed for CS4.

My iphone 4s suddenly displays images from Yahoo, Google, and Flickr at low resolution. The camera on my phone works fine, but any web related photo content is now pixelated and low res, what's the deal?

My iphone 4s suddenly displays images from Yahoo, Google, and Flickr at a low resolution. I have IOS 7.0.4. My phone camera works fine, but any web based photo content from Safari, Yahoo images, Google images, and Flickr all come in pixelated and low res. What's the deal?

It happened to me but later I figured out that cellular signal was not that great and so the Internet was very slow. It took me about 2 minutes to get the full resolution picuture on either of the app you've described. Try to get faster internet either by wifi or good signal and then check.

Best way to select pixels in a low res image

Hi,
I need to trace the attached logo and make it white. I've tried selecting the pixels using the quick selection tool but it's very low res and even with some tweaks (removing and adding to the selection) its still not getting a good selection. What is a better and ideally fast way? Thanks!

Hi,
Is your logo a flattened image (only one layer)
Or is the text on a separate layer from the white background?
Could you post a screenshot including the layers panel?
Something like this with the logo white on it's own layer

LR 5 exporting low res files

Hi
My LR5 is exporting low res files for some weird reason. I figure it has to do with the fact that I recently started using the smart preview function. What made me almost 100% certain is has to do with this is the fact that I removed the hard drive that the files were linked to in LR, and then I was still able to export files. Now that in my mind shouldn't be as that file would be based on the smart preview created.
With all that said....any ideas on how to get around this?

The export feature is available when using smart previews. Sometimes users want to export images to post on the web or to give to clients for evaluation. You simply have to be aware of what you are doing.

My whole document comes out as low res when I export to PDF, even the indesign file also now low res. Tried changing display performance, but that's not helping.

My whole document comes out as low res when I export to PDF, even the indesign file also now low res. Tried changing display performance, but that's not helping.

Are your links up to date? What settings did you use?

Convert HD low res footage to normal

I am having a problem with footage that was shot in HD. I am working in Final Cut 6.0
The footage was digitized onto a hard drive in low res because of the amount of space (gigs) it would take on the hard drive.
I created a new sequence and changed the settings in Easy Setup as
Format: HD
Rate: 29.97
Use: dvcpro hd 1080i60
The video rate in item properties is 29.97, can this be my problem? Or do I need
to change the format to HDV and rate to another speed?
Thank you.

If you are wanting to get the footage back to HD, you will need to re-digitize in HD. Is is technically possible to convert the low-res footage to HD, but the quality was already lost when you digitized in low-res. (If that is what you mean)
Message was edited by: LD Bear old

Replace low res footage with high res?

Can anyone tell me or is there a tutorial that shows how to take low res preview footage and replace it with the high res files for final output? In my case the high res file names have slightly different numbers. Is there a way to just change them to match the preview footage and be done? Doesn't seem to work for me. Tried relinking with no luck. I get: "Incompatible file. The original file and new file have no shared media range.Relinked files must have the same media type, same frame rate, and similar audio channels as the original files, and must be long enough to cover all the clips that reference the files." Seems like this shoould be a slam dunk!

I was using archival footage and only had low res previews to work with. Now that the project is approved I can buy the actual footage and complete for output. Is this different from replacing watermaked low stock footage with unmarked high res? Should I have set up the time stamped low res as proxie? Please don't tell me I'm back to square one.....

Low res pictures on iphoto

i have been trying to develop digital pictures from my iphoto library and when i develop them with snapfish or walgreens they are blurry (i.e. low res/low pixels). it's not the camera b/c i developed the same pics months ago and they were fine.
is there a way to change the resolution of the photos in my iphoto library? also, does it matter how many pics i have stored?
thanks.

Just to be sure, check iPhoto's Preferences > Advanced and look where it says "Importing: copy files to iPhoto Library folder when adding to library." As long as there IS a checkmark in that box, you are running iPhoto in its default mode and all should be well. If that box has been UNchecked, please reply (and disregard the following), as there are some very big differences with the library in that case.
Once you have imported the photos into iPhoto it is safe to delete them from the camera. As long as you haven't deleted them in iPhoto or trashed the files in iPhoto Library/ Originals they are still there. You can check the size of the photos that are in your library. Click the little i near the lower left corner of the iPhoto window to open the info pane. Select a thumbnail from your library, and you'll see its info, including pixel dimensions, in the info pane. To double-check, select a thumbnail and right-click (Control-click). Then choose "Show File" or "Show Original File" (for edited photos). A Finder window should open with the file already selected. You can use that window to trace the path of the file. If this doesn't work for you, please post back with your results.
Be careful that you don't make any changes to the files and folders inside the iPhoto Library folder from the Finder (or any other application). iPhoto is a database application and has its own filing system, which must be left alone. Always manipulate your photos using iPhoto, or export copies from the library for use outside of iPhoto. If you think you may have damaged your library, you can spot check your photos. See if they display with the size slider all the way to the right (largest size). Double-click to see if they open in Edit mode. Right-click and choose "Show File" to see if iPhoto knows where they are. If these things function, then your library is in good shape. If not, post back for the steps to repair it (or start fresh).
what you said about the data folder is exactly what i did. can you explain again what the best thing for me to do is.
Step by step:
Use iPhoto to select the photos you want to upload for printing.
Tip: Shift-click the first and last photo to select a contiguous range;
Command-click to select or deselect discontiguous photos.
Tip: It can be convenient to create an album to gather your photos, then Select All photos in the album.
From the iPhoto File menu choose Export, then be sure the "File Export" tab is selected. Set the Format, Size, and Name options. You'll want the full-size images for best printing. Click the Export button.
A new dialog box will open so that you can choose the location for the exported copies. The easiest, most convenient place is the Desktop. Click the Desktop icon, then click the "New Folder" button. (Too many loose files on the Desktop can crash the Finder.) Name the folder, click Create, then click OK to export the photos to that folder.
When you are logged onto your Snapfish or Walgreens account, select the Desktop folder as your source when uploading the photos for printing.
When the upload is complete, you can drag that Desktop folder into the Finder Trash and delete it. Exports are copies - iPhoto retains your files.
If you wanted to burn a CD to take to a developer, the process is very similar. You would export to a Desktop folder, then burn that folder to the CD. You can use this method to back up your photos to disc. A disc made this way will only contain the photos, with no keywords, album info, or other iPhoto Library structures. It can be used with a computer that does not run iPhoto.
If you want to create a backup disc that does retain the iPhoto albums, keywords, and other metadata, you burn it using the iPhoto Share > Burn command. A better backup method is to save the entire iPhoto Library folder to an external hard drive.
Regards.

Everything is being marked "Low Res" when they're not

I have a bunch of photos and have used them as desktop pictures, sent them to fm, emailed them, etc. All was well. Then one day my iPhoto marked most all of my pics as f-1006 or low res. When I go into the System Folder to Desktop Appearance, and I click a pic, a question mark shows up in the screen preview window, and instead of the pic immediately going to my desktop, the standard Mac screen remains.
This was not always the case. Pics from my cell phone used to work great-no longer. Pics from dvd's used to work great-they were/are pictures! Pictures that used to import/export used as screensavers, and desktop images no longer work. Or they might work every once in a while???
Anyone have an idea what's going on with my iPhoto and how I might fix it?
Thanks so much,
Teri~

Is this the "i" you're seeing?
It shows in a book when the image resolution of the photo is below 180 dpi for the frame it's been placed in on the page. If that's the case what are the pixel dimensions of the photos that give this warning indicatior?
Or is it this?
This shows on all photos if you put the cursor over the thumbnail. If you click on it the photo will flip up the location/description window for it.
Click to view full size
Every photo has it. So which one are you seeing?
OT

H.264 is outputting stretched and low res.

Dear Compressor mavens,
Help me if you can. My issue is this, a month ago I used compressor to take an uncompressed 1280 by 720 HD QuickTime movie output from FCP and make it into a hinted webcast QuickTime at high resolution and it worked great. I used H.264 at 50% of source and it was a dream to watch on the web.
Now a month later I output the same project again, and using the same settings I attempt to make a similar compression. To my abject horror I found that the output was stretched width-wise to an obscene amount.
I checked the 50% of source settings and noticed that the frame size read: 853 by 360. At 100% it reads the proper aspect ration - 1280 by 720. When I choose "custom" settings on frame size and type in the proper aspect ration for 50% (640 by 360) it exports the correct aspect ration.
But to my complete horror there is a noticeable reduction in quality. The image is low res, pixilated around the edges of objects. Clearly not the same beautiful output I originally got from H.264. The really bizarre thing is that the image is the proper aspect ration without that lower res quality at 100% of source on the same setting.
I tried messing with the video settings, by changing the data rate to automatic, then back, then upping the restrictions, and raising the compressor quality to best. Zero change. Still that crappy pixilated image.
I tried switching the Pixel Aspect "Default for Size" to the proper 720 HD setting. To my elation I saw that now the 50% of source reflected the proper 640 by 360. But the quality still looks the same on the output.
I thought perhaps I exported from FCP wrong. But the uncompressed QuickTime is the right aspect ratio and plays great.
Any ideas? I really need to make a high quality hinted compression for the web.
Save me, oh H.264 devotees...

For H.264 on web, I would recommend one of the frame sizes suggested by Robert Reinhardt at http://labs.influxis.com/?p=6
I believe this goes for every codec which makes use of 16 by 16 pixel macroblocks. If you choose a resolution which is not divisible by 16, 8 or 4, you might in addition to lower quality end up with a 1px green border at either the top, bottom, left or right side of your frame.
Have you tried using frame controls in Compressor? Have a look at this post: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7309534&#7309534
There is no need to change the pixel aspect ratio to something other than square. You want square pixels for content displayed on a square pixel display (unless you are making an Apple TV anamorphic file).

Low Res Photo's when outputting to iDVD

I'm using a last generation iMac G5 with the latest OS X updates.
When I create a slide show (No KB effects) to go in betwen video segments in my iMovie projects, The photo's all output looking Low Res and pixelated. All photo are a minimum of 1024 x 768 in iPhoto before adding to iMovie. I am using iMovie HD and was wondering if I am overlooking some settings. I believe I have all output settings to best quality.
This problem also happens when I make a solely slide show movie of images, and then inport into iDVD.
Is this an iDVD or iMovie issue.

Hi K
Yes this is a known problem. Main reason and origin (or most harmful) is:
- in iMovie using Share/Export to iDVD function and then OK the question
on rendering.
IF You done this I'm sorry to say that You most probably has to re do Your
SlideShow. Rendering also destroys the original iMovie movie.
HowTo ?
- Close iMovie when SlideShow is ready.
- Open iDVD and drop the movie icon (with a star on it) into the theme window.
Now iDVD will do the rendering and so much better.
Other origins is:
- kind of photo-files used. I use .jpg photos.
- strangely I think that low free space on the internal hard disk also affects
the end result (should be 25Gb free) if less than 10 or even worse < 5Gb all
kind of strange thing happens.
Yours Bengt W

Exporting HD footage turns into low res pixel mess

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for