Exporting PAL footage to AE.

Question

Hi all,
Could any PAL users share their settings for exporting a clip from FCP to AE and then back again?
Thanks in advance.
Simon.

Answer 1

If you do a lot of FCP to AE work and you want your FCP clips as separate AE layers, take a look at our Pro Import AE plug-in, many people around the world, including the PAL world, find the plug-in indispensable.
Get media out of FCP
First thing to think about is how you're getting from FCP to AE. You have a few options...
Export timeline as QuickTime movie, (File -> Export -> QuickTime Movie...) with Make Movie Self-Contained turned off
Export timeline as QuickTime movie, (File -> Export -> QuickTime Movie...) with Make Movie Self-Contained turned on
Don't export from FCP at all, instead select the master clip(s) in the bin in FCP, choose View -> Reveal in Finder, then drag the media file(s) from the Finder directly into After Effects
Use Pro Import AE
Option 1 is good because barely any disk space is required to save the file. The exported movie references the existing media files.
Option 2 is good if you're using AE on a different computer, since the exported movie has no dependencies on other files, it is very portable.
Both options 1 and 2 have a down-side, however. There are other options in the export dialog that inexperienced users might think to touch and therefore screw up the export. The export dialog should be set to Setting: Current Settings.
BTW, when going to AE don't ever export using File -> Export -> Using QuickTime Conversion.
Ok, option 3 is very nice, because AE will be using the exact media file(s) that FCP is using. There is no way you can screw up the export since no export is actually done.
Option 4 is perhaps the best of all worlds. It has the same benefit of option 3 in that no media is exported from FCP, AE uses the exact same files that FCP is using, plus you get the entire timeline in AE, with each FCP clip as a discrete layer in After Effects.
Get media in AE
If you use our Pro Import AE plug-in, you're already past this step, but if you are exporting QuickTime clips from FCP, you now need to import those files into After Effects.
No brainer, really, in AE do a File -> Import... or just drag the files from the Finder into the AE project window/pane.
Depending on what you're doing to your video, however, you're not quite ready to start being creative in AE. You need to decide about fields, should you separate them. My rule is:
If any field is going to end up in a different place than it started, either spatially (moved around the screen, as in repoed or scaled) or temporally (moved to another point in time, as in slowed or sped), the fields must be separated.
How to set the footage follows, but here are the settings:
NTSC D1: Lower Field First
NTSC DV: Lower Field First
PAL D1: Lower Field First
PAL DV: Upper Field First
HD: Upper Field First
To separate fields, select one of your footage items in the After Effects project window/pane and select File -> Interpret Footage -> Main... and in the dialog that appears make your selection from the choices above.
If you have more than piece of footage, with the same footage selected in the previous step choose File -> Interpret Footage -> Remember Interpretation. Now select the other piece(s) of footage and choose File -> Interpret Footage -> Apply Interpretation.
Create your comp
Again, if you used our import plug-in, this is already done.
If you imported your media into AE manually, you now need to create the comp in AE. The settings you select need to match the format you are going to render to. This is a key place where you can screw up, so be sure you don't (don't screw up, that is)!
Thankfully, AE does offer presets, I suggest you use them. Unless you're good at this, setting up a comp manually can be bad.
If you're unsure about what your comp should be set up to, or you don't trust the AE presets, see what FCP expects in FCP by selecting the sequence in the bin and selecting Sequence -> Settings... This will tell you the frame size, frame rate and compressor FCP expects.
Do what you do
Now you really have a chance to screw things up. Do whatever you're going to do in AE to your footage.
Render
When you're done being all creative you have to render. This will be a nice time to go for a walk, get a smoke, a drink, whatever you fancy. That is, you can take this render break if you don't have NucleoPro installed.
If you separated your fields earlier, you're going to want to field render. In your Render Settings, choose the same field order you chose when you separated your fields, or if your output isn't going to match your source format(s), choose the correct field order for what you're rendering to.
If you're unsure if you should field render, I suggest you render twice, once with field rendering on, then once with it off. See which you like better.
Next, set up your Output Module to match your sequence settings in FCP. Set the same codec that your sequence is using. If you're not sure which codec your sequence is using, you can find out in FCP by selecting the sequence in the bin and selecting Sequence -> Settings...
A good test to try
Try taking a clip from FCP, render it through AE without changing anything. Don't rotate it, don't move it, don't apply any effects.
You should be able to take this rendered clip back into FCP and intercut it with the original and see no difference in quality or color. This sanity check can help you know that if there is a difference back in FCP that you probably screwed something up and you should check your workflow.
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