JPG blurring in FCP

I know there have been a lot of posts on this topic, but i still havent found the answer i'm looking for. Whever i import PSD,PDF or JPG files into FCP I have the same problem. When I open a picture in the viewer it looks exactly as it should, it keeps that same quality when i drag it to the timeline and it has the green line for the preview render. When playing on the timeline with the green preview line the image becomes blurry. When i render the preview some of the blur goes away, but the picture still isn't as clear as the original. This is most obvious when importing a photo shop picture PSD, JPG or PDF that has text. I tried de-interlacing and that didn't fix the problem. Any suggestions?

If you are working in a DV timeline you are compressing your still 5:1. In other words, it will not look good. Still and titles in a DV timeline don't do well.
Shane's Stock Answer #2:
ONLY JUDGE THE QUALITY OF YOUR MATERIAL ON AN EXTERNAL NTSC MONITOR, OR AT LEAST A TV.
1. Disable overlays on the canvas
2. Make sure you've rendered everything (no green bars at the top of the timeline
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=24787
DV footage requires large amounts of data and many computations. In order to maintain frame rate and be viewable at a normal size, only about one-fourth of the DV data is used in displaying the movie to the screen. However, the DV footage is still at full quality, and is best viewed thru a TV or NTSC monitor routed thru your camera or deck.
Shane

Similar Messages

Export sequence of still images (JPGs, TIFFs) from FCP timeline into DVD without interlaced issues using Compressor

Hi,
How to export a sequence with stills (jpg) into a DVD format by using Compressor without having the interlaced issue on the outcome? The stills in the Canvas look crisp but once exported to DVD format, the outcome images look interlaced. How can I best match the crisp look of the high resolution JPGs in time line when exported to DVD?
My Sequence settings match the image settings:
Frame Size: 1024 x 768
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square
Field Dominance: None
Compressor: Photo JPG
I tried to export the sequence of img as an independent QT movie file by using Apple ProRes 422 output settings. The video file looks great. I then imported it back to time line into new sequence and exported into DVD format trying both: deinterlace and "same as source" setting. Both output DVD files still have the interlaced issue.
I also tried to work with JPGs converted to TIFFs on a different sequence with same as Tiff settings and the issue still persists.
I will appreciate any advices.
Thank you,
Izabela

Dear Nick,
Thank you, I understand now it is the aspect ratio issue.
Are you suggesting that I should use Photoshop or Graphic Converter to convert the 1024 x 768 to 720 x 480 prior to importing them into FCP seqence?
> Give the DVD authoring software the correct size:
I am using FCP 7.0.3 to create the sequence of images (there has to be specific timing and transitions), which I then export to DVD format by using Compressor.
Do you mean that I should set the FCP timeline sequnece settings to 720 x 480?
Please let me know. Thank you,
Izabela

How to improve JPG Resolution in FCP importing from PowerPoint?

Hi. I've successfully saved my PowerPoint presentation as a folder full of JPG files and imported that folder into Final Cut Pro. But when I drop these jpg's into the timeline and export the project to .mov, the result is pixelated images, low-quality text and terrible looking photographs embedded into the PowerPoint slides that looked good in PowerPoint.
At what point do I adjust the resolution? Where and how do I do that?
Using PowerPoint 2008 for Mac version 12.2
FCP 6.0.6
MacBook Pro OS X 10.5.8
Thanks!
Roxane

Dear Nick Holmes,
Thanks for your highly technical explanations!
May I trouble you for further detail?
> DV is a highly compressed codec. Work in a ProRes timeline instead.
"DV"? Digital video? How do I "work in a ProRes timeline"? Is that a setting in FCP?
>Dpi is a print concept, it means nothing in video. In the NTSC TV format, you only ever have 720x480 pixels, regardless of screen size.
Very good to know and understand.
>Set your Field Dominance to None.
Please tell me where to find this function.
>Fully render the Sequence.
Don't judge quality based on what you see in the Canvas -it's a low res proxy used to show the flow of your story.
I'm looking at the exported .mov in Quicktime.
>Your export codec will be determined by the playback mechanism. A DVD is highly compressed. If you can playback from your computer it can stay in ProRes.
Should I dig around for an LCD projector adaptor that undoubtedly came with my MacBook Pro? Or is that something I'll have to purchase?
>You might consider rebuilding the slides to better suit video playback -avoid small Serif typfaces, for example.
Rebuild them in PowerPoint, you mean?
Thanks!
Rx

Motion blur in FCP X?

How do I turn Motion Blur on for an image in FCPX?
I have a png supplied by the client that I am applying some movement to to and need to introduce some motion blur to smooth the motion a little, any ideas?
Thanks
Tony

I hope I am wrong but it's another short-coming of FCPX. I like to do speed ramps (which don't work nearly as well as FCP7's Time Remapping) and I can't add motion blur to the shot.. and sending to Motion5 is not streemlined eaither.... Bummer...
Other gripes:
KeyFrame Interperation for ANY keyframes. NOT THERE
Drop Shadows for PSD or other GFX files (only for text)
Bad Organization of Projects
Lack of user control
(so many more)....

Jpg jagged edges

Hi,
I'm making a video from jpgs -- all were taken by a professional photographer, really big file sizes, so that they are down to about 26% to fill the screen. Problem is the jagged edges, particularly on straight lines -- and there are a lot of these because it's architectural photography.
Tried Gaussian Blur in FCP, but it softens the photos too much.
Any other ideas?
thanks,
Eve

Let's try this from the top.
Recognize that NOTHING on the TV will ever ever look as sharp and as detailed as the original images.
1. A pro photographer should be able to deliver files in TIF or PSD - lossless formats. JPG is a lossy format designed to compress images for transmission over the internet and display on computer monitors. It was intended to be used by people who care more about small file size than maintaining image fidelity.
2. Unless you are doing moves (pan/zoom) on the images, you should reduce their pixel count to something close to the codec size. For DV, the equivalent square pixel size is 720x540. Best to do this in Photoshop (or other image editing software) before importing into FCP as FCP does not have the most sophisticated scaling engine.
3. Deinterlacing still images makes no sense what so ever. Deinterlacing takes half the image and throws it away then adds back the missing lines of information interpolated from the remaining lines. Why would you do this on a still image?
4. Images with a great deal of contrast and or thin horizontal edge detail will benefit from a slight vertical gausian blur - .5. This will make the detail that exists on only one scan line (which may appear to vibrate) blend over two scan lines so the image will counterintuitively look sharper - or at least more stable. Setting the Field dominance to "none" will also help as it tells FCP to render by frame not by field.
5. Keep in mind the color space of the DVD is the same as DV - 4:1:1. Unless you are manipulating the images (color correcting, composting, overlay titling, etc) your images will not improve with ProRes or DV50 codecs and the editing file sizes will grow significantly. If you are engaging in those activities, you will see a benefit.
6. Unless you are planning to make some variant of an high definition DVD (currently Blu-ray), it doesn't make any sense to me to work in an HD format for editing then down convert to DV size for burning. Why not simply work at the size/aspect ratio of the final output?
7. As noted, you really MUST have a TV monitor connected to view the material as you edit/play it back. Otherwise, you will have no idea how your work will display without burning to disk.
Have fun.
x

Help With Ease In/Ease Out / Smooth Motion

I'm in the process of completing a historical documentary and have run into a problem. The project calls for a LOT of photos. And, as usual, most of the pix have different types of moves attached to them. I'm trying to get the moves to start and stop on the photos with an "ease in" and/or "ease out" effect. Normally, I'd do this in AE, but due to time constraints (not to mention the volume of pix), I'd rather get the gist of it down in FCP.
I've tried both the "Ease In/Ease Out" and "Smooth" keyframe commands. Smooth seems to work best. If there's a center position change during the move however, the photo appears to slightly "float" up and down during the duration of the move - especially when starting and stopping. Problem is, I don't want it to float... I just want it to move smoothly from point A to point B.
Is there a way to gradually start and then gradually stop movement on an object (such as a photo), without having this floating effect?
Thanks.
Tim Walton
Dual 2.0ghz G-5 Mac OS X (10.4.4) FCP 5.1.1 (Studio)

Normally, I'd do this in AE, but due to time constraints (not to mention the volume of pix), I'd rather get the gist of it down in FCP.< </div>
You will like neither the animation process nor the results in FCP.
There is simple coverage of eases in the FCP manual, you will want to find that section and put a stickie on it. Beware that FCP's native DV rendering for motion blows. You will need to add some blur but not motion blur. FCPS's motion blur is nothing like AE's motion blur. It's awful.
The problems you will have are going to drive you nuts. The keyframes and Beziers in FCP are skittish and spazzy, nothing like the smooth and elegant controls that have always been available in AE. It's like Apple decided to reinvent the entire Bezier handling system and they forgot to finish the job.
I suggest you stick to AE for this work but that's just me. Figure out how to make FCP's motion madness work later when you have more time to mess with it.
bogiesan

Soundtrack Pro 3, spinning wheel

When i export a single audio file to STPv3 from FCPv7 and try to do anything to it (even select a region) I get the spinning wheel of doom. This render the program entirely un usable and only recently started happening.
Could this be a memory management issue? I have a lot of jpg in the FCP timeline which need slimming down (but FCP not suffering yet) and nothing else loaded in STP. Only 1 sequence active in FCP.
I've done all the usual like rebooting machine and reloading everything. Any pointers gratefully received. I have a deadline and tearing hair out!
Thanks
Andy
MacPro 12-core, Mavericks (10.9.4) FCP 7, STP 3

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way to edit the above question altho i have new info. (How inefficient Apple!) Please see below.
I am sending/exporting a single audio (dialogue) file to STPv3 from FCPv7 in order to reduce the background/room noise level. I usually do this by selecting a region of pure room noise and using the 'Set noise' function. However although i can happily select a region of audio (dialogue) if i try to select a region of low level 'noise' I get the spinning wheel of doom for a couple of mins.
This renders the program entirely unusable and only recently (randomly?) started happening. I'm not aware of doing anything differently and been using this same set-up for years.
This seems to happen on all my audio files so not just one corrupt file.
However it only happens on the audio from camera A (Canon 7D) and NOT camera B (Canon ***).
No problem with audio from a different source Marantz or Zoom recorders)
If I re-save file (from .stap to .wav) = exactly same problem.
If i compress the whole track to raise entire levels = same problem.
I've done all the usual like rebooting machine and reloading everything.
Im totally foxed and any pointers gratefully received. I have a deadline and tearing hair out!
Thanks
Andy
MacPro 12-core, Mavericks (10.9.4) FCP 7, STP 3

Help! Down-converting 720p HD to DVD

Just finished a project using FCP 5 and Motion 2 in 720p60 HD. I did not use any HD video but built the whole project out of high resolution stills with pans and zooms with basic text moving over the top. Since this is going to be a promotional piece I originally chose to do it in HD so it could be shown on HD projectors during presentations. My boss since has requested DVD copies to give out as well. This is where my problems begin.
I encoded the project to H.264 for display on the projectors and it works and looks great. When I tried encoding it for DVD it looks very bad. All of the edges are very jagged, the video is jumpy at times and the text looks horrible.
I've searched these boards and others in search for answers and have tried many things to resolve this problem. I've exported the project into compressor and quicktime and tried exporting to DV then mpeg2 and also straight to mpeg2. I've tried the deinterlace filter with blur. I've tried adding a slight blur in FCP before exporting. I've tried various bit rates, one pass vbr and two, different motion rendering setting... EVERYTHING. I really don't know what to do now. If anyone have any suggestions I would really appreciate it!
some more info on my system and project-
Dual 2.7 G5
2gb ram
FCP 5
Motion 2
DVDSP 4
QT 7
all software up to date etc.
Sequence settings in FCP are-
720p60 DVCPro HD
Dual 2.7 G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

I encoded the project to H.264 for display on the projectors and it works and looks great. When I tried encoding it for DVD it looks very bad. All of the edges are very jagged, the video is jumpy at times and the text looks horrible.
That sounds like it might be a field order problem. If you encode in Compressor, try duplicating the preset, then change Field Dominance from Automatic to Bottom (Lower). Compressor's automatic functions don't always hit on all 8 cylinders.
That might work, but it might not. I have a similarly composited DV sequence with the same problem, and I haven't been able to resolve it yet. I've tried using other compressors, I've tried changing field dominance in FCP, I've tried everything that's been suggested, and nothing resolves it. But I've also had this problem with another DVD title that resolved after setting Field Dominance in Compressor.

Jittery Images

Hello,
I am producing a short movie with a lot of images. I am doing the Ken Burns effect on most images although I seem to be running into an issue of the images jittering on screen when I keyframe a zoom in or zoom out on the image. Any possible solutions? I have seen this before but, never really came up with any conclusions since I just replaced some of the images. Thanks.

If these images are higher than your video resolution (720x480??) then it is often helpful to add some Vertical Motion Blur in Photoshop or Gaussian (very little) Blur in FCP.
This process minimizes (hides) the aliasing caused by interlaced video.

Is Your Footage Suffering from the Massive Difference in Export Quality Between FCPX

I read this article today and considering I do all my rendering through Premiere or AME it made me a little concerned. What does Adobe think of this? and has any else experienced this problem?
Cheers,
Moja.
I took this article from: Is Your Footage Suffering from the Massive Difference in Export Quality Between FCPX & Premiere?
A rational person might assume that the program from which you export your media wouldn't have a noticeable impact on the quality of the final image, especially if the export settings are identical in both programs. A recent test by filmmaker Noam Kroll might just teach us to think twice before making assumptions.
First, a little bit of background on Kroll's test. Having noticed that exporting from Adobe Media Encoder yielded quicker results than using the same settings and exporting from FCPX, he tended to use Media Encoder for the bulk of his exporting. When a recently exported project came out with some nasty compression artifacts, blocky rendering of certain areas, and a noticeable change in color quality, Kroll put on his detective's hat and tried exporting again from FCPX. To his, and soon to be your, surprise, the exported result from FCPX yielded significantly higher image quality with the EXACT same export and compression settings.
Don't believe it? Have a look for yourself. According to Kroll, "both FCP X and Premiere Pro were set to output a high quality H.264 file at 10,000 kbps." The image on top was exported from FCPX and the bottom was exported from Premiere Pro.
Exported from FCPX
Exported from Premiere Pro
In the shots above, you'll notice more blocky compression artifacts in the version exported from Premiere, especially on the lower part of the woman's face, and there's a fairly significant reddish hue that's been introduced into the midtones and shadows of the Premiere export. Here's a version of the same shot that is cropped in on the woman's face by 400%. This is where the difference between the two starts to become painfully obvious. Again, FCPX is on top, and Premiere on the bottom.
Exported from FCPX
Exported from Premiere Pro
Here's the conclusion that Kroll came to in his post.
After seeing this I can confidently say that I will not be compressing to H.264 using Premiere Pro or Adobe Media Encoder any more. [sic] The image from Premiere is so much blockier, less detailed, and muddy looking, not to mention that the colors aren’t at all accurate. In fact I even did another output test later on with Premiere Pro set to 20,000 kbps and FCP X only set to 10,000 kbps and still the FCP X image was noticeably higher quality, so clearly something is up.
It's really difficult to speculate as to what's going on behind the scenes that's causing such a drastic difference in results between the two programs. However, what is clear is that you should take caution when exporting to h.264 from Premiere and Media Encoder. Regardless of the program that you're using, perform your own tests and make sure that the export process is leaving your media with a visual quality appropriate for the delivery medium.
The good news here is that Adobe is extremely receptive to feedback from their user base, and their Creative Cloud subscription model allows them to roll out updates with a much higher frequency than they could with the boxed version of the Creative Suite. If more people are experiencing these problems and reporting it to Adobe, chances are that we'll see an update with fixes sometime in the near future. With that said, I have no idea how Adobe handles the technical process of exporting, so it could very well take a complete overhaul of how the program encodes h.264 to fix the problem.

Well, I did my own little comparison with a shot from my A7s (XAVCS 50mbps) and seeing as I don't have FCP X I used FCP 7. The AME H264 looks nicer than the FCP one in this instance.
Dropbox - WALKING 444.jpg
Pro Res 444 from Premiere
Dropbox - WALKING AME.jpg
H264 from AME at these settings:
Dropbox - WALKING FCP.jpg
H264 from FCP 7 at these settings:

Video filter question

Hi all,
I am using the Video Filter effect "Soft Focus", an FxPlug under "Blur" in FCP 5.1.2
I was messing around with the parameters and found that when I have the amount set to 0 (which should be no effect, right?) and let's say the strength is at .25, the image is still blurred. Why? I have the amount set to 0. Is it because of the strength? But the strength shouldn't matter because there is not amount set. I find this with several "blur" filters...that when the amount is 0, there is still distortion in the image.
What am I missing?
Jonathan

No not really - the parameters are the parameters.
If you reduce the Strength to 0 then it should have no effect with Amount also at 0.
I haven't used that filter but I'd assume you can define the centre of where the effect would be - that's likely where the Amount will come into play. An Amount or width of aperture, like a lens is my guess as to why they called it Amount.
Just have to play with them and learn them.

Beware: Adobe CS3 Master Collection could mess with your FCS2

Found this out today -
Was wondering why on my MacPro stuff was cough missing in Motion / FCP... specifically the Video Generators. My only conclusion was the install order on 2 separate computers at my house. FCS2 then Adobe MC and vice versa. Basically my video generators (not all of them which was even more strange) were missing out of my ProApps folder in Application Support.
It seems like the safest route is MC first then FCS2... or simply know that if some PlugFx go missing that you'll need to manually copy those back. For some reason even doing the install again (not clean) didn't put them back

Hmm, this may be what happened to some of my FxPlug Blurs in FCP. They work in Motion but applying them in FCP returns a big red "failed to render" screen. But they're gone, as far as I can tell, there's no way to copy them back. Tell me more?
bogiesan

What caused this blockiness - dirty heads?

http://idisk.mac.com/denis.murphy-Public/viking.jpg
Not a FCP question, but I could do with some opinions. I lent my Canon XH A1 to a friend last week and he shot two hours of video at an event. He's not a pro shooter, and didn't really test the camera beforehand, although he did spend a few hours familiarising himself with the controls. None of the video is usable (see link). I assume this was caused by dirty heads. AFAIK he never got the "dirty heads" warning that the XH A1 is supposed to flash up in the viewfinder (not that you'd depend on that).
I've cleaned the heads since, and can't reproduce the problem. He was shooting DV-Pal anamorphic. The tape brand is Sony DVM60 ME, bought new from a reliable dealer. I've shot test footage at the end of one of his tapes, and there were no problems.
The weird thing is, if I play back the tape on a Sony handycam, the blockiness is not as pronounced, although still unusable. But on the Canon, the footage seems to deteriorate with each play,
My friend captured all his footage to FCP from the Canon and the blockiness on his capture is not as pronounced (similar to when I play back in the handycam).
I know this footage probably can't be saved but can anyone have a look at the link and confirm that this is in fact just a dirty head problem? I don't want this to happen to me on a shoot!
I've had the camera for a couple of years (very lightly used) and never had a problem with dirty heads.
Any ideas?

Been talking to my friend again, more info:
He did a short test the night before the shoot and there were streaky dropouts on the tape (Tape 1). He thought it might be a bad tape and re-tested with a different tape of the same brand (Tape 2)). The re-test was a static shot with no movement, and it looked fine (in retrospect, the buffering could have masked the problem). So he went ahead and did the shoot using the Tape 2 and another tape (Tape 3) of the same brand.
He didn't review Tape 2 in the field, so we can't say if it was good. Rechecked a couple of shots on Tape 3.
He got home and captured Tape 3, as it was still in the camera. Good footage, no problems. Tape 2 however played back with blocky pixels. He cleaned the heads at that point, but the blockiness persisted. He nevertheless captured Tape 2. Both tapes were also checked on a different camcorder. No improvement.
On playback again in the Canon camera, the tapes deteriorated further. Tape 3 (the good tape) is now unusable, but luckily he got a good capture of this one.
I thought it might be a tension problem and FF/RW'd the tapes a few times, but no improvement.
Does it make sense for a head clog to appear, disappear, and reappear after shooting and capturing an entire tape (Tape 3)? And then destroy tape 3 on further playback? Or could there be something more sinister at play?

Fonts for scrolling up text / ramp up ramp down?

Couple of questions regarding LiveType. I'm creating a credits for the end of a project that goes on for a couple of minutes, and is fairly slow. I selected a font I liked (a system font, not a LifeFont) and included a couple of symbols from Webdings or something to seperate sections with a symbol that was appropriate to the project. These fonts looks great on the screen and in Font Book (where I went to view all my fonts and make a selection) but when I output it it looks like crap. (white font/black background, standard DV). Are there types of fonts that are generally better represented (ie. truetype vs. ???).
2nd question. I've looked through the manual and can't find anything about this but, I'd like, at the end of the credits to ramp down the speed, then pause for a specified amount of time on the last big of the credits (copyright etc.).
How do you ramp up/ramp down the "Scroll Up" effect?
Thanks!

Question 1:
You really need to view it on an NTSC monitor or failing that output a short portion to your deck/camera and look at it on a TV and see if it still looks like crap.
There are a number of things that could be your “crap” culprit. Try lowering the whites to about 90% for starters and add a Gaussian Blur (at about .2) to the titles as well. Add the blur in FCP it’s in Effects>Video Filters>Blur>Guaussian Blur
Question 2:
There is a scroll and pause effect in LT as well. It has adjustable key points that you could move around so it pauses where you want it. With the length of your credits though it may be more hassle than it’s worth. Obviously it’s your choice. As an alternative you could simply dissolve in that final graphic rather than having it scroll and pause. If you’re trying to give that final credit more prominence that would achieve your goal.

NTSC - Still images

I must be missing something.
Supposedly you can use NTSC pixel aspect ratio filter in photoshop but this doesnt seem to do anything when imported into FCP.
Compare a 720x480 with pixel aspect ratio adjustment to 720x540 and they are different sizes then import the image like this: [IMG]http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/638/720x480ajl8.jpg[/IMG]
into FCP HD and doesnt pixel aspect ratio get ignored anyway and still import wrong?
Another scenario is if you work in Motion w\ 720x480 scanned images then export with Compressor using DV-NTSC does it import into FCP at correct aspect ratio?
The problem is working with images larger than 720x480 they are not getting into FCP with the right aspect ratio. Yes i could resize to 720x540 but what about the odd pixel images?
Is it my setup or my workflow which i cannot see how it could be wrong (DV-NTSC) or **** i dont know?

It is my understanding that the Pixel Aspect ratio in PhotoShop is for display only... As for FCP, I believe it considers 720x480 or 720x486 to be DV aspect pixels, all other sizes it assumes square pixels...
Patrick

JPG blurring in FCP

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