Quality of Exported QT movie

Ok, here is a quick test that I've done. I set my Canon XL2 camera up in 24p Advanced and captured myself in front of the camera (yeah I know, scary stuff) just to show where I'm loosing quality. I'm in 16:9 24pa on the camera.
I then attached the camera to final cut, created a new project, selected easy setup for 24p advanced pulldown. Selected File capture and captured a little footage.
I then attempt to drag the footage to the time line where I'm warned that it needs to set the seq to that of the clip, I tell it ok and all looks good. I then check properties for the clip and it is in 23.98fps and the viewer shows the image on the clip crystal clear. I then selected file export quicktime movie and kept the current settings and exported.
The image below has the quicktime movie opened and displaying the current location that I'm in in the FCP viewer window. Look at my eyes in the two images and you should immediately see why I'm not happy. In The FCP image on the right everything is very clear and sharp, but in the QT movie everything is fuzzy.
Forget external monitors or anything else as I'm trying to send this footage to the web only. Why is it so fuzzy? What might I do to make the FCP viewer and the QT movie be at least the same quality? From what I've read, studied and heard from everyone, the FCP viewer is a low quality image and I shouldn't use it to judge my overall production. However, from what I see here and everyone else, its the highest quality image I've ever seen. I don't get this sharp of an image going to the DVD or to the computer screen through quick time.
Thanks for any and all help with this matter as this currently is a total show stopper for me.
http://www.gshutter.com/images/test/me2.png
glenn

Glenn
To set the file to High Quality open it in QT and do "⌘+J" (Movie properties), select the video track and check the High Quality option. Check this image (is from spanish QT but you'll get the idea):
To show the right aspect ratio check this doc about the Conform perture setting in QT:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303928
Both settings will not affect your movie itself but the display setting when you open using QT.
Hope that helps !
Alberto

Similar Messages

Best settings for highest quality for exporting a .mov file to h.264

Hi,
I want to know what the best settings are for the highest quality for exporting a .mov file (720p50) to h.264. I want the same quality as the original.
I want to know the data rate etc.
regards,
Jeroen
Message was edited by: Woudgraaf-AV

There is no way to get the exact same quality when transcoding from an editing source to a highly compressed H.264 QT. However, you can get a real high quality by adjusting the data rate.
However, these things depend on the length of the original. I routinely encode H.264s with good results in the 3000-5000 data rate range. I also make sure that I use multiple pass encoding. Take a short snippet of your project (10 seconds or so), and try various bit rates until you have one you like that doesn't take forever.
Andy

Poor quality when exporting to MOV (H264/AAC) with CS5 and CS5.5

Hi there,
I need to export my HDV sequence (1440*1080 Pixel 1,33 25fps) using HDV footage only to MOV format (with H264 / AAC codecs).
I'm using 1024*576 (1.0) SD preset with a correct video bitrate CBR 6mbs and the Quality is awful.
When I use the H264 format ( to get a .MP4 file) with the same preset (1024*576 square pixel >> CBR 6mbs) the quality is quite good. I 'm pretty happy with that. The only thing is that my client (TV) needs the clip in MOV format (including H264/AAC codecs) and the quality is awful. They expect me to use FCP as most of the journalists here in France use this application.
I tried with PREMIERE CS5 on a PC (windows 7 64 bits) >> 8G0 RAM, Dual Core
and with PREMIERE PRO CS5.5 on a mac
Same awful result when trying to export to MOV (H264/AAC).
I heard that PREMIERE can't properly export to this format? Is this correct? If so, i need to convince my client to use only MP4 (H264/AAC) files since I don't really wanna use Final Cut Pro or Media Composer to edit and export my clip.
Any tips ?
Thanks guys.
Julien

I had similar quality issues exporting H264 from PPro vs. Avid Media Composer. CHeck out this thread link http://forums.adobe.com/thread/854379?tstart=0.
I found it pretty helpful, it also links to another reference thread.
I think it's possible, but will take a bit of trial and error.
Good luck
Lindsay

Loss of quality of exported DVD movie on TV when compared to Digital original

Hi
Can anyone please suggest a way to limit the loss in quality when burning a completed movie to a DVD for TV playback?
When I playback on my Mac monitor (in either MPEG or H.264 saved versions) the image quality is 'mint' and seems as clear/rich as it was filmed.
However, once I have exported (using various 'best options' availible to me in via Prem Pro export menus) the SD (and Blu-ray) DVD playback on a TV seems a long way away from the quality level of the digital original still playing on my Mac.
I am prepared for a drop in quality in both SD and even HD formats due to the compression processes, but I'm still disapointed with how amazing my digital copy looks compared to my best DVD efforts.
Why is it that commercial 'hollywood' SD are still miles apart from my 'home made' version?
Can anyone please suggest their tried/test 'digital alchemy' formular for getting fantastic results onto a DVD/TV playback, please?
Here are my current details/settings:
Canon 5d and XF300 to capture 1080p 25 fps footage (timeline created to match footage)
CS5.5 platform = Premiere Pro/After Effects/Media Encoder/Encore (and burn saved ISO image using Roxio Toast version 10)
Length of edits = 40 to 50 minutes (approximately) creating HD but mainly SD event movies.
Create HD but mainly SD versions
Export out of Prem Pro = MPEG or MPED-DVD/Blu-ray H.264
Video Quality = 5
Field order = None/Progressive (matching my original source footage)
VBR 2 = Min 7/Target 8/Max 8.5 or CBR 8
Use Maximum Render Quality
Could the issue be with what happens after the export from PremPro into Encore?
What else could/should I be doing?
All constructive comments are very weclome and appreciated ...
Thanks,
B

Why is it that commercial 'hollywood' SD are still miles apart from my 'home made' version?
Because they use super-expensive hardware compression.
Still, I make DVDs that look almost exactly like the output from Pr using my Kona card.
I wonder if you're ending up with double-compression on your DVD. And maybe I'm confused here, but it sounds like you're using Toast and Encore, and I see no reason for that, if so.
There are a few ways to get to DVD from Pr. The simplest may be just to send your Pr project to Encore, using Dynamic Link. That will ensure you're only compressing once.
Another is to export from Pr or AME using a DVD preset, and when you take the resulting MPEG2 to Encore, be sure your clips are set to "Don't transcode." And use the comparable strategy for BR.
CBR at 8 should yield you stunning looking DVDs.

Loose quality when export as mov

what is the best way to export my iMovie, and keep the quality at best?

The movie is going to be burned to a CD and will be played on mostly PCs (some Macs). When i "Share Using QuickTime", i get just the music, no video. Doesn't allow me to Share for "Media Browser" (only publishing options are TINY and MOBILE). When I just "Export Movie", it creates a M4V file and I can only select "LARGE". This seem to be the only thing that really works, but this is where i am seeing the loss in quality.
Note: I am currently using iMovie 9.0. Files imported into iMovie are stills (hi resolution PDFs, that were converted to JPGs.) Could this be the cause?

Poor audio quality after exporting to .MOV.

Voiceover in my video sounds crystal clear in the timeline but then thin and "rattley" after export when playing back with Quicktime player. Background music on other tracks always seems to be unaffected. Audio export set to AAC, 48 kHZ, Stereo. I must export to a Quicktime .mov format because it's the only file type that I can upload to YouTube without the color quality being distorted after upload. Adobe Updater says all of my programs are updated.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

How did you record the VO? is it a mono or stereo track, how are you viewing the export. Sometimes when just one section of the audio is wrong it is due to audio phase problems, I have not seen this with a vo before but it might be the issue. See:
Re: 1 of 2 audio tracks missing on certain browsers (h.264)

How many times can you "Export - Quicktime movie" the same ProRes 422 file until it starts to lose quality?

Lets say you are done with your project & you want an uncompressed copy of it as your master. If you keep importing it back into Final Cut Pro, & keep exporting (Quicktime movie), will it ever start to lose quality?

I've never seen a number given, but would think it is very high.
Apple describes ProRes here:
About Apple ProRes
And in that document says:
"while remaining visually lossless through many generations of decoding and reencoding."
I don't think I've ever seen degradation caused by recompression or multiple compassion, but as a workflow if you output a master file, then re-import it to add graphics and export that, you would only be 1 generation down from the master file. If you wanted to make multiple versions, you can always go back to, and re-import, the master file and make the changes, then export, so all you exports stay only 1 generation down from the master file.
MtD

Difference in quality between digital preview and exported QT movie

I am editing a project shot in HD. I have the easy setup configured correctly according to the footage: AVCHD-Apple Intermediate Codec 1920x1080i60 and the rate is 29.97 fps. When I view the project in playback using FCE4's "Digital Cinema Desktop Preview-Main" is looks great (crisp, clear, etc.). When I export it to a quicktime movie (note: not using conversion), the quality is extremely compromised and some of the fast moving objects are grainy, choppy and blurry and look really bad. Can I do something differently so that the exported movie looks as good as the Digital Cinema Desktop Preview?
Also, I have incorporated several freeze frames in my project. These look a little blurry and aren't as crisp as I like. Is this because the camera wasn't shooting at a fast enough speed? At the same time, related to what I described above, the freeze frame looks MUCH better in playback in the Digital Cinema Desktop Preview than in the exported QT movie.
Thanks in advance for your help.

How are you viewing the movie ? If you are using Quicktime to view it, then this is also what I have experienced. In my case once I convert the footage to some final product everything is fine. I think that our computers (and or QT) are not able to keep up with the demand put on it to play back the HD files.
Your next step would depend on what your final product is going to be, a DVD, upload to the internet or whatever.

Export to movie is HORRIBLE quality!

Hi, my flash movie looks great when it is in it's .swf format. However, when I use the export to .avi option it comes out as REALLY horrible quality. Exporting to quicktime does nothing. I've been looking online and have only found people having the same problems with no solution. I've tried several conversion programs to just convert the swf to avi, but all of them are bad. They're all great in quality but half are fast by a good 30 seconds in sound and the other half replaces my black background to white! People use flash everyday & obviously overcome such a simple problem! What am I doing wrong!!?

Hi,
I'm not totally sure here, but I guess, that Flash uses the video-codecs, that are installed with your OS, so it might just be that the problem lies there. If it is just a one time problem, I might help you by trying to export it myself, as I did not have such problems for a while, if you are looking for a general solution you should offer a little more info about your system and the movie you are trying to convert.
cheers
M

Export a movie,NOT quicktime,FULL quality dv

hello, i'm trying to export a movie as it is.In full quality,DV extension.I want the best quality possible.The quicktime export ruins the titles.please help
thanks

welcome!
New Discussions ReponsesThe 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 he 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...
Shane

Exporting a .mov below 25MB for email? With some quality?

Is there anyway to set the size limit of an exported quicktime movie? I need it to be 25MB or below but still have some quality to it. And if there is can you please walk me threw it? Again, thank you.

There are three variables in video encoding: bitrate, quality, and time. (with the first and second dominating).
That being said, use a bitrate calculator or just compute it yourself and figure out how many mbit/sec you can go up to and then set your encoder to that bitrate and multi-pass encoding and see what you get.
My suggestion would be to not send it via e-mail - upload to somewhere and have the client preview it that way.

Exporting a movie on a G4 without quality loss

I do not have idvd on my PowerMac G4. Can someone explain how to export a movie without quality loss? I tried the various options in the dropdown menu but they seem to cause distortion.
~Thanks

Without quality loss ... what format did you start with? What format or delivery media do you need to output? If you're going to DVD-Video, there will be a quality loss due to the amount of compression needed.
You can output a QT movie (self-contained, using current settings, do NOT recompress!) that should be an exact duplicate of your sequence.
-DH

Best quality export of movies

What's the best format to export a movie onto YouTube to get the best quality from imovie?

The best way, I think, is to export as a standard 4:3 size (PAL or NTSC) in H264 codec. Then using a program like iSquint, compress down to ipod size (which is the standard setting for this program).

Every time I try to export my movie from iMovie, I keep getting a message that states, "Unable to prepare project for publication. The project could not be prepared for publication because an error occurred. (-50). HELP

Every time I try to export my movie from iMovie, I keep getting a message that states, "Unable to prepare project for publication. The project could not be prepared for publication because an error occurred. (-50). HELP

Hi
Error -50 paramErr Error in user parameter list
Can there be any external hard disks - if so How is/are it/they formatted ? Must be Mac OS Extended (hfs) if used for Video.
UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange - works for most but not for VIDEO.
What this means in Your situation is above me.
• free space on internal boot hard disk? How much ?
Video codec
• streamingDV, AIC etc. (not .avi, .mp4, .m4v, .wmv etc as they are containers not codecs)
Pictures
• in what format ? .jpg, .bmp, .tif, else ?
Audio
• from where/what format ? iTunes, .avi, .mp3, .aiff, else ?
Trash the Preference file:
The "com.apple.iMovie.plist" file
Many users has not observed that there are TWO libraries.
• Library - at root level
• Library - in user/account folder - THIS IS THE ONE to look into
from Luke Burns
I fixed the problem.. but it was very, very strange. I had a very long section for credits and set the line spacing to 1.0.. for some reason this caused it. I removed it, and it worked fine. I put it back, and I couldn't preview or play the video.
I don't know why that could cause that big of a problem, but it did..
Klaus1
You need more free space on your hard drive.
jonorparkerjon
After phone support from apple I ended up creating a new project and adding all 117 clips back in individually till I found out what clips flagged and would not allow me to export. I had 3 I deleted and replaced and everything works now 1hr after tedious work....
Where do Your material come from
• Camera
• External hard disk
• USB-memory
And all are connected so that iMovie can find it ?
from: jonorparkerjon
After phone support from apple I ended up creating a new project and adding all 117 clips back in individually till I found out what clips flagged and would not allow me to export. I had 3 I deleted and replaced and everything works now 1hr after tedious work....
from Karsten S
Shorter clips than 1,5 sec might be one of the culptrits
Bengt cont.
Set-Up might differ
• Mac OS - most probably X.7 or more
• iMovie version - more than iM'11 v. 9.0.4
Action taken
• Finalizing project - I never do as I never understood the gain to do so
• Share as HD to iDVD - never give any gain but if it works the resulting DVD is less quality than if SD-quality was shared
fps - set
•I only use PAL (25fps)
Yours Bengt W

Poor quality when exporting HD project directly from Final cut Express

I am doing some HD projects in Final Cut Express HD. I filmed with the Sony HRD-HC1 in 1080i. I import into FCE using the 1080i 60 preset from Easy setup. I completed the project and it looks great from FCE full screen. I export as Quicktime (not Using Quicktime conversion), and I get a perfect looking output file using the Apple intermediate codec, 1440x1080. The problem is that the client needs to play back the video on windows machine using Quicktime. The windows Quicktime does not support the AIC apple intermediate codec, so I have to export to another format. I tried everything exporting from FCE, MP2, H.264, DivX, everyone option. They all look terrible. Blurry, especially parts that have quick motion. Really terrible. I called Apple support, no love. I then tried taking the AIC version of the file and used compressor. It took forever, but came up with am OK MP2 HD file. It still doesn't look that great, but it is way better. So, is their something broken with the FCE exports using Quicktime conversion? Anyone have similar experiences or workarounds? I don't want to use compressor as I don't have it on my Mac Book pro, I had to move it to another machine to do that.

Being that the dimentions you suggested should be widescreen, I re-ran the conversion to your parameters, this time un-checking "Preserve aspsect ratio.. as letterbox" and this time it is widescreen. Not sure why, but it was putting the black bars on the left and right, not the top and bottom, scrunching to 4:3ish with that box checked. Strange.
Anyway, the quality is the best H.264 I have seen exporting directly from FCE. It still blurs quite a bit on the fast moving video parts, my MP2 version from compressor still looks lots better. Seems like there is some problem with exporting HD from FCE. It just is not coming out sharp, like the Apple intermediate codec version you get with Export - -> Quicktime movie or if you wait for compressor to do the work rather than FCE. Does compressor use a different engine, or does it use the same QT and just take more time to do a better job in the export? Something just isn't right.

Quality of Exported QT movie

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for