Rendering imported images in Final Cut so they look nice

Question

I recently edited a video requiring still image animation, something Final Cut is notoriously poor at. After much experimenting, I got good results that I want to share. Hope it will help someone else. I have also posted this info, with pictures, here: http://members.dslextreme.com/users/craig.lawson/fce/static_images.html
Q: Say you have a nice graphic done in Illustrator or Inkscape. How can you import it into FCE?
A: Not supported. As I write this, I've found no filters which allow SVG to be imported. However, you can convert your graphic to JPEG or PNG, and import that. PNG supports transparency, and is recommended.
Q: I've imported a nice high-resolution PNG and it looks crappy when I try to zoom or distort it. It's 4 times the resolution of my video. +What did I do wrong?+
A: Not supported. What you did wrong is to assume that FCE would use the extra resolution you provided and render a nice image.
Q: Is there nothing I can do?
A: Over in the high-rent neighborhood, people with FCP are using Adobe After-Effects for this. But those of us on a budget bought FCE for a reason. Fortunately, the FCE 4 bundle comes with a tool which gets you partway there: LiveType.
LiveType to the rescue. I hate LiveType. I want to like it, since I like good typography, but LiveType has a weird interface for controlling effect rates, does not support multiple columns credit rolls (hello? Is that basic or what?), and appears to be focused on cheap tricks.
Yet it can import high resolution images, keep the high resolution until rendering, and works well with FCE. I'll describe my storyboard, and how I used LiveType to make it look pretty good. (You can use my sequence if you want, but I'm not writing a cookbook here. My goal is to use my storyboard to describe a general technique.)
Storyboard
My images are two static vector graphics created in Inkscape.
* Start with image one, scale = 100% @ 0 sec, and begin gradual scale increase (zoom in) to scale = 720% @ 17 sec.
* At 10 seconds, begin a 2 second transition from image one to image two.
* While this is going on, begin distorting the image with the vertical Wave filter. Start with amplitude = 0 and frequency = 0 @ 0 sec. Gradual change to amplitude = 10 @ 10 sec and frequency = 20 @ 15 sec.
* Start Bad TV filter at 15 seconds.
* Begin one second fade-out @ 17 sec.
Implementation
If done entirely in FCE, the result is a pixelated mess with moire patterns. The rendered image section shown here is about 10 seconds into the sequence.
Start by exporting your images to PNG at 4 times the resolution of your video (multiply width and height each by 2). Import these into LiveType, size appropriately, and add the transition. (I'm not going to describe exactly how to do this in LiveType. There are many LiveType tutorials available on the Internet, and more words here will not improve LiveType's quirky interface.)
Implement the scale in LiveType, also, but do not scale fully from 100% to 720%. LiveType slows down a lot at high scale values, and we need some headroom to do post-effect scaling in FCE. Instead, scale from 100% to 300%.
Import the project into FCE. Add Wave and Bad TV filters. Notice how when the wave filter makes your image ripple, the top and bottom edges are cut-off? It appears as though FCE imported a rectangular image from LiveType, and there's nothing beyond the edges but black. To complete the effect, add scale from 100% @ 0 sec to 240% @ 17 sec (300% x 240% = 3.0 x 2.4 = 7.2 = 720%). Scale in FCE is applied after the other filters, and hides the cut-off edges.
End result: Much better looking than with FCE alone. Pixelation is eliminated and moire patterns are reduced (though not eliminated). However, it is a pain to set up. But that is the price perfectionists pay, so welcome to the club and suck it up.
*Removing moire & interlace flicker*
Moire & interlace flicker occurs when you use narrow horizontal lines in your graphic. Bad choice, yet here we are.
First off, what is the destination for your work - broadcast TV, DVD, or YouTube? If the first two, you should see how it looks on an interlace monitor; if YouTube, you're probably done - upload a test, see how your careful work has been mangled, weep, and then give up.
For interlace, you'll need to blur vertically to reduce adjacent scanlines flicker. The standard technique for this is to apply:
Video Filters > Blur > General Convolution:
Cell 2 = 0.25
Cell 5 = 0.5
Cell 8 = 0.25
all other cells = 0
Apply as the last filter in the chain. However, if you see moire due to the Wave or some other distortion filter, you might try adding another one at the beginning of the filter chain.
Moire occurs not just in still images, but also when the images animate. Although not shown here (because these are still images), I have not eliminated moire entirely. However, it is improved.
Tips to improve image quality further:
* Avoid scaling in FCE. If you can, scale in LiveType only.
* Avoid using thin lines.
* Use a high resolution source image.
Message was edited by: c555

Answer 1

"A: Over in the high-rent neighborhood, people with FCP are using Adobe After-Effects for this."
Nothing will scale bitmapped images 720% well. Not even After Effects. It may look better than FCE but it will look bad. AE and Motion will support vector images and continuously rasterize to create smooth scaling at high levels.
If you want vector text in FCE that will scale up you can use Title 3D.