Sequence Settings - Animation vs NTSC compression

i'm currently in the midst of editing a corporate video project for a client, who offers internet-based services. one of the videos i will deliver is a film comprised of 12 scenes; in the most important of the 12 scenes there is a woman that goes onto the client's web site. i shot the actress in front of the computer and the web surfing was recorded with the software ishowu.
now, here's my dilemma: the highest resolution video with the screen animation has the "compressor: animation" setting / 23.98 fps. The footage with the actress is NTSC video, 23.98 fps (DVX100 / frame pulldown removal process). and the two just can't go together. if i put the web site screen capture video onto the 23.98 / NTSC sequence, the quality goes down dramatically. If I change the sequence settings to "compressor: animation" Final Cut keeps crashing.
Any suggestions on what to do?

David,
Thanks for the helpful answer.
To address one of your points: the video will be first shown at a trade show, on a huge HD plasma screen, and will also be delivered on multiple DVDs for the client. The trade show is a high profile event, which is why I don't want to take any chances with such compression issues.
Whenever I use the DV/DVCPRO NTSC settings, the picture gets blurry and visible noise comes in at around 8-9 seconds into each capture.
Before iShowU came around, I wonder which software production houses have used to capture screen / showcase products.
I have a small arsenal of video software at my disposal (Final Cut Studio, After Effects, and a small army of other goodies) and can pretty much re-size, crop, re-compress, color-correct anything, provided the right tools.
One thing that worries me even more than video screen capture on a mac is the same thing on PC. One of the client's services is video on demand downloads, which is only Windows-compatible. I have yet to find a good solution (besides AVI-only tools) to the same dilemma, since I need to record the screen as I start downloading a video from my SO's PC. Any suggestions on that would also be greatly appreciated.
The project has a modest budget set aside for unforeseen issues, so I wouldn't mind buying extra software, if it turned out to provide excellent video quality.
cheers,
Elena

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Sequence settings not compatible with compression settings?

My sequence preset setting in FCP is HDV 1440x1080. When I drop footage shot with an HDV camera into the timeline, that is the setting that it wants to match clips to. However, when I export using Compressor, and then import the compressed files into DVD Studio Pro, the final result does not fit the SD frame, and my DVDs get cut off around the edges on some televisions. How can I compress so that it will fit SD? If I change the sequence settings in FCP to 1280X1080 it seems to fit fine after compression, but then all my clips have to be rendered, which takes hours. Is there a standard setting for SD after compression? thanks

Not sure if I understood you correctly but if you want a project shot in HDV on a SD DVD here is what you do:
Export your sequence via quicktime into a clip in HDV (export same as sequence settings)
import this HD clip into FCP
create a new sequence in DV (4:3 or 16:9, whatever you need)
drop the HD clip into the timeline
raise the master level in the mixer by 6db (otherwise your sound on the DVD will be low)
export the SD clip
use the compressor to convert the exported SD clip into DVD files
Theoretically you can also do all of this directly with compressor from the original HDV timeline - except it takes forever and I never could get it to work properly

Using Animation in your Sequence Settings ... Amazing!

Well here's the thing ....
And I'll start off by saying I have so much to learn about FCP but this has made a big difference to how my images look, especially graphics and titles.
So I'm working away at my project and the graphic images that I import into the timeline from the viewer are just ok and I'm a bit disillusioned like so many people seem to be on these forums about how the image degrades from the viewer to the canvas. And of course it is apparent later on the QT file and then the DVD that's produced at the end.
So one day, and I can't remember how it came about, I open the sequence settings and change the Compressor in QT Video Settings to Animation! Well what can I say, the image in the canvas was absolutely perfect and in some cases, it's actually a little better than how it looked in the viewer before I brought it across.
I have to produce a DVD where each week, some of the moving footage and graphic images have to be changed over. A total of about 15 minutes and all of it of course is in this Animation sequence. The downside of using Animation is
(1) the rendering time is horrendous, (or is that horrenderous?)
(2) as I'm editing, the playhead disobeys what you ask of it and you get the spinning beach ball quite often (can take 1-4 minutes before you can continue again)
(3) sometimes when you're playing through the timeline the image on the canvas and the sound quality are poor (processor running out of puff I guess)
It's a bit of a nightmare but I have no choice but to use Animation now the Marketing Department have seen the difference and expect the higher quality on the images. Cannot get this quality with any other setting I've tried in the Compressor setting. HDV1080 for instance means the rendering problem goes away but the difference in quality is obvious. The project has many different files and formats from HDV to H264s to Pro Res 422s and lots of various jpegs in various forms. But regardless of the project, I have experimented with unrelated sequences in different projects with the same result.
My questions are..... has anyone else experienced this, is there another setting that would bring about the same results and lastly, would the rendering and the other problems significantly be reduced with say the top-end iMac?
I have to tell you I almost didn't post this coz I have so little experience with FCP but it would be great to get your feedback. The weekly project I produce may take more time than it should but I have to say I'm happy with the results.
Thanks for reading.
Peter L

Well... the animation codec is primarily used for sneakernetting files from one platform to another, mac to pc for example. It's a bear for a lot of computers to even play out a file without choking. The concept is make animation file, put on disk or drive, carry across the hall to the pc station, convert to something the pc station can use without choking.
I would suggest you try a little experiment: take your input material and convert it to prores (NOT HQ) before import or WHEN you import (log and transfer) and work with that natively. HDV as HDV is really a cruddy medium. Prores will give you a much better color space and have actual frames all the way through, which hdv does not. Take a one minute section of material, load on some graphics and filters etc, render it out, do your whole production process and see what it looks like. Once you move beyond the artifacts inherent in hdv and h.264 encoding you might be surprised.
Bad mistake to point out to marketing folks how cool it looks. You must be young!

*** 16:9 NTSC DV sequence settings?

I have HDV footage that I'd like to drop into a SD sequence in order to render it out and create a DVD.
What do I set the sequence settings to in order to create a 16:9 SD sequence? Do I click anamorphic? What dimmensions do I put in (i.e. 720x480 for 4:3, what is it for 16:9)?
Thanks in advance!

Hey Big,
The best way for you to do this is to go under the FCp tab at the top of the app and select the "Easy Set-up" option. Under that option on the top right it will say "Show all" select that and you will get a drop down of all FCP quick set ups. If you have already captured the footage and used the camera to convert HDV to DV and you want the 16:9 look you can use the DV-NTSC 4:3 and add a widescreen matte.
If the footage is 16:9 than in that easy setup select Anamorphic NTSC and that will set everything up for you in FCP.
Cheers
AM

Change the sequence settings from NTSC 30 fps to PAL 25 fps, is possible?

Hello,
I have a finished project that was make in a sequence with the format NTSC 30 fps. Now I need to change that sequence and the project to PAL 25 fps. I have changed the settings of the source secuence to PAL 25, but in the resulting sequence the audio and the videos are different in time and speed.
With the videos I have make a match frame to find the source, but with the audios I have problems. ¿There is a automatic proccess in final cut pro 7.0 that could make a translation of a finished sequence that was developed in NTSC 30 ftp to a PAL 25 fps?
Can you give me a tip or something to make the trasnlation ?
Thanks in advance

Sorry...but it isn't as simple as changing a project frame rate. FCP is NOT good at mixing frame rates. And when you put NTSC footage (29.97fps), into a PAL timeline (25fps), that is exactly what you are doing. No, this won't work. No magic solution for this (although Avid MC5 does this nicely).
You are going to have to export a QT file, and let Compressor tackle this job (and it will take a WHILE, and you will have to run a few tests to see if your settings work to your satisfaction), or take that QT file to a post house with a Terranex or Snell/Wilcox to do the conversion ($$$$)...or output to tape AND THEN do the Terranex thing.
No easy button here.
Shane

*** Sequence settings for NTSC DV 16:9?

I have 4:3 footage I am going to put inside a 16:9 sequence and then pull out a bit in order to fill the frame. What are the sequence settings I should use to get a 16:9 NTSC DV sequence? Do I click anamorphic in this situation?
Thanks in advance!

Do I click anamorphic in this situation?
Yep.

Custom Timebase in sequence settings for 15 fps animation

I have an stop-motion project, where we are capturing images to playback at 15 frames per second. I have set up FCP to do this in the past, but I cannot find where the preference is. I thought you could just set your sequence settings to use a 15 fps timebase, but all of the options are from 24p to 60. I have an older project file that has the 15 fps timebase, so i could just copy that sequence, but am I missing the obvious preference option to make a 15 fps sequence, or did they take that option away between fcp 3 and 4.5?

I was thinking about working at 30 fps, and setting the image sequences to use a two second rather than one second duration to simulate the 15 fps playback rate of the movie, but the problem is that the cut made in fcp is only an offline edit, made using lo-quality quicktimes that have to be replaced with the original image sequences for the final export.
Its not to big of an adjustment to do this, but I don't see why I have to now, and didn't need to before, especially since I will double my file sizes.

Sequence settings / render confusion

Hi,
One thing with FCP I never seem to understand is the way that it deals with sequence settings. I always find myself thinking: Final Cut Pro is smart, why can't it just figure out what my clip settings are and adjust it so that I don't have to do a render?
Quite frequently, I will get a video, and think that I understand exactly what format it is, etc.. and I will drag it into FCP and set the settings to match, and the red-line will persist, and force me to render... I just don't understand this.
Just now, I used Snap-Z-Pro to do a screen capture, and I recorded audio with my microphone via logic pro.. So I had an aiff and this quicktime .mov file (animation compression, 30fps) 921 x 926... All I wanted to do was combine them together, and export them to compressor so that I could make an h.264 video and upload it to the web.
I brought the video into FCP, told the sequence settings to be Animation.. I got the red line...
I set the resolution to custom, pixel aspect to square.. set the x & y to 921 and 926...
red line...
I also noticed that the clip attributes in the bin/browser show hat it is "10fps" when snapzpro recorded at 30fps, and it certainly does not look like 10fps.
... Anyway.. Lastly, I took a small 5 second clip and exported it to compressor to see how it looked.. And it looks awful. The frame size is super small and surrounded by black--- Even though the frame size of the sequence settings matches the frame size of the video! How do I tell FCP to just leave the original material alone and let me just add audio to it?
thank you!
-p

First off, you need to use Cinema Tools to conform your footage to 30fps. SnapzPro doesn't make a solid 30fps...it wavers when you play back. Cinema Tools will lock the frame rate...basically add timecode to lock thing into place. Dunno why Snapz does what it does.
Next, if you had FCP 6, it would make a sequence to match the settings. Although I am not sure about YOUR settings. FCP is designed for working with tape and tapeless broadcast formats, not strange sized windows. But this might help...Making a timeline with off-codec settings:
http://proappstuff.com/proapptipsvideotutorials/194F4DC2-ACBB-4DD6-A1D0-F46D7D8D CAFC/739BE552-5A0A-474C-8792-537C4082427B.html
Lastly...Animation is not an editing codec. It is an uncompressed codec that makes huge files and requires more than a firewire drive to play back...talking decent RAID here. If you converted to a different lighter codec then playback would be smoother.
Shane

Sequence Settings for Computer-targeted Projects

Hello,
It seems to me -based on a scan of the forum's topics- that there are many people who would like to use FCP for creating computer-targeted output, that use still images as the source material. That is, projects not destined for tape or broadcast, that were not shot on video. I realize there are 3rd party apps that do this sort of thing, but the reality is there's no need to spend more money. Creating Ken Burns type effects for example, is very easy to do in the Motion Tab. It's the related sequence settings and render settings that cause the real problems IMO.
For those who do this kind of work successfully on a regular basis, it would be good to create a list of settings that work well, so others can avoid the painful process of trial and error. Sadly the manual (great as it is) isn't much help on topics relating to still image projects. They mention things like square pixels or image size in passing, but they do not give examples of how to start this type of project from scratch.
So post away; let others know what settings work for you. If you can post the project type, source type, and then the settings, so much the better. Something like:
Type: Web Slideshow
Source: TIF, PSD
Frame Size:
Field Dominance:
Timebase:
Video settings:
etc

Bogie: if some of the sequence settings listed are dependant on the imported material (think that's what you're saying), why are we even able to change them? I guess this is an Apple design issue but seems strange if they "are not part of the creation process", that they should be in the same panel as the other items that are, etc.< </div>
Umm, no.
The question here asked about export settings, they did not ask about project or sequence settings. If you meant to ask about sequence settings, that's an entirely different thread and, frankly, it's all covered in the manuals.
To repeat what Zeb has said, because we can't quite seem to get us all speaking the same language here, use conventional, known formats for your production and creation of effects; DV is a great place to star because it's flexible and it's built into FCP (h264 is not a production format, Animation isn't either, nor is MPEG2).
Render your sequences and export them as self-contained movies. Bring them into Compressor and (doh!) open that manual for a few hours of casual and frustrating reading. Compressor is where you will create your transcoded, encoded and compressed movie for delivery to the Web.
What settings will you use in Compressor? Those are determined by your Web host's demands. The smoothest path to Web delivery is to give your Webhead a DV file and tell them to use their favorite compression and encoding tools to create their own favorite formats and bitrate settings.
bogiesan

FCP- DVDSP sequence settings. frame size

Question of sequence settings. when making a DVD, will the sequence setting, Frame size make a difference?
We are just starting to edit a documentary, which uses alot of still photos and graphics. The rest of the video is shot on DV. I have tried laying still photos on the DV sequence, but it looks like still photos look really compressed and blurry. Not so good quality wise. If I set it to CCIR 601-NTSC, the photos look super good. We are NOT outputting any digi-beta uncompressed, but only to DVD.
I am editing sequence in NTSC DV, but thinking of just before getting outputting with compressor, I am thinking of changing to uncompressed sequence CCIR 601-NTSC, and then compress it to MPEG2. (doing this later so that i can do alot of edits RealTime and worry about picture quality later) of course the picture size does get smaller... I don't really know the effect of this on a teleframed television.
Will that make a difference? Seems that if I go through DVcompression AND MPEG2 compression, both, is more compression than MPEG2 compression itself. Is there a site that talks about it?
Thanks in advance.
Lost

I only have "a bit" of experience working with stills in a DV sequence. But one thought concerns how you are integrating the stills and the video. I assume you are going to pretty much intermix the stills and the video and audio (interviews or whatever) that may go with video and stills.
The DVD format, of course, supports stills as a slide show directly, but this will not accomplish the intermix very effectively.
As far as size-quality, you may want to import the stills are larger than DV image size and then pan across them, etc.
At the end of the day, to achieve a seamless edit job, you are probably going to need to have all the stills sitting on a regular DV timeline for export / encoding to MPEG2.
I honestly do not put much stock in the differences between viewer and canvas. I always use an external NTSC monitor to judge the final appearance. I started with a cheap TV and recently upgrade to a nice JVC production monitor. This is the real measure of the final video, in my experience.

Multiple Codecs in Single Timeline ---Sequence Settings

This has to do with determining the correct sequence setting when using source material that is originally compressed in different codecs, some of which has square pixels, some ntsc "rectangular pixels," many of which are compressed at different fps.
Is it best first to transcode all the source material to a single codec, with a common frame rate and pixel aspect ratio? And, if so, which codec?
A good deal of the material is standard dv 720x480, 29.97 fps.
Should that be the base codec? Should my sequence settings reflect that and have everything else conform to it? Or should I conform everything to something different?
What I'm aiming for is to avoid constant rendering when I bring these different sources into the timeline.
And, more generally speaking, is there a tutorial regarding codecs and mixing them in a single timeline?
Thanks.
david

Is it best first to transcode all the source material to a single codec, with a common frame rate and pixel aspect ratio?
Yes...absolutely.
And, if so, which codec?
ProRes NTSC. Or DV50.
A good deal of the material is standard dv 720x480, 29.97 fps. Should that be the base codec?
No. DV *****...lowest end SD format that is broadcast acceptable. Don't do with the lowest common denominator...go with a GOOD codec. What are the others?
Shane

Sequence settings question

I recently learned that whenever exporting a Quicktime file via the Quicktime Conversion method and selecting the NONE compression setting, that recompression occurs, although the selection indicates NONE (go figure). If I want to export a sequence, what selection should I use. And also, what about the Quicktime Video settings in the Sequence Settings dialogue box? What selection should I use when editing in, say, uncompressed 10bit or 8bit?
I'm a little confused. Maybe there is an article or something out there that explains all the differences in Quicktime that someone knows about.
Thanks, as usual, for all the help.
Van
G5 Dual 2Ghz

In a recent post, I was asking about a workflow issue I was having and the question came up. Instead of nesting a sequence, I exported it as a Quicktime movie using the Quicktime Conversion selection rather than the self-contained movie option and re-imported it, and I was concerned about any quality loss I might be introducing by doing it that way. In the "Conversion" dialogue box, you can select the codec, and I was selecting NONE. I was told not to use that setting because it recompressed the footage.
The original sequence I was exporting was uncompressed 8bit, and the original footage was d-beta captured as NTSC 8bit.

Import Sequence Settings instead of 'Match Sequence Settings'?

Hi, we have the following problem with Premiere Pro and Media Encoder (English CS5, German MacOS):
We film with Sony EX3 in Germany, so our media are always 1920x1080, 25fps, progressive, square pixels. We produce for streaming video, with differing resolutions and bandwith, but always 25fps, progressive, square pixels, H.264. Often we have to encode intermediate files for our Premiere/After Effects workflow (typically Quicktime Animation or MPEG2).
On export, Media Encoder defaults to Quicktime PAL DV (in CS4 it defaulted to Quicktime NTSC DV). As a result, we always have to enter the complete data: Codec, resolution, pixel aspect ratio, fps, field type, etc.
Now I heard of the "Match Sequence Settings" option in AME and already rejoiced. As it seems, too early. When checking that checkbox, everything becomes locked and cannot be adjusted. Even when sending it from Premiere to the queue in AME, I am not allowed to adjust the settings there. The "Settings" button is locked.
So all parameters, and even the Codec is locked in. As it seems, mostly MPEG I-Frame. But never H.264
This renders the function rather useless to us. Instead of "Match Sequence Settings" it would have been so much more useful to have an "Import Sequence Settings" option/function, with the ability to adjust them further.
Can this be achieved otherwise? Is there any hope that Adobe adds this option? What would I have to do to make that request (plea) noticed at Adobe?
Kind regards,
Andreas

Hi Jeff, thank you for the information.
It took a while, but then I realized that the preset you mention comes (only) with a few selected formats:
- MPEG2-DVD
- MPEG2-Blu-ray
- FLV/F4V
- H.264 Blu-ray
However, it does not come along with, e.g. Quicktime, MPEG2, H.264 which are the Formats we usually work with.
1. Any chance with Quicktime?
2. Are there restrictions when chosing MPEG2-DVD or H.264 Blu-ray instead of MPEG or H.264?
Regards,
Andreas

DV/DVCPRO NTSC Compression not working

When I export a sequence to QT movie using DV/DVCPRO NTSC compression (either directly to a QT movie or using QT conversion) I get what looks like a solarized effect (maybe 6 colors total) and the colors are all off - mostly browns and dark tans with hard lines between them, grainy.
If I export with no compression, it looks fine.
It also looks fine in FCP itself during edit and playback, etc.
If I take this project and clips to another machine, it exports into DV/DVCPRO NTSC with no problem.
This just started happening. It was working fine for months with the same settings.
I've tried archive and reinstall the OS system as well as trashing and reinstalling FCP. No change. Using OS 10.4.11, FCP 5.1.4.
I don't know what else to do other than wipe the drive completely. All suggestions appreciated.
Thanks
Paul

Hi Paul
in your first post you said that exporting without compression was fine, now you say that it also has issues and that exporting on another machine is ok.
1. Given that you want to go back to tape, export at your sequence settings to maintain quality; actually selecting the same settings as the sequence settings should see no difference in quality. If you are outputting the finished product back to the same tape that the footage originated from there is no need to change codec, you are better to leave it the same.
2. The fact that the export is seeing problems on one machine and not another suggests that something is wrong on machine one. Trash the prefs for FCP, run some system maintainence on it as well, eg. Disk Utility.
Tony

Help with correct sequence settings for exporting QT

hi -- I am about to export a QT movie of a sequence in FCP. There are three different properties of clips in the sequence -- footage I shot on a Panasonic HD HMC150 was compressed with Apple ProRes422 and footage I shot on the JVCHD - can't remember model - uses the 720p24 codec. All other properties for these clips are the same.
I also use some archival footage in the sequence was shot at 29.97 fps, 720x480, compressed using the DV/DVCPro NTSC and a different pixel aspect.
I also use jpegs.
Here's the question. The Sequence Settings are HDV 720p24. Do I need to change the properties for the clips that don't match the Sequence Settings BEFORE I export a QT File? Or, do I export a QT file then import it back into FCP at the 720p24 setting and export that sequence as a QT file.
Thanks

ok here's the info everyone has been asking for -- and, please remember, I have solved the exporting QT to make a DVD now . . . .
The pressing issue is that, somewhere in the process -- the images that fit within the 16:9 got bigger so that less of the image is in the frame.
Sequence Settings:
ok here's the info everyone has been asking for -- and, please remember, I have solved the exporting QT to make a DVD now . . . .
The pressing issue is that, somewhere in the process -- the images that fit within the 16:9 got bigger so that less of the image is in the frame.
I made stills from the same frames in the different sequences to show the difference between them. Unfortunately, I can't attach these images in the forum.
So here's the sequence settings as of now for both the original and current sequences:
Easy Setup:
Format - HD
Codec - HDV 720p24
23.98 fps
1280x720
Sequence Settings:
1280x720
Aspect Ratio - hdtv 720p 16:9
pixel: square
compressor appleprores 422
Field Dominance - none
editing timebase: 23.98
Render Codec - same as sequence codec
Clip Codecs:
Primarily HDV 720p24
Some Apple ProRes 422
Archival Footage - Dv/DVCPRO NTSC
Okay, now here's where things start getting hairy. I read in the FCP manual today that I should convert the sequence setting to the same codec as the majority of the clips -- in this case that was 720p24. So I changed the sequence codec from AppleProRes 422 to 720p24. Then I rendered the sequence before exporting it as a QT file. -- not noticing until after I burned a DVD about the image size problem.
Now, this evening, while I was checking the settings of the older original sequences -- trying to figure out what went wrong -- I realized that the original sequence used the AppleProRes 422 codec!! So, I converted my current sequence from the 720p24 codec BACK to Apple ProRes 422 - hoping this might solve my larger image problem -- BUT the image size stayed the same. Am I just compressing over and over again and screwing up my sequences.
The weird thing is that MOST of the sequence copies that are not the original -- converted to the changed codec even though I had only the sequence I was changing open ---- there must be a reason for all this. I hope you all can figure it out for me. I've been spending hours at it.
Thanks again.

Sequence Settings - Animation vs NTSC compression

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