Still Photos in FCE

I am a new FCE user and have two questions about a project. The project will contain video and still images and will be exported to idvd to make a dvd for playing on a widescreen tv.
1. I captured the video using a Sony HDV camcorder at 1080i. What settings should I use in the project to get the best final quality on the DVD? Should I use HD settings and import in HD and then have IDVD change the format, or should I use DV settings and import in DV (the camera can convert? I have been playing with this, and it seems setting the project in DV results in a better DVD, but still not great quality.
2. would like to know the process for importing still images into FCE to get the best quality on the DVD. The stills are taken with a high pixel rate using a Sony digital SLR camera but in the tests I have run they look grainy on the dvd, and even a bit grainy on the computer when I go to full screen. Right now I am not making any changes when I import then from Aperture and place them in the timeline.
Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Tom,
Is it just regular 72 dpi?
What if I DID want it to move? (are you speaking of panning and zooming on the image)
Thanks again,
Doug

Similar Messages

What is the best format to use for still photos in FCE that will produce the highest resolution?

Hello,
Can anyone recommend the best suggested format for photo stills in FCE that will provide the highest resolution and best quality output, to be broadcasted on a Standard Definition television network?
Thanks,
Susan Kayne

Personally, I prefer uncompressed TIFF or PNG. But many times it won't matter ... you'll be dropping the images into an SD Sequence, so they will lose resolution on output.
-DH

I have used still photos to make a Quick Time movie using FCE. The DVD made using i-DVD looks somewhat grainy and the motion isn't smooth when played on my TV. Other DVD's I have made play much better and I am wondering if the problem is my Quick Time m

I have used still photos to make a Quick Time movie using FCE. The DVD made using i-DVD looks somewhat grainy and the motion isn’t smooth when played on my TV. Other DVD’s I have made play much better and I am wondering if the problem is my Quick Time movie settings. The Dimensions and size of the problem movie are 1920X1080 and 584 MB respectively, while the movies that play better have Dimensions of 853X480 and are about 1.3 GB in size. Is this the source of my problem and how do I change things for the better.

Are you exporting to QuickTime Movie, or to QuickTime Conversion? For iDVD, you need to export to QuickTime Movie. Exporting to QT Conversion will kill the quality if you are moving the video from FCE to iDVD.
The file size per se makes no difference.
What size (pixel dimensions) are the photos that you put into your 1920x1080 sequence? Also, exactly what are the sequence properties ... is it 1920x1080i60 ... or i50? In North America it should be i60.
853X480 is an odd frame size. Where are you seeing this number? It would appear to be DV-NTSC, which has a frame size of 720x480. Your 1920x1080 frame size would not be DV-NTSC, it would be Apple Intermediate Codec. DV and AIC will look different, for sure.
Also, your quality setting in iDVD can affect the final video. You may want to check that also (in iDVD Preferences > Projects). Set it to Professional Quality if at all possible.

Still photos in PRE 12 and output to HD DVD for TV

Hi,
I was using Final Cut Express 4 HD on my old iMac but bought a new late 2013 iMac and learned that FCE will not run on Mavericks (and if you install it you will destroy your OS X plugin manager without any chance to repair it)!
Ok FC Pro X is far way to expensive for me right now, as I just use the app to build nicer photo slide shows. iMove has just a single track and therefore I'm already on the limits. Ok this is where PRE 12 comes into the game and so far I love what I see in the editor. But when it comes to exporting and sharing my work for Full HD TV I'm more than disappointed.
Here is what I use. I exported all my images with 1920x1080 pixels as JPG, max quality with 72dpi and they are looking great on my iMac.
When I import the stills into PRE they are OK when I see them in the editor. I switched off the still optimization feature and set the highest quality to render the preview.
When looking at the clip on my iMac in the editor is ok so far, but at full screen the images are unsharp, blurry and have ghosting and artefacts. Well I could live with that when it would only be the preview but exporting the video a DVD with Full HD the result is as the preview, images are unsharp, blurry showing artefacts and ghosting. And I can't make it better by manipulating the settiings in the DVD dialog. Maybe I'm doing it wrong!?
The only way to make my photos in the video looking tack sharp and brilliant as they are is when I use MPEG format with Full HD settings and look at the video with quick time.
Why don't I get the same result when burning the video on DVD? Any hints?
In regards to the DVD quality I had no problems with FCE 4 HD! And the images (still photos) are the same footage I used to compare the output!
Secondly I just use the PRE 12 trial version, hope that this is not the reason? The annoying "always on" banner saying that it is a trial version is already something I dislike, but what I experience and makes it even worse is that PRE 12 is crashing again and again on different steps I take, sometimes when I change a setting, sometimes when I scrub, sometimes when selecting a fade, sometimes when importing footage and other step....
With all this the disappointing quality on DVD's and the many crashes I can't find a lot of arguments right now to make the trial a full version?!
Cheers and many thanks for help!
Happy New Year!
Yogie

Yogi
First, I want you to assure that you are not bothered by pile ups of preview files, conformed audio, and conformed video files. If these files are in the default location, please check wherever they may be in Premiere Elements 12 Mac (I am strictly an Elements Windows user)....
Adobe Premiere Elements Preview Files Folder....preview files
Media Cache Folder (cfa and pek files)....conformed audio
Media Cache (.mcdb files)....conformed video
Check Edit Menu/Preferences/Scratch Disks to assure that all the scratch disk categories are directed to a hard drive save location with adequate free space to accept them.
Now for the project itself...set the Premiere Elements 12 project preset manually, using
File Menu/New/Project
PAL
DSLR
1080p
DSLR 1080p25
Before you close out of there, make sure that you have a check mark next to "Force Selected Project Setting on This Project". Then, when you enter the Premiere Elements workspace, import your source media into the project with Add Media/Files and Folders/Project Assets.
Render the Timeline and then decide if the image quality is impoved. You might explore applying a very small Sharpen effect to the images. Have the others taken you through the drill of evaluating your computer video card and its driver version?
ATR
Let us determine what we have at this stage and then we can decide if any improvement on the path to PAL DVD-VIDEO Widescreen on DVD disc.
Thank you.
ATR

Still Photo Aspect Ratio Confusion

Apologize for asking a question on this topic as I have been through the forum and realize the topic of aspect ratio comes up often. I have not however seen this question answered. Quick background:
-Working with HD Video footage imported as SD as I am burning non-HD dvd's and I have heard the conversion in IDVD and Toast from HD is not great;
-Using photos imported from Aperture in FCE;
-Sequence is NTSC anamorphic as I want 16:9 but without HD;
My question is about the aspect ratio of still photos when I bring them into the timeline. I have experimented with saving photos in different aspect ratios: 853x480 and 720x480. When I import into FCE the 853 shows a square pixel and the 720 shows a NTSC pixel. From what I have read this is due to the way FCE interprets the aspect ratio and assigns an pixel aspect. When I view each in the viewer they both look correct when I click the corresponding pixel aspect from the top of the viewer. It is when I move these to the timeline that I get confused. The 853 gets an adjustment of 18.52 and the 720 gets an adjustment of 33.33. What do these adjustments actually represent? Is it a percentage, a number of pixels, something else? When I read about it in the Manual it seems to state that FCE adjusts for the difference between the still and sequence, but then why does it adjust the 720 since it has the same pixel aspect as the sequence? I then tried changing the Pixel aspect of the 853 in the browser to NTSC and moving it to the timeline. I get the same 33.33 adjustment. The 33.33 does not look correct in either of them, but when I change it to 18.52 it looks correct (with the pixel aspect at square, with it not checked it looks "skinny" or squished).
Only thing I can think is that it has something to do with the anamorphic adjustment and the squeezing that goes on with it as 18.52 as 853 (widescreen) is 18.47 percent wider the 720.
At this point I am really not sure how these will display when I make a dvd and display on a widescreen tv. I would prefer not to do this by guessing or looking at the picture, but instead by understanding what FCE is doing and making sure I have the settings and adjustments correct.
Sorry for the long message, but would really appreciate any advice

Michael,
sorry to disagree, but for sure I was not clear, and the topic is quite complex. So I decided to provide an overview (as much as I can...) of the various combinations of clips inserted into various sequences with all settings - possibly on my web site (I'm afraid other posters are getting bored about all this math).
But since this is taking quite a bit of time, let me just tell you now where I disagree about your findings. When I'll have my overview completed I hope that will better explain what I mean.
_Your point 1_.
I'm pretty sure you (unwillingly) are importing your 16:9 square pixel NTSC clip into a +4:3 CCIR pixel NTSC sequence+ (not your original 16:9 anamorphic NTSC sequence). Please check your sequence settings by selecting the sequence in the browser in list view and reading the Frame Size, Pixel Aspect, and Anamorphic fields.
a. If your sequence is in fact +4:3 CCIR pixel NTSC sequence+, by applying the formulas you get:
- PARclip for +16:9 square pixel NTSC+ clip = 853/853 = 1 (as for any square pixel clip)
- but PARseq is not 1 (as you write) but 640/720 (square/actual pixels) = 0,8888
- Adjust = PARseq/PARclip = 0,8888/1 = 0,8888.
- Since Adjust is <1 Motion Aspect Ratio = - 100* (1/0,8888 -1) = -12,5 as you experienced on FCE. BTW this means that the imported clip has to be squeezed vertically by 12,5% (as opposite of horizontally).
b. If your sequence instead really is +16:9 anamorphic NTSC+ as you seem to imply, then 18,52 is correct as you confirm yourself with "Agree that in the four cases you list it agrees...": it is in fact the 2nd case in my 4 cases list.
_Your point 2_.
Here I suppose the sequence is +16:9 CCIR pixel NTSC+ which has PARseq = 853/720 = 1,1852.
But I'm not clear what you mean by "720/640 NTSC clip". My guess is that you mean a +4:3 CCIR pixel NTSC+ clip,
then PARclip = 640/720 (square/actual pixels) = 0,8888
then Adjust = PARseq/PARclip = 1,1852/0,8888 = 1,3333 and Motion Aspect Ratio = 100*(1,3333 - 1) = 33,33 as you experienced
_Adjust formula_.
I think this formula in your earlier message is incorrect: Aspect Ratio (in Motion/Distort) = - 100 * (1/Adjust-1) if Adjust ≤ 1; seems like the formula: Aspect Ratio (in Motion/Distort) = 100 * (Adjust-1) if Adjust ≥ 1 works at all times including <1 as follows 100*(.875-1)=-12.5.</div>
This not true (well it is true only for Adjust = 1...). As an example if Adjust = 0,8888 then 100*(0,5-1) = -11,12 (wrong value for this pixel adjustment), while -100*(1/0,8888-1) = -12,51 which is the correct vertical squeeze !!
Why 2 different formulas are needed ? because when Adjust is >1 a +horizontal squeeze+ by Adjust is necessary to fix the pixel aspect ratio misalignement, when Adjust is <1 a +vertical squeeze+ is necessary by 1/Adjust... (figures will help as soon as they are ready for... publishing).
I'm sorry these posts are so long, I try to make them as clear as possible, but the topic is a bit messy and, even if only fractions are involved in this math, their actual meaning is not always intuitive...I'd really appreciate any comment also by more experienced users of FCE/FCP...
Thanks
Piero

Acceptable File Size and Resolution for Still Photos in Keyframe Motion

Hello Hello
I know that FCE HD (as other Video Editors), will automatically fit a still photo's size to it's default capability of 720 x 480 Correct?
Well, in regard to making the best possible ZOOMS, and Pans from Still Photos, is it neccessary to re-size all your photos (from an external editor like photoshop), to a specfic size?
According to an older book for FCE, it sez that actually photos re-sized to 720x534 with a resolution of 72 are best. *The proper proportion for NTSC.
And I noticed that when I inserted larger JPG still sizes (like about a meg), on the FCE timline, and when applying Panning, or Zooms, some of the rendered images with motion didn't pan or zoom smoothly.
Is that because those file sizes were TOO large?
Well I have soooo many stills that need to be imported into this particular project that it would be a lot easier for me to just generally reduce these stills (by percentage).
And is the magic resolution amount supposed to be 72?
Because if that's the case I can re-size all my photos to 72, and try to keep the file sizes down to say 300 KB's or so.
Sound like a plan?

Thank you guys
"basically, you should try to make your images large enough so they never have to be scaled beyond 100% in the motion tab in fcp."
Actually as I mentioned some of these file sizes are very large. About 800-900 KB's - and what as a result, what I've noticed is that I actually had to DECREASE the viewing area in both the Browser Window, and the Canvas Winbow just to be able to see the whole image.
Ok - so the 72 DPI is not as important as the dimensions of the photo. But as I said I have soooooo many of these that it would take me forever to manually re-size them all not to mention the fact that re-sizing some of them (odd shapes),would throw the images out of balance.
So again I ask - if there is NO motion applied to the photo, file sizes of about 200 to 350 KB's appear just beautifully ....
BUT
If I need to PAN or ZOOM, is it ok to laod a 1 MEG sized JPG onto the timeline and start working with Keyframe?????
In fact in some cases I'm actually using these larger file JPS's (1 meg or more), so that they TOTALLLY fit the canvas window (cropping them by enlargment)
*With some clipping of the original image of course ...
Why do I do this?
So that you don't see the usual border with horizontal images, or vertical images - know what I mean?
Thanx

Creating cross-dissolve from still photo to video

Hello all ...
I'm try to create a simple cross-dissolve between a black-and-white photo (imported into FCE as an RGB Photoshop file) and a color (1440x1080) video clip. My problem is that FCE will only insert the dissolve on the right (video) side of the edit, the result being that the photo abruptly goes to black, followed by a gradual fading-in of the video. This is not the effect I want – I'm hoping to create a smoother transition between the two. I suspect that I haven't saved the still photo in the correct format, but I can't seem to find any help in my various FCE books.
So: How do I apply the transition to both sides of the edit? Is it even possible?
Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
Alec

Tom, I figured it out. The audio for the video clip was overlapping the edit (i.e. it extended to the left, so that the video clip's audio ran under the still pic). When I got rid of the (easily replaced) audio, the regular cross-dissolve worked.
Now I just need to figure out how to make the transition last longer than 13 frames!
Thanks for your prompt responses ... I really appreciate it.
Merry Christmas!

Still Images In FCE

Working with 3 still photos as a test I have taken to 2 Procare Sessions. Using DV-NTSC Easy Setup for output in TV aspect ratio burned through iDVD.
When adding a push in motion via 2 keyframes the photo "swims". A 2nd photo with a 360 degree rotation and moving from full frame to 10% is jagged edged, and "swims".
The workaround my session instructor settled on was to create in 1080i Easy Setup, then copy the sequence to NTSC and change the aspect ratio of each photo. This improves the swimming and edges, but they still are present. (This also resulted in something he was stumped with: why the Export-Quick Time file from 1080i was worse than the Export-Quick Time conversion using the same codec. He suggested I try this forum for answers.) If I can work in widescreen and lose the "swimming" it is something I can offer clients.
The JPEG images ARE large enough resolution for the motion. I have tried TIFF, png and every kind of NTSC safe color in Photoshop Elements, as well as trying the gaussian blur in both Photoshop and also FCE. The blur only degrades the images. I have tried interlacing, de-interlacing, sharpening, flicker filter, image de-stablizer filter, de-saturate filter, adjust brightness. I have spent a month testing this issue.
I view on a TV monitor. There must be an answer as this program has stunning color and clarity.
I have used a PC program for clients with better image results (but lacking the controls from FCE). iPhoto doesn't have the swimming but also doesn't have the control I need from FCE, nor the quality of colors.
I am hoping someone has an answer. Thank you, Brenda
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Tom,
Thank you for your help. I am making progress. For the first time I was able to work in DV-NTSC Easy Setup.
My original image: 1 MB jpg, 1020 X 1419 - a client scanned I am guessing 600 dpi - since this was a 4 X 6 print.
After testing I had good results with adding the 1 pixel vertical blur you suggested to this original file, still over 1 MB and dimensions same. Swimming was next to nothing.
When I resized 720 X 540 the image was distorted (I followed your link and thought "unconstrained" was to be de-selected...perhaps not?, haven't retested yet.). When I changed the aspect ratio in Motion in FCE to 60 the image was normal AND I lost the "swimming". This file is 720 X 540, 504 KB.
Is the answer lying in perhaps the file was way too big? Doesn't make sense to me, but I don't code programs
Thank you so very much! I will be glad to be able to begin working with the tools of FCE.
I DO set the QT Conversion to "High". Is this better than "Best"?
Thanks, again,
Brenda
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Sequence finished - PAL iDVD - Still Photos Pixelated

I have finished a sequence which contains video and stills taken be digital cameras.
I use iPhotos to sort the photos.
When I look at the output either in FCE canvas or after I burned an iDVD (and watched it thru my PowerBook) the still photos look very pixelated; much worse than the video. So what I am saying is this is not an iDVD issue altho the iDVD slideshow of the same images looked great.
I don't think the choice of PAL on the iDVD was material as the image was pixelated in the FCE canvas. But, in past projects I have ignored pixelation when viewing in FCE Canvas as the image seems to improve once one views the DVD.
I used three methods to import these photos into FCE, drag and drop directly from iPhoto into the FCE Browser pane, create a still image through Still Life and create a still image through iMovie. In both the Still Life and iMovie I did not creat any movement and 'shared' both as dv.
I would be grateful for another solution. Surely people use still images successfully in FCE.
As I am in the US I do not have access to a PAL DVD. I am making this movie up for friends in Australia.

Taking NTSC material to PAL (or vice versa) within Final Cut always looks pretty bad to me in my opinion. You really need a good software standards converter like Graeme Nattress' standards converter to do this correctly.
As far a the still images go, you still haven't said if you're looking at the output on a video monitor. The material is being rendered into an interlaced video format for that type of monitor.
How large are the images? A high resolution image that has to be scaled significantly to fit video resolution and have the pixel aspect altered may have too much detail to be modified and then compressed well in a highly compressed format like DV. You're taking your 1.2MB frame and compressing it down to the equivalent of a 120KB frame. If you start with a frame that fits the right resolution and is the correct pixel aspect Final Cut will have to do less to the image, and you're more likely to get a better result.

Still photo transitions

I am using FCE 4.0.1 HD. I have a bunch of still photos that I have brought into my sequence, but can't seem to put in transitions between the photos. I try dragging the transitions in from my effects pallete, but they don't work. transitions for videos are fine. Any ideas?

Do you have Media Handles?
Search this forum for MH and all should be clear.
In short, no MH, no transition.
Al

Still photo conversion

Hi. Someone asked me to convert some still photos from their original format which is .pct to .TIF or .jpg. The iLife line-up or FCE are my options, aside from downloading another program. Does anyone know if FCE is capable of this conversion, and if so, how?

I don't recommend it, but technically FCE can do it. However, the resulting image will be the same pixel dimensions as your Sequence settings and limited to 72dpi (if you ever plan to make prints).
To do it in FCE, place the image on the Timeline and the playhead over the image. Go to File->Export->Using QuickTime Conversion. When the Export window opens, choose 'Still Image' from the Format menu and then the file type from the Options menu.
-DH

Can't get still photos that have motion key frames to stop "shaking."

Hi folks,
I am currently trying to make a video comprised soley of still photos for a friend that has recently lost his 16 year old daughter to a tragic accident. I'm trying to get this done by Saturday June 13th. I'm setting motion keyframes throught the viewers "motion" tab and when I play the final result I see in almost every picture popping and shaking while in motion. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a specific way to upload the pics or format them so this doesn't happen? I'm using FCE 4 with an iMac G5 (pre-INTEL). If someone could help me with this I would really be grateful. Thanks again.
Message was edited by: BudweiserDave
Message was edited by: BudweiserDave

Most of these errors are related to trying to view the results on a progressive computer monitor instead of an interlaced tv set.
You could export the whole movie and reimport it as a single item. apply a 2 pixel vertical blur to the whole thing, render, print.
bogiesan

Easy way to do the Ken Burns effect on still photos

I remember using iMovie's Ken Burns effect with great ease. With FCE, it seems really difficult to get the effect I want using still photos. Is there a quick and easy way to do this? All I want is a) to provide a motion increasing the size, and b) increase in size and move the photo slightly to the subject. Thanks.
Mike

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10741180&#10741180

Keyframing still photos causes jerky movement during transition

I am trying to pan over a few of my still photos in my movie by using the keyframe function, and in the playback the movement appears jerky during the cross-dissolve transition. Can anyone suggest a good way to fix this? I am using FCE 4.0.1.
Thank you!

I apologize, I just realized I found the answer to my question - I have pasted the answer from another post below for those that might be reading this:
This is because by adding the cross dissolve, you are having FCE show portions of the clip that precede and follow where your keyframes are. So the dissolve starts, the clip is just sitting there, then begins motions when the keyframe starts . . . etc.
You need to double click on a clip on the timeline, so that it opens in the viewer, then click on the Motion tab and move your starting keyframes for the clip before and after start and end of the transitions on the timeline.

I need to add text over a still photo in iMovie. Following directions that always worked before but not this time.

I am running OS 10.6.8, an upgrade that I did after Christmas. A couple of times a year, I need to make a video of my students' performances, and have always been able to add text over the still photos before, using the directions in iMovie "help." However, this time, I am not able to choose a title style; no amount of clicking makes anything show up on the selected still photo. And no amount of trying to choose the font style makes anything show up either.
This is iMovie 09; is it possible that it is not compatible with my OS upgrade?
I've been able to insert still photos into the video footage, but can't add any titles or acknowledgements. Thank you so much for your help! Since I only do this a couple of times a year, it always takes me forever to accomplish, which is why I printed off the Help directions to follow.

just to make thing clear (sorry for sounding impudent!)
you do .... :
create a New Project
make a selection of an Event and add it to the Project
select a title and drag it onto the clip?
iM does work with your OS ...

Still Photos in FCE

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