XDCAM into SD DV sequence - quality dreadful.

I'm cutting elements together into an NTSC DV-rez timeline, some of which are full rez 1080p30 material, some of which are uncompressed HD. Such elements when put into the timeline and rendered look absolutely awful - far softer and noisier than the adjacent NTSC DV material. What approach should I take to improve the quality of these elements in my cut? Is this simply a function of the XDCAM/IMX codec again, which I have recently learned to hate?

Max, do you have any I/O hardware? I'm thinking you
should be working in a better codec than DV and then
creating a DV master only as a last step, or either
capture directly to the DV codec from source. Is
that a possible workflow for you?
Nope, sorry. I'd love to be working in a better codec than DV, but that's a no go, as large portion of this piece is DV-rez. And the system I'm on has no additional video cards.
At present, what methods are you using to transcode to DV?
So far, I've tried cutting it into the DV timeline in FCP and rendering, and also transcoding via Quicktime Pro to DV first before importing. One is as bad as the other - essentially the same results.
I was cutting last week on an Avid Xpress Pro, and despite really hating being back on Avid (happens less and less these days thankfully), I was delighted with how well Avid handles multiple codecs on the timeline - no rendering at all. I had DV, HDV, HDCAM, DVCPRO HD and SDI all on the same timeline, without a problem. There's one gold star to Avid for that anyway!

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Cutting SD into an HDV Sequence

Just wondered if anyone had experience of this?
I dropped an SD (4:3 Pal shot indoors on a PD170) clip into an HDV sequence and changed the scale to 252% to get it to fill the frame. Surprisingly it looks pretty good, at least on my 20" Cinema display. I then used Compressor to produce a HD Mpeg 2 and again it's very acceptable when played on DVD Player on my Cinema display. I wondered if anyone had done this and gone all the way to HD DVD and to a Plasma or similar?
I know that scaling over 115% in an SD sequence would make the clip look awful so I was wondering whether the HDV preset somehow cleverly compensates for this problem or is it just an illusion caused by my Cinema Display?
I'm asking because I have a Sony Z1 and am considering getting a Canon H1 to shoot my next film but I will need to cut in SD footage and ultimately release it on HD DVD when things settle down. I just wonder whether I'm barking up the wrong tree?
Any comments appreciated.

It's an illusion caused by your Cinema Display.
During the course of editing, it's fine to do what you've done. But once you've locked picture, use Compressor 2 to upconvert (to the HD format of your choice) only the portions of the SD clips that you'll need. (Making use of Compressor's Frame Controls settings, of course)
The basic idea being that Compressor 2's optical flow technology will produce far better HD conversion than FCP will. FCP's will be far faster, but if it's quality you're aiming for, using Compressor.

Scaling down hd into a dv sequence

my 1080 hd clips need to be incorportaed into a dv sequence but when i export them as quicktime and then import that quicktime into a dv sequence, it looks soft. is there a better way? copy, paste and then scale down perhaps?

Yup. Copy, paste and rescale...render.
And they will NOT look as good as they used to. You are not compressing them to DV compression, which is 5:1.
And never judge the quality of your footage with your computer monitors. External NTSC or TVs only.
Shane

PP CC - can I change a normal sequence into a multicam sequence?

I have made a sequence with 4 videos along with audio and they are now hand sync'd together.
I would like to change this sequence into a multicam sequence. Can this be done in CC without losing the work already done to the videos?
All I can find about multicam cam in PP CC, is you have to start with all the footage selected and then choose to create new multicam sequence. Should you not be able to change your mind and be allowed to change an already created normal sequence into a multicam sequence?
Sorry but just used to CS6. Hope I don't have to start over again.
Cheers

Nest that first sequence into another, then right click and Enable Multicam.
This is the original (and in my view still the better) way to create multicam sequences. The Help file should have this as the very first listing, with the new 'auto' methods coming after. (Kevin?)

Importing DVD into FCE with decent quality

Can anyone tell me what they would do if they needed to import a DVD into FCE maintain decent quality? Not a produced movie, just like a home movie...and I can't afford DVD Pro...
Thanks very much!
Curt

Hi
My old list on this
*DVD back for futhur editing*
A. don't put a mini DVD into Your Mac unless it’s a trayloaded DVD burner/reader
B. iMovie’08 prob. 09 can import from DVD (homemade without copyprotection)
C. I prefere one of these two ways
• Copy to miniDV tape from set-top DVD-player --> Camera -or-
• Roxio Toast™ - Can back convert to streamingDV for iMovie or FinalCut
D. Read what Karsten collected.
*DVD back to iMovie.*
.. and here the complete 'full 9 yards' ... .
//discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3822853&#3822853
DVDs are in a socalled delivery format (mpeg2), which isn't meant and
made for any processing as editing... or, as honorable forum member
QuicktimeKirk stated. I use the analogy of the old Polaroid
"instant" cameras. Push the button, wait for the print to develop and
show it off. ..
for using the iLife apps, you have to convert'em first, in
recommended order, choose one of the following tools/workarounds.
• DVDxDV (free trial, 25$, Pro. 90$)
• Apple mpeg2 plugin (19$) + Streamclip (free)
• Cinematize >60$
• Mpeg2Works >25$ + Apple plug-in
• Toast 6/7/8/9/10 allows converting to dv/insert dvd, hit apple-k
• connect a miniDV Camcorder with analogue input to a DVD-player and transfer disk to tape/use as converter
• Drop2DV (free) a free tool claiming to convert DVDs into dv-stream...
• Use iSquint for your conversions . www.iSquint.org
from. Bobby Keene
none of these apps override copyprotection mechanisms as on commercial dvds...
//danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/tips_tricks/6010.shtml
//danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/tips_tricks/6018.shtml
be nice to copy rights ^-^
... and, next time, try the forum's search-feature...
from Beverly M.
//docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42724
Yours Bengt W

When I drag photos into iMovie, the image quality is degraded. Can I somehow prevent the degradation?

When I drag photos into iMovie, the image quality is degraded. Can I somehow prevent the degradation?

Hi
A very common origin to jumpy picture is
• Recorded material in one frame rate e.g. 29.97fps (NTSC) and iDVD set to do a 25fps (PAL) project - OR the other way around.
It delivers a DVD but a very bad one.
I do convert all my material to same fps as the DVD I want to do (e.g. PAL) - before any editing etc.
I use JES_Deinterlacer or Compressor to do this and the result is so much better.
JES_Deinterlacer is free on Internet and makes a Great job - Professional alternatives comes at an astronomical cost and the quality is not hardly no better.
Yours Bengt W

Import iMovie '08 into iDVD '08 Movie Quality

In iLife '06 there were ways to import movies into iDVD to get a good quality movie. Like instead of using the export menu in iMovie I would just open iDVD and click and drag the .mov file straight into iDVD and the quality was great. I guess there was a bug in the exporting method. Now to get a good quality movie on a single layer dvd coming from iMovie '08 are there things I need to know?
PS. I would prefer HighDef with my Sony HDR-SR12. Yeah Yeah I know I need Blu-Ray but until that that comes only what is the best I can get?
Carlos

Use: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imovieHD6.html

Insert a clip into a new sequence, the clip will not play back

Macbookpro 8G ram twin 2.5 Intel, 1333 Mhz
I am an experienced editor coming over from AVID. This is my second project attempt in Premiere. First was fine. I imported clips that live on my hard drive. When I make a clip selection, mark the in and out and "insert into a new sequence, the sequence will not play back un less I render it first. I am talking about one (1) shot maybe 3 seconds long. I have done no other edits in the sequence and have added no effects but there is an effect icon on the clip in the sequence, This can't be right. It is not the way it worked for my first test project. It would take 40 hours to edit a 60 second spot… What has happened here?
Footage is 1080p 24fps. Short with a digital DSLR and Files are the same (.mov) as in the first project,

I have exactly the same problem. All of a sudden preview window is not working properly. In some projects it only plays audio with gray screen, in some it doesn't plays at all or plays audio from another projects. Sometimes preview gets frozen with the first frame in the project. I can however play video from Event Library, but without any sound. When I create new project and drag clips from Library, it plays with gray screen and again without sound. Restarting iMovie or Mac is no help. I'm using iMovie 8.0.6
Waiting for help desparatly, thank you

Transfer Ana. 16x9 into 4x3 Letterboxed Sequence?!

I've done this in the past and for the life of me can't remember how!
All I want to do is transfer an Anamorphically shot and edited sequence into a 4x3 Sequence (so then it would be Letterboxed), to be able to export into as a 4x3 320 x 240 QT file.
I keep thinking that dragging the nested 16x9 sequnce into a 4x3 sequnce will work, but it doesn't.
Any help of info is much appreciated!
Frank
G4 Quicksilver Mac OS X (10.4.4)
G4 Quicksilver Mac OS X (10.4.4)

That's very odd that dragging the 16:9 sequence (into the 4:3 sequence) doesn't letterbox. I used to do this on almost a weekly basis and never had a hiccup.
Anyhow, any luck doing an Insert/Overwrite Sequence Content?
That is, drag the 16:9 sequence from the Browser into the 4:3 sequence as you would normally. But press and hold the Command key, then release the mouse button. You should see your sequence contents (aka the clips 'n stuff) in your 4:3 sequence. And they should be letterboxed.
If the clips aren't letterboxed, you might have some type of sequence corruption. Trying all this with a fresh 4:3 sequence might do the trick.

Importing a 512 sequence into a 1080p sequence

When you edit a sequence in 512 and want to render out in 1080...do you have to make a new 1080p sequence, then imoprt the 512 and render it out for full 1080 quality? Also, if you don't render your files, does this prolong the export process in Encore? Basically what I'm asking is are rendered files only for playback purposes?

I started with 4k red footage in a 512 red sequence
Did you use the Source Settings menu in CS4 (see above image)
to set your 4K footage proxy resolution to "Eighth" (512x288),
then create a 512x288 sequence to match the proxy settings?
then brought it into a 1080 red sequence
If the answer to the above question is yes, am I correct to assume
you copied and pasted the proxy resolution media from your
512x288 proxy resolution sequence to your 1920x1080 sequence
then used the "Scale to Frame Size" command?
Some of the nested sequences translated great, but a few of them looked like 512 again.
If you did use the Source Settings menu in CS4 to set your 4K footage
proxy resolution to "Eighth" (512x288) for editing in CS4, did you then go
back and reset the 4K resolution to "Full", save the project, quit application
and reopen project to apply settings to all clips before trying to open the
project in CS5?
Edit:
My 4K workflow in CS4 was to use a full 4096x2304 sequence setting
with proxy resolution media Source Settings, and "Scale to Frame Size".
After editing is completed I would return to media Source Settings,
set the resolution to full, save, exit, reopen and render.

How to Import Vector Identified Files into Photoshop Without Losing Quality

Hello,
I am creating a series of music worksheets on photoshop. I have created some music scores in a music writing software called Sibelius 7. It has the capability to export the sheet music graphics in the following forms: .pdf, .eps, .bmp, .tiff, .png, .svg .
However, I have tried to 'place' each of them into my photoshop file to see which one will work. But on saving the photoshop document as a .pdf with any of the graphics formats, the vector quality of the image has been lost, as it pixelates on zooming in. I have also tried to import an .svg file into adobe illustrator to save it as an .ai file and then import that into photoshop, but the image is again pixelated.
I don't really know what is happening, as I am essentially trying to import a file that is a vector (or at least does not pixelate on zooming) into photoshop, hoping for the same qualities to be retained, but it is being lost for some reason.
What should I do?
Thank you.

Thank you for your reply. I opened the vectored pdf into illustrator. I tested illustrator by saving that document as a new pdf and the vector quality was still retained. I the following images, I copied and pasted the vector from illustrator into photoshop. However, on saving this new photoshop document as a pdf, it does not retain the vector format, as you can see with the pixelation that occurs when zooming in on an object.
Thank you.

Sequence quality much lower than source video

I guess this is the right place to post for FCP 7?
I have a video project in which I've imported high quality video files (1280x1024 screen capture, AVI). I've made sure that my sequence settings match the same dimensions as the source clips and that compression is set to "None." The clip settings can't be modified, and there's no pop-up when I import a clip to the timeline asking if I want to change my sequence settings. I've removed all the attributes to the clips, but there's none applied. I do have to render, though.
When I preview the source video in the viewer it looks great, but in the canvas it looks like it's at half the quality or worse. The render comes out the same - horrible quality, despite being the right dimensions.
I have no idea what I'm missing. Why would it appear fine in the viewer but not in the canvas? Especially if my sequence settings aren't any lower?
I used the default settings when I created the project. If it wasn't set to "use settings from first clip," and somehow that's the issue, how can I change the project's settings without having to redo my whole film? Going to project properties in the edit menu doesn't give me any options for quality, size, etc.

Here's something else for comparison...one of the clips makes me select to change the sequence settings, the other does not. This is a screenshot of the viewer of that clip, next to the sequence with that clip for which it's been set to the exact same settings. Yet you can see a clear quality difference in the full size version...this is what it's like throughout the whole project, whether it's text, image, or video.
I feel like there has to be some simple setting somewhere...like a draft view...that would explain this.

I upgraded to iPhoto 11 and drag and dropped my old library into it, causing picture quality to reduce

I gather that I shouldn't have done this as it copies each thumbnail and this reduces the quality. I then exported the pictures to my Pictures folder as they weren't there. My question is; I still have the original Library with pictures. Is there anything I can do to start the process again so I ma getting the same qualitry of images I had previously?

Let me start from the beginning. I had a problem with iPhoto, after trying a few things myself, I took it to the Apple store, who tried a few things and then decided to backup my files, then erase everything and start from scratch. New OS, reload Applications etc. I then went to iPhoto and simply dragged the iPhoto library which was within pictures onto iPhoto. It got all my photos, but very poor quality. I now understand this is not the best way to do it.
So, I need to know the besy way to;
1) Remove all the pictures from iPhoto as they are poor quality
2) Replace with the original quality pictures that I had.
I have located a file called Originals within the iPhoto Library folder which was in Pictures which contains all my photos at the quality I want them. So another way to put the question is; what is the easiest way of getting these pictures into iPhoto and replacing the poor quality ones that are currently there.
Thanks guys.

*** Dropping an HDV sequence into a DV sequence for DVD output

I would like to output my HDV project to DVD but don't have an HDV camera or deck. I've dropped a few clips into an SD (anamorphic) sequence and rendered it out, but when the playback is viewed on a tv, it is jittery and not smooth as it needs to be.
I've had success sending my HDV project directly from FCP to compressor, but in this case, I can't do this because my next problem is having a glitch where it causes FCP to crash during the outputting to Compressor process.
This is the next workaround I've though of.........but it is having difficulty working.......is there another option or a setting I can change on this one?

All of the HDV footage I've worked with has been Lower Field First. If you want to de-interlace, use Apple's de-interlacer that can "interpolate" instead of duplicate or blend. This maintains the images edges. this can be found in Compressor, Shake, and even Motion. Also, Sending a sequence out to Compressor straight from Final Cut may seem like a good idea, but remember that HDV uses MPEG 2 Interframe encoding, and a lot of your cuts take place between complete frames. I've heard of a lot of problems, and experienced them myself by going this rout. I'd recommend exporting your entire sequence to a self-contained movie, which will render it completely, then taking that in to Compressor to convert to DVD or any other format. I like using the Apple Intermediate Codec or DVC PRO HD because it converts it to an Intraframe encoded format, aka, every frame stands on its own. It takes up more drive space, but its far less CPU intensive. While you're in compressor, you'll have to go into the "Frame Control" tab and set up your de-interlacing, which I believe lets you choose something like "motion estimation" or "best" which will interpolate the fields and produce sharper results. In Motion, it's just a filter. In Shake, its a node, or you can use the FileIn node to convert the format which can do the same.

JPEG in DV50 sequence quality issues in FCP5

I had been working on graphics in DV50 in 4.5. the graphics were JPEGs that were 150 by 786 and I would crop them and place them over video and other layers of graphics. The type was sharp and there was no problems. When I did the same thin in FCP5 the graphics got blurred.
Here are the things I noticed. The settings for sequence and files were the same. The only way I could get the graphics to look right in FCP5 was to make the field dominance none. My base layer is DV50 and my seq settings are all set to Lower.
Why might this be and how do I deal with this now?
Why did this work so well in 4.5 but not in 5?
Thank you

ok I found an answer to this one but now I would like to know why in the most recent version of FCP I would use a lower quality setting.
First let me explain that to fix the problem I was having I had to go to the seq settings video processing and change the motion filtering to fastest as opposed to Normal or Best. Why would this be?
Thanks

XDCAM into SD DV sequence - quality dreadful.

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