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mixing motion with FCP: compressions
Im working in Motion to create titles and other ‘powerpoint’ sections for a corporate promo video. FCP didnt offer enough options for the text sequences Im creating so I chose Motion.
The problem is the DV-NTSC compression makes text look like garbage, so when I export .mov’s of my motion sequences im using Sorensen 3 compression.
My timeline in FCP however, is working in DV-NTSC. So when I import the motion mov’s into my FCP sequence, the compressions dont match up. The Motion portions get converted back to DV NTSC and look terrible.
The method im attempting right now is to create 2 different sequences with suitable transitions to match them up.
Sequence 1: video footage including gaps for motion mov’s.
Sequence 2: motion mov’s with sorensen 3 compression.I am exporting both of them through compressor and making them DVDSP ready. Then im butting them up to each other in DVDSP to make the sequence flow.
This is a really ghetto method of doing this, I know it. It feels like stoneage editing…Anyone have a suggestion to get these files to work well together in the same sequence?
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2 Replies
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I have been considering switching to an uncompressed codec for my editing to get past this problem myself. I have asked for opinions here and got no help. I guess this is one of those questions thats been asked over and over since the early beginnings of fcp and everyone is tired of talking about it, although you can’t really find any help through searching the archives either.
Anyway, I can tell you that you will not get those two codecs onto the same sequence without rendering. FCP can only handle one codec on any one sequence, so you’re stuck with either an uncompressed sequence, which will tie up more hard drive space without improving the DV footage, yet it will give you better quality text, or you can work with the DV sequence and suffer the lesser quality text.
Thanks,
Gary -
[Lynch_55] “My timeline in FCP however, is working in DV-NTSC. So when I import the motion mov’s into my FCP sequence, the compressions dont match up. The Motion portions get converted back to DV NTSC and look terrible. “
As long as you keep working in a DV timeline, anything you bring in to FCP will get converted to the DV codec. There’s nothing you can do to improve the DV codec.
If you want to improve your graphics, you need to work in an uncompressed Sequence with uncompressed footage. I’ve never heard of anyone using the Sorenson 3 codec for export from Motion or even After Effects for that matter for editing in an FCP timeline. If you’re working in a DV timeline, it makes no sense to create your graphics in another codec.
Editing this all together in a DVDSP timeline does not really make a whole lot of sense to me. Edit and create your graphics in an uncompressed timeline to get the best looking graphics. There’s no way to make your graphics look better than working in with uncompressed footage in an uncompressed timeline.
Or work in the DV codec in Motion and keep adjusting your titles until they look the best they can look in DV. Keep areas of extreme contrast to a minimum, such as white text on a dark backdrop. This really brings out the worst in DV compression artifacts.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
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