-
Cannot crop out edge-of-frame artifacts
Hi all,
I created a 20-second animation in Motion that is destined for DVD. I have exported to MPEG-2 out of both Compressor and FCP, tried adjusting handles, crop settings and cannot figure this out.
Though not visible in the original video, 1-pixel-wide lines appear around the frame of the video when I export to mpeg-2. Is there a reason this is happening? Again, I have tried cropping in Compressor, and FCP and cannot get rid of these.
Here’s the 11MB clip:https://www.fattyproductions.com/stella.m2v.zip
Thanks,
EA
-
12 Replies
-
I just took a look at the video in Quicktime and in DVDSP… and I’m not seeing the 1 pixel wide lines you’re seeing. Have you tried trashing the DVDSP settings with Preferences Manager, or making a new account on the computer and seeing if the pixel lines carry over? Sounds bizarre, and I’ve not seen that particular issue before. That being said, Motion can do some weird things.
If it’s still doing it after prefs and/or new user account, can you post a screen grab?
-
I’ve uploaded a screen grab.
https://fattyproductions.com/whatTheHELL.png
I know it’s subtle, but it runs along the upper edge of a letterboxed frame, so it stands out when viewed on a TV. It’s hard to see in the pic, but zoom in on the upper left.
It may not look like much, but you can definitely see it, and it’s unacceptable.
And I have no idea how to work around this one at this point…
-
I see it now…
Ok, so where are you doing the letterboxing- inside of DVDSP? Are you bringing in the widescreen file and sinking it into a 4×3 timeline? what’s your workflow?
-
The Motion project is built in NTSC DV, 720 x 480.
It looks fine viewed in 4:3 (the way it’s built), but also is fine squished into a 16:9 frame.
As far as my workflow from here, I have tried:
– Exporting to 4:3 Mpeg-2 using compressor, bringing into DVDSP.
– Exporting to 16:9 Mpeg-2 using compressor, bringing into DVDSP.
– Bringing into an FCP timeline, then doing the same.
– Bringing into an FCP timeline and dragging handles out to clip off the edges before export
– Bringing into Compressor and exporting with edges slightly (and also grossly cropped) using the Geometry panel in the Inspector.
– Praying and resubmitting these batches
– Exporting from Motion to the Animation codec, and bringing THAT into compressor for export to mpeg-2
I think that’s about it. I’m currently trying to go from Animation –> DV —> mpeg-2, hoping that somewhere along the way the distortion will become “converted to a bitmap” (if that makes sense), which will hopefully allow me to crop it out.
– A
-
Ok, one last thing to try.
Export from Motion to Animation codec.
Bring that into FCP. Use Easy Setup to make an NTSC, 29.97 (or 23.98, whichever is your frame rate) DV-NTSC track. Bring the quicktime file to the timeline, do not change the settings to match.
Double click on the clip. In the Viewer window go to the Motion tab. Blow the thing up to 102%.
Go to your sequence settings (Apple + 0), in the Video Processing tab, on the Motion Filtering Quality dropdown, choose Best. Leave the other settings ALONE.Export, compress with Compressor, bring it into DVDSP, and see if it persists.
I think you should blame Motion at this point for being it’s predictably weird self. The blowup won’t cause too much blurring or loss of picture. I blow SD footage up to 102 or 103 all the time and it’s not noticeable to 99% of people out there (us being the 1%, maybe!)
This should clear up the hinky 1 pixel edge, keyword should.
-
Alas, this issue doesn’t have anything to do with Planet Earth’s over-scanning television sets….
-
Nicole: just tried it and it’s still there.
My guess is that it’s a bug in Motion, and I’m assuming that it stems from the fact that there’s imagery on a motion path OUTSIDE of the viewable frame area in Motion…. which is somehow leaving it’s mark. Only thing I can think of.
But if I have to transcode this thing from this to that and back to this to crop it out, I will. I’ll keep you posted…
-
Oh I see what you mean, Dave, sorry. Yes: if the clip WASN’T letterboxed (with black bars seen above and below), my problem would be conveniently cropped out by that overscan.
-
>It looks fine viewed in 4:3 (the way it’s built), but also is fine squished into a 16:9 frame.
Wait, I’m confused. Is it built natively 4×3 in Motion or is built at a 16×9 ratio? If it’s 4×3, why are you squishing it into a 16×9 frame? Ahhh. -
Built in 4:3 with that 16:9 squish in mind.
The footage on the DVD is 16:9, so naturally I would like this to be as well; this clip is the DVD’s “first play” target.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up