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Help: Photoshop text looks horrible when imported into FCP
I am working on a promotional video loop. I made all the titles and text in photoshop the exact dimensions of the sequence. But when I import the text into fcp and then drag into the timeline, it looks HORRIBLE! The text is very blurry and sometimes bounces around a bit. I tried adding a de-interlace filter, but that doesn’t do much at all.
Any suggestions on how to fix this? Is it a photoshop setting? Or an FCP setting?
Please help. I am so frustrated with this.
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7 Replies
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Well Kathryn,
What are your settings in both the photoshopped titles (PNG, PSD, JPEG, TIFF, etc.) and in FCP sequence and edit settings? (Compression settings/frame rates/sizes etc.) Are you applying motion effects to the titles as well, or are they standard overlays?
Josh
Digital Media, Thought Equity Motion
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HI Josh,
From photoshop, I export the text as a PSD file, with a layer devoted to each company represented on the video. I first make the file 960×540, then resize it to 720×480, RGB, 72 dpi.In FCP, the sequence is 720×480 NTSC (3:2)
Compression: DVCPRO50 NTSC
Frame Rate: 29.97Kathryn
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also, no motion..just overlays.
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Use a broadcast monitor or set your Canvas to 100% to see the quality of your rendered graphics. You are being confused by not monitoring properly.
Please check out the search function next time.
This issue crops up many times per week.Kevin Monahan
http://www.fcpworld.com
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro -
Thanks Kevin,
Though this issue has come up in the past promo loops I have done for this organization. It plays on a screen in their lobby and the text still looks blurry on that screen.Kathryn
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Kathryn,
Unfortunately, I’ve never had much luck working with imported graphics in DV sequences. I can never get them to look right. You might, however, check that the PSD file is reading the proper field order — Upper I think for DV, but I’d have to look it up — which is opposite from other NTSC codecs and interlaced HD. Just look at your DV video bed settings, and make sure that the PSD settings have the same field order. You can also try a “field shift” filter that is packaged with FCP to tweak it.
If you’ve seen this problem before for a particular client, you might speak with them about providing a different loop package (not creative content, of course, but video specs). Depending on what type of monitors they use in their lobby, you might find better results with a progressive scan at 23.98 or just a progressive scan in general. Do you happen to know which monitors they use? I think Kevin is certainly on to something as well. FCP video windows aren’t the best for monitoring quality, so if you’ve got an external broadcast monitor that you can use to check the quality, that’s definitely the way to approach it. I know that my desktop monitor doesn’t look work well for precise quality control, and doesn’t like DV at all.
Hope this helps out a bit. Good luck!
Josh
Digital Media, Thought Equity Motion
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Hi Kathryn,
Your sequence is DVC Pro 50? Try setting the compressor to ProRes and render. Also, you must see this on a proper monitor on your system to judge the quality, or at least in the canvas set to exactly 100%.
Have a wonderful day.
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