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Quality loss from Firewire tranfer of mini dv to FCP
Hello, I’ve checked the FAQ but nothing really pin points my problem.
I have been struggling with this since moving onto FCP. On transfering my mini dv tapes to final cut pro via firewire for editing the mov files which are produced lose sharpness and almost look like I’ve captured them from an analogue source.
I am using FCP 6, Capture and Log, with the DV 48khz setting (I’m in the UK). I’ve captured straight from the camera (Sony Z1) and also using a Sony tape deck, but results are the same.
The clips in the viewer look fine, as they are not full screen, but on export I am having some real problems with this ‘analogue video’ kind of look. Its not major, but the footage has definitely lost its sheen and sharpness.
I am aware that a lot happens in export settings that I could be getting wrong, so I checked the unedited rushes on the scratch disk, and they too have this loss of quality.
A 10 minute rush mov file is 2.11gb / 720 x 576 / Codecs: DV PAL / Total B.Rate: 30,366. – Does that seem normal? (I can put a screen print of an open mov file if this helps?)
This is really getting me down, as my source files already look degraded before I start. Luckily most of my edits have been used on web which means reducing the size sharpens them up, but they are just not right to start with.
Sorry for the essay,
I look foward to hearing that I have simply made a school boy error which is corrected by the click of a button.
Thanks in advance,
Daniel. -
4 Replies
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DV capture via firewire is a digital transfer…zero quality loss. But a computer monitor, specifically the VIEWER and CANVAS are not the places to judge quality.
#2 Blurry Playback
Shane’s Stock Answer #2: Blurry/Low Quality playback
ONLY JUDGE THE QUALITY OF YOUR MATERIAL ON AN EXTERNAL BROADCAST MONITOR, OR AT LEAST A TV.
The Canvas shows you what happens after the codec you are working with has been applied. The Viewer shows you the material in its native format. Once you drop the footage from the Viewer into the timeline, it inherits the attributes of the sequence. If it is a DV sequence, the footage will render out as DV.
1. Disable overlays on the Canvas.
2. Make sure you’ve rendered everything (no green bars at the top of the timeline).
Video playback requires large amounts of data and many computations. In order to maintain frame rate and be viewable at a normal size, only about one-fourth of the DV data is used in displaying the movie to the screen. However, the DV footage is still at full quality, and is best viewed thru a TV or broadcast monitor routed thru your camera or deck.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Also, if you’re viewing DV files in quicktime player to “check” your footage, make sure to enable the “use high quality video setting when available” option in the preferences.
Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto -
Thank you very much for the speedy replies Shane and Matt!
I think enabling the “use high quality video setting when available” option has made a difference to viewing the rushes in quicktime before editing!
I view the rushes on importing via an external monitor, but because so frequently these videos are just for web I tend to keep it in the mac.
Like you say Shane, the clips in the viewer look how they should, I guess it is just a matter of exporting correctly now.
I know there are a million and one ways to export footage from FCP, but could I ask what the best options are to keep that sharpness up for projects heading for the web?
Many thanks. Daniel
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Hi Daniel, sorry to give you an answer you may not like, but This topic has been covered a lot (and is probably for the basics forum, imho), so you should search the archives, and The Google. But a good place to start in FCP is exporting via compressor, using the H264 web presets.
Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto
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