• Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

  best resolution for still images in Final Cut Pro

  Posted by Lee Frank on April 12, 2011 at 1:29 pm

  Hi all,
  I just have to gush thanks for all the great tips and tutorials authors put up on this site. I work in a far flung part of northern Australia and this kind of resource is absolutely critical for me to get the results I need.

  I’ve been scouring CreativeCOW, Larry Jordan’s online webinars and the net more generally for about a week trying to figure out why I can’t see my photos in full screen final cut with the same clarity I can view them in Photoshop or Aperture.
  I’ve tried adjusting my video settings in FCP, I’ve tried resizing my stills in Photoshop, I’ve tried directly dropping 3 mb shots into my FCP browser but nothing seems to do the trick.

  I’m creating a short film using still images and video. The real pain is when I zoom in to the stills the resolution is shot to hell.

  My sequence preset is Dv PAL 48 kHz Anamorphic
  Capture preset as above

  Frame size 720 x 576
  editing time base 35 fps
  Pixel aspect ratio PAL CCIR 601
  Anamorphic 16:9 On

  The photos range from 2048 x 1536 72 dpi to 3256 x 2440 72 dpi
  I suspect my photos are being automatically resized to fit the 720 x 576 frame size.
  I’ve hesitated to write a post as it seems this issue is quite common one but after exhausting all other avenues I humbly request assistance here.

  Many thanks for your patience and tolerance

  Lee Frank replied 15 years, 1 month ago 4 Members · 6 Replies
• 6 Replies

• 

  John Knapich

  April 12, 2011 at 3:35 pm

  It looks to me like your photos are fine, the right size to move and zoom in FCP. Have you tried rendering out a full rez quicktime from FCP to see what the final result is? Sometimes FCP does not do photos justice in the viewer depending on your settings.
  BTW, when I have a project with lots of photos, I sometimes end up doing the moves in After Effects. Adjustments and rendering seem faster there to me.

  FCP 6.06, OS 10.5.8 2x3GHZ Quad-Core Intel Xeon, Kona LHe, Dulce Duo-eSATA 8 Drive, 4TB Raid.

  John Knapich
  Creative Director/Partner
  Assembypix.tv
• 

  Mark Suszko

  April 12, 2011 at 4:44 pm

  You are in the DV codec. Maybe you’re asking too much of it.
• 

  Paul Jay

  April 12, 2011 at 10:29 pm

  Use a ProRes 422/444 HD or 2K timeline.

  DVPAL compression is terrible.
  And you are in a SD timeline.

  Why?
• 

  Lee Frank

  April 13, 2011 at 11:15 am

  Thanks John,
  Yes, have rendered a full res quicktime and the shots appeared much the same as they did in the canvas. I’ll keep on trying with FCP as it’s the app I know. Until such time as the wall upon which I’m bashing my head triumphs I’d prefer to stay with FCP – bloody skull n all.

  [John Knapich] “Sometimes FCP does not do photos justice in the viewer depending on your settings. “

  Can you tell me what settings these are?
• 

  Lee Frank

  April 13, 2011 at 11:27 pm

  Hi Paul, Thanks for your comments. I have started a new project with the settings you outlined but am still having trouble getting the fine detail I can so readily get with Photoshop. The settings I posted originally were given to me as the best for the short film festival I’m entering.

  I’m using PAL since I’m based in Australia. When I make it home I’ll post my current proRes settings and a cropped image comparing the original shot to the image shown in FCP.

  I’m also trawling through old posts on Creative Cow and seeing what can help.
• 

  Lee Frank

  April 16, 2011 at 11:23 pm

  Thanks everybody I tweaked the settings and viola! with Sequence preset at Apple ProRes 4444 1920 x 1080 25 p and capture preset at DVCPRO HD 1080i50 things are looking decidedly up.

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