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Automatic Duck Questions
Hi,
I’m editing a music vid in Final Cut (shot on DVCPRO HD 1080i – PAL) and have been researching how to get it into After Effects (for compositing) and still keep the highest quality output possible. My original idea was to output TIF sequences from Final Cut to After Effects, do the compositing, etc and then export the new TIF sequence back into Final Cut. My understanding was that TIF’s are uncompressed so I wouldn’t be losing any quality.
But now I’m hearing that Final Cut clips the highlights of an image, even when exported in TIF format. The result being less detail to work with in After Effects… I think.
I know that Automatic Duck exports your timeline from Final Cut to After Effects without any degradation of quality so I’m thinking of buying it as a solution to my problem. I do have a couple of questions though that perhaps someone might know the answer to:
1) I’ve made simple dissolves and some scaling/motion changes to parts of my clip in Final Cut. I know that Automatic Duck will translate these changes to After Effects (which is great) but I’ve read that any effects applied in Final Cut recompresses the video (for the duration of that effect). Now, does that still apply when I use Automatic Duck to move the clips into After Effects? What I mean is, if I have a dissolve between two clips made in Final Cut it’s being recompressed right? But if I use Automatic Duck to move that section of the timeline to After Effects, it will then be translated using the Opacity function… SO, is it still being recompressed with After Effects version of a dissolve… or not?
2) I’ve been advised that once I move my edit into After Effects that’s where it should stay. All ‘masters’ should be struck from within After Effects. Is that true? Or would moving a finished Quicktime/TIF sequence back to Final Cut really be degrading the quality noticeably?
Would love to know the answers to these questions.
Thanks kindly,
ALEX KUZELICKI
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9 Replies
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we use Auto Duck nearly everyday, I feel it is a really handy utility … It will link AE directly to the captured clips, so there is no re-compressing. It will replace your dissolves with opacity keyframes, scaling, position etc etc … I generally just use the motion effects as guides in FCP then re-do them in AE as I find it easier to use.
You will find some things don’t tranlsate so well with Auto Duck …. like text will come through in a different font … timewarping/reversing sometimes seem to comethrough differently … after a bit you will know which things need to be double checked…. sometimes it will interpret the footage incorrectly …. all easy fixes, just things to check..
you don’t need to finish in AE .. in fact, if you are working on anything long its probably better not too. . just do your effects shots in AE …. you just need to make sure you use a codec that is lossless … QT animation or such,,,,
hope this helps …
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Thanks Michael. That helps a lot.
Cheers,
ALEX
PS – Good to hear from a fellow Aussie.
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On the other hand Stu Maschwitz of The Orphanage says it’s best to finish in After Effects. See his book DV Rebel’s Guide for details.
Arthur Vibert
Arthur Vibert
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About Stu’s book,
Bought it last week. Can’t recommend it enough – it has so much USEFUL information they should make a film about it.
Have been a “DV Rebel” for many years now but Stu’s advice is making my video work look better than my film stuff. Wish it was around many years ago – would’ve saved me lots of time and money.
And it’s pretty funny too.
Great work, Stu. When’s the DVD coming out?
Cheers,
ALEX
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So I thought for a while if i should speak up on this or not.
How would you strike masters from AE?
Do you have the gear to output some format other then DVCPro HD? If not then don’t waste time with uncompressed renders that have to be re-rendered to output (master).
Others have told you how Auto Duck works and if you know your have to work in AE it is a great help for moving from FCP to AE. If you have FCP I assume you have the studio package, so you have Motion. You can round trip with motion. Also if you are willing to spend $500 on a plug-in then think about spending it on a whole compositing application. You can round trip things with Shake and you’ll get a lot more for your money.
Just some thoughts,
TonyTony
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Good advice, but Motion and Shake are not complete replacements for After Effects.
— Wes Plate
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And If anyone feels more comfortable with AE or does not want to take the time to learn a new program then your plug-in solutions are the only (really productive) way.
I just spent the better part of a day splitting (by hand) a dozen timeline reference clips apart into individual shots and I it was cuts only interview footage. I would of just been able to import and get to work on efx’s and adjustments had I popped for Automactic Duck.
TonyTony
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I just spent the better part of a day splitting (by hand) a dozen timeline reference clips apart into individual shots and I it was cuts only interview footage. I would of just been able to import and get to work on efx’s and adjustments had I popped for Automactic Duck.
Thanks for the post, TonyTony, you’re absolutely right about the time savings Pro Import AE gives. One of the things people love about the product is how much time it saves. Yours is a good illustration of how the plug-in pays for itself often in just one use.
I met a user recently who told me something like “You have no idea how much time your product has saved us. You have literally saved us weeks.” So for many users, it is actually more expensive to not buy the plug-in.
— Wes Plate
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Hey TonyTony,
Thanks for the advice. It’s definitely an option (that I didn’t consider till you pointed it out).
I do, however, love the AE interface and am feeling more comfortable with it daily. I’ve played a bit with Motion and have test-driven Shake but in the end I decided that (amongst all the other programs I use – animation ones mostly) I need to pick an effects compositor to ‘get good at’. After my tests, I chose After Effects as it does what both Motion and Shake do, but in a way that ‘I get’ quickly and intuitively.
That said, I used to use Digital Fusion – which is a similar workflow to Shake – and I loved that before I loved After Effects. I guess you get used to the tools that you use most. It’s easy to love things that are familiar and easy (though don’t tell my girlfriend I said that).
Still leaning towards Automatic Duck, if for no other reason than I’ve got to finish this Music Vid soon and I can’t afford to spend time learning new stuff.
Your ideas are much appreciated though. Thanks kindly,
ALEX
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