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Best workflow for using stills in FCP?
I have a project I’m editing for broadcast, and I plan to use 10-15 still images in the piece. Some of the images are fairly small, from 1 MB to 2 MB, and some of them are larger (8 MB or so). In the past I’ve had a horrible time doing moves on photos in AE, then having them buzz in FCP. The buzzing is even worse when I do the moves in FCP.
When I say buzz, I mean parts of the photo seem to be twitching during the move, instead of the move being smooth.
I’ve exported files in AE with field render on and with it off; I’ve used motion blur and not used motion blur–all with little effect for my issue.
Is there a workflow to guarantee the pictures don’t buzz when I do moves? The image size doesn’t seem to have a large effect here; bigger pix have the same issue. I’d love to know what I’m doing wrong here, so any help would be grand. Why do shows like Dateline always seem to have pictures that move so smoothly?
I’ve heard of software called “moving picture”, anyone know if this works?
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4 Replies
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I use FCP for most of the moves:
All the ones that are simple quick and dirty moves. But then I use After Effects for smooth starts and stops. I don’t get the “buzz” on the pictures if they are high enough quality…over 1-2MB…and don’t contain a lot of verticle lines. If you plan on doing moves on stills, their pixel dimensions should be at least double your project settings. 720×480 for example for DV, your stills should be at least 1440 wide.
Moving Picture is fine, but unnecessary if you have FCP and AE. What FCP cannot do, AE will more than make up the difference. Even with Moving Picture (Moving Image?) if the quality of the still is low, you will get the buzz.
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
I’ve had issues going from AE back to FCP though. After I make movie in AE, the quicktime looks great. Importing it into FCP, it looks like a 5th generation. More blurry, less reso.
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I do movement in stills all the time with no problem. I optimize the stills in Photoshop first, with
a 1 or 2 pixel motion blur, then do the move in AE using Easy ease. Some very busy photos when
imported into FCP still “buzz” a little, so I use the Flicker filter. I’ve never had a problem (did I say that?)
Ed -
[wherewolf] “After I make movie in AE, the quicktime looks great. Importing it into FCP, it looks like a 5th generation”
If you make this wonderful still move in AE, you are doing so in a great pristine work space. If you then take that exported still move and export it out as DV, or drop it into a DV timeline and render, it looks like crud. WHY? Because DV compresses the image 5:1. It isn’t the best format to work with.
BUT…are you judging the quality of the image using the computer monitor, or external MONITOR or TV? Never judge with the computer monitor and the CANVAS.
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net
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