Can’t import DV AVI…..why not?

[Alan Lorence]

I’m not sure what you mean by “decreasing quality a lot”.

particleIllusion (Windows) will only be able to import DV if you have installed a DV codec. If you don’t have one, you’ll get the “AVI Request Format Error” message. Since you’re not getting this, I assume you have one installed.

Since you say it crashes, can you give more details? I’m guessing that the file you’re loading is too big — like you’re trying to load a 30-minute clip into pIllusion. I suggest breaking it up into short clips, then loading those.

Also, if you’re concerned about quality, the movies you load into pIllusion should be used for reference only, and you should be saving the pIllusion output as a TGA sequence with alpha channel. Your final compositing (of the pIllusion effects and the original movie) should be done in a separate compositing app.

Alan.
wondertouch

[Steve Smith]

I actually get two seperate error messages, and the clips are only a few minutes long at the most. Here are the messages I get when I attempt to import one of my clips.

#1. Error initializing AVI.

#2. Error: Access violation at 0x0040471f (tried to read from 0x000000AC), program terminated.

Anyway, supposing I do import my videos, what program would you suggest for the compositing? And how would I composit them? Would Adobe After Effects be a suitable program for that? Thanks,

-Steve

[Elvis Deane]

You should consider only bringing in the portion of video/shot that you want to add particles too, rather than a clip of several minutes. Then when you’re done, you can just drop the clip into your editing/compositing program after a short render time, rather than rendering out a few minutes in pI.

After Effects would be fine for the compositing. Here’s a tutorial that will probably answer most questions you have when using the two together.
https://www.wondertouch.com/tutorials/aharon/AE/Tut_AE_1.htm

—
Elvis Deane!
The particleIllusion FAQ
particleIllusion Resources and tutorial CD
Astounding Adventures

[Steve Smith]

As I said, I never use clips more than a minute long; they’re usually 30 seconds or less. I’m going to have to try that tutorial, though. That might be what I need. Thanks,

-Steve