Changing Comp Size Without Loosing Resolution?

[Tudor “ted” jelescu]

It’s quite confusing because I do not understand what the actual problem is. If your final project is 720×480, then there’s no resolution loss- you bring in the higher rez files from AE and scale them down- you get better image quality. The only issue would be if you work on 720×480 for some reason and you want to scale up to HD or something af the sort. Then you would loose resolution.
Also, I do not understand (like Dave before me) why do you finish in FCP and not in AE?
Just as a rule, for fx and graphics, you should always try to work on a higher resolution and then in the end, encode your final uncompressed render from AE to the final compressed size using a compression software like Adobe Media Encoder.

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist

[Bob Tanner]

Sorry. I don’t understand, how do I “Finish in Final Cut”?

Also, I’m not getting ‘better image quality’ when I scale the comp down. I realized that something has to be pretty wrong. I just took an HD video that I have for a tutorial and when I scale it down to a 720×480 comp, the quality is better, but when I take my video, the quality just drops..

[Bob Tanner]

I seem to have figured out the problem, I just don’t know how to fix it. When I drag the full sized video into the 720X480 video, and don’t rescale the quality is GREAT! When I rescale to fit the comp, I loose quality as you can see in the screenshots below…

*You have to click on them to really view the difference…

When I first Placed the High Res video into the 720×480 Comp

After I Rescaled to Fit

[Bob Tanner]

I also exported the movie 720×480 while the comp was scaled up and the quality was great, its just when I scale to fit the comp, really weird…

[Tudor “ted” jelescu]

Maybe what you are seeing in FCP when you scale to fit is a preview and the final render will give you the full rez. Try to render out a few frames and see what happens. Still don’t understand though why you are not rendering out of AE at 720×480 if that’s all you’re gonna use…

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist

[Walter Soyka]

Since you have two different aspect ratios (1680×1050 square pixels or 16:10, and 720×480, which could be either 4:3 or 16:9), the “scale to fit” command will not scale proportionally. Either Layer > Transform > Fit to Comp Width (to letterbox), or Layer > Transform > Fit to Comp Height (to center-crop) will scale proportionally.

You didn’t answer all of my questions in the last thread on this, so I’ll re-ask and clarify a couple:

Are you using a preset for your output (720×480) comp — which one? How are you rendering from AE? What sequence preset are you using in FCP? How did you generate the screen grabs you shared here?

Also — what’s your deliverable (broadcast, DVD, web, etc.) and what other kinds of footage are you cutting this into?

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Bob Tanner]

Thanks for all the replies!

I’m not home right now, but this is what I recall…

I’m using a built in preset, NTSC 720×480 for the AE comp. I exported using the default settings this time, but I have tried ProRes 442 and H.264, but it never made a difference since the quality was always bad, until today where I realized I wasn’t rescaling it correctly…

My timeline setting in Final Cut is NTSC 720×480. I forgot what I’m using for compression settings, but it’s the default.

I generated the screen grabs using the built in screen capture program in the Mac, I dont think the’re would have been a quality difference if I would have exported from within AE as a PS file…

I am going to have the video on a DVD, which is going to be played on a projector and home T.V

I’m adding the AE video into my FCP timeline, which is mostly filmed with basic home video camera…

* I also tried exporting the video when it was scaled up and it played well on QuickTime, even before I put it in
FCP

Thanks for all the help,
Zevie

[Joey Foreman]

The default export module usually uses the Animation codec.
Change the Compressor in your FCP Sequence settings to Animation.
(In FCP, if your sequence is using the NTSC/DV Compressor, then yes, you should expect to see a drop in Quality.)

If you’re using any version of FCP 6.0 or above, if you drag your clip to an empty sequence, you’ll get a dialog asking if you want the Sequence Settings to match the footage. Choose Yes.

If you’re seeing the poor quality in Quicktime Player, first make sure you’re using Quicktime 7, not Quicktime X. Then go into Quicktime Preferences General and be sure that Use High Quality Video Settings when Available is checked.

Joey Foreman
Editor/Compositor/VFX Artist

[Bob Tanner]

If I drop the video into a new sequence, I do get the option, but I want to drop it onto the timeline that I have been working on, the 720×480…

[Bob Tanner]

When I render out in full quality in AE, it looks fine when I bring it into it’s own timeline, but when I bring it the timeline that I’ve been working on, the 720×480 then the quality is just bad…