Changing Frame Size of Finished Animation

[Walter Soyka]

[Monica Nolan] “I created an animation in AE CS4 using primarily photoshop & illustrator files and a little HD movie footage, 1920×1280 square 30fps. My comp settings were: 1280×720 square. I didn’t get the output specs (bad mistake, rush job) and I have a sinking feeling I’m going to be asked for a 1920×1280 output.”

I assume you mean 1920×1080.

You can duplicate your comp, then run File > Scripts > Scale Composition. You can set the width to 1920. The script will preserve your original aspect ratio and automatically adjust all your elements to match the new size.

A major caveat: if the resolution of your footage is less than the new resolution, it will be upscaled and appear soft. Since your original video was 1920×1080, this may not be a concern. Hopefully all your Photoshop elements are large enough. Illustrator elements should probably have continuous rasterization on.

[Monica Nolan] “Also, how does one choose a frame rate when the comp consists primarily of animated artwork? what difference does 29.97, 30, 23.98, 24 make? I’m basing my fps off the movie source footage at this point.”

The frame rate you work in (and the resolution) depends entirely on the deliverable specs. Like you said above, starting work without knowing what you’ll be responsible for delivering is a mistake that can cause all kinds of headaches later.

[Monica Nolan] “The client is asking for a DVD and a movie file. It will be played at a trade show of some sort (not sure which they will use).”

You’ll need to get more information from your client here. For a DVD deliverable, a 1920×1080 comp won’t be necessary; in fact, you’ll have to scale your 720p comp down. As for the movie file, you should try to find out the specs: resolution, frame rate, container, codec, and bit rate.

The resolution will probably be decided by the monitor they’re using. With any luck, it’ll be a 720p monitor.

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
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[Monica Nolan]

Wow–thank you, thank you. This worked like a charm.

I’m working with nested comps, and I see the subcomps remain unaffected (still 1280×720). There’s no reason to go in and scale up each comp individually, is there? And do I need to make sure rasterized is checked for the subcomps or the individual elements or both?

I think I may have a resolution issue here or there but this is a huge timesaver. Which is good because I talked to the client finally and HE doesn’t have the information about how it will ultimately be played, and so wants it output a bunch of different ways to be on the safe side.