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Creating a top quality power point in FCP. Not doing so hot!
I have been using FCP for almost 10 years and one reoccurring problem I can’t pin down is the quality of graphics as I export out of FCP. Most recently I had to voice over a power point presentation. I converted Jpegs from the power point program, imported into FCP then put them in timeline and put a voice track with music. I then exported out in HD (which is what the settings were in the timeline). My client did not like the quality when viewed the file. One note, Using Microsoft PPT and creating an mov from the program revealed tack sharp image. Please guide me. Thanks. Rory
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4 Replies
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You don’t give enough detail to be sure, but I suspect the graphics problem is two-foid: first, you’re using jpegs and powerpoint can output better quality files in Targa or TIF form, which is what I use. Second, you may have a pref set that scales the jpegs in a way that reduces their resolution on import, or your render output settings may be similarly limited.
A second issue, however, is that powerpoint can import a sound track, so why not do your audio mix in final cut, or Audacity (it’s free), export just the audio back into powerpoint, set the timing there, then have powerpoint do the final render?
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The default pixel dimensions for PowerPoint slides is 960×540 pixels – while full HD is 1920×1080 pixels. So, if you’re editing and exporting your PPT at full HD screen size, you’re scaling at 200%… So, it’s no wonder that your video looks pretty horrible.
I’m NOT sure if the frame size in PPT can be scaled larger… If so, that’s what you need to do…
As Mark suggested, exporting TIFFs will help, but only a tiny bit, as you can’t make gold out of lead, no matter hard you try.
You can try scaling the images in After Affects or Motion, both of which have superior scaling engines to FCP, but attempts at alchemy will only go so far…
Hope this helps…
David Roth Weiss
ProMax Systems
Burbank
DRW@ProMax.comSales | Integration | Support
David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.
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Thanks Mark & David, you give me fuel for thought. I did try to export Jpegs in HD size from PPT, this did not make a difference. So, based on Mark’s thoughts, I will look in preferences to check on scaling settings. I will also try to output files in Tiff or other uncompressed files. My last resort is finishing it in PPT, which is a great option. I”m just not proficient at that program. I do however want to address this issue in FCP that I have not seemed overcome. Thank you, I’ll keep you posted!
Rory MacNish
Cornell Cooperative Extension
Marine Program
Multimedia Specialist
Riverhead NY 11901
We are working for you! -
Two ideas I have for you: First, check the powerpoint output prefs… see here, in the first screen grab, this is a powerpoint pref panel: under advanced resolution settings, you can up the resolution (it refers to DPI, which is not video terminology, still, it IS a *kind* of Scaling:
Another trick I sometimes use, is to output an image as PDF. Because PDF is vector and not raster, scaling up vector images may yield an *apparently* clearer “blow-up”. Then you can re-export in tif or targa from the PDF and go from there.
In FCP7, I look here to see that the output is set to always output renders at best quality:
and here, I’m looking at the lower right corner to see that the box is un-checked, so things come in at whatever their native scale was.
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