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FCP export and “clean aperture” (1888×1062) issue
I’m working with 1920×1080 HD ProRes 4444 footage (both master and final output). When I export a QuickTime file from FCP 7 and open it in QuickTime X, the clip is cropped to the “clean aperture” ratio of 1888×1062.
I know why this happens (though it seems a bit antiquated at this point, no?), and I know I can open the same clip in QuickTime Pro make it show the full 1920×1080 image. But most people don’t use QuickTime Pro.
It’s the FCP export process that causes this to happen. My master footage opens in QuickTime X as full 1920×1080. It’s only when I import it to FCP and then export it back out, that Quicktime X crops it.
But more specifically, I noticed that this only happens if I export from FCP via the “QuickTime Movie” option. If I export via the “Using QuickTime conversion” option, then the file remains 1920×1080 even in QuickTime X.
But:
Exporting via “Using QuickTime conversion” darkens the image slightly. I don’t know why, I’m keeping the identical settings. I even tried with and without Gamma correction. No dice.
SO: How can I export a clip from FCP 7 and maintain exactly the same image quality as my master file, without the “clean aperture” crop kicking in?
Thank you!
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8 Replies
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Open the file with QT Player and change the aperture to encoded pixels and then save the file.
For the record, Export>>Quicktime Movie using “current settings” is in fact the as good as an export gets – identical to the timeline, with no recompression.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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Thanks, I’ll try that.
Though FWIW, in my tests, while Export>>Quicktime Movie using “current settings” is close, it’s not identical to the timeline. If you bring the clip back into FCP and lay it over the original, then zoom in to 800% in the Canvas, you can see that the exported clip has added a little color noise.
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I opened it in QuickTime Pro (aka 7) and changed the aperture to “encoded pixels” and saved it, but it didn’t have any impact — still opens in QuickTime X cropped. I tried “production” as well, which is what I’d been using for this in QT7, but that didn’t have any impact on the file in QT X either. I didn’t see any way in QT X to change the aperture. Am I missing it?
Thanks again!
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Just to clarify: in my earlier post when I said “lay it over the original,” I meant sync the clips up in different tracks, then turn one track on and off (and render).
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One last observation: If you export an image sequence via “Using QuickTime conversion,” the image quality is pretty much identical to the original timeline. More so than using the “QuickTime Movie” export option, and much more so than using the “Using QuickTime conversion” option to export a QuickTime movie.
So… is there any way to export a QuickTime movie (with the same settings as the original), and not have the image altered? At least with the ProRes 4444 codec, which is what I’m testing?
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[Glenn Camhi] “Though FWIW, in my tests, while Export>>Quicktime Movie using “current settings” is close, it’s not identical to the timeline. If you bring the clip back into FCP and lay it over the original, then zoom in to 800% in the Canvas, you can see that the exported clip has added a little color noise.”
Your findings do not compute Glenn. I’ve seen the science with my own eyes, using a difference filter to check the original against a an exported self contained QT at current settings is as good as it gets. Going through Quicktime Conversion recompresses all frames
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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see my fix for this bug here> https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/8/1138433
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I’m exporting shots for VFX work and I’m exporting using “Current Settings” and when I check the QT in Quicktime Player 10.0 it shows this in the info box: “Apple ProRes 422 1920×1080 (1888×1062)”.
I’ve read this thread and another (https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/8/1138433) and I’m not certain I understand this.
Is it just that this happens only when using Quicktime Player? So can I turn these quicktimes over to the VFX artist and they won’t have a problem? I do not want to have any degradation in the image. Should I do anything differently?
My system is running Snow Leopard, Quicktime Player 10.0, FCP 7.x.
Thanks.
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