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Image Sequences and Quicktime
I have a Targa image sequence. I import that image sequence into Quicktime. I then save the quicktime as a self-contained movie, which creates a Quicktime with TGA as the compressor.
Can anyone confirm that this process does no compression to the image? Since it’s merely saving a quicktime file with the same compression as the images in the image sequence, it should be identical. However, I can see artifacts in the quicktime movie that are not present when I view the images in Photoshop.
I can’t play the TGA quicktime on my system, so I can’t fully test this, but I can see artifacts on frames. Lots of them.
I am then taking that TGA quicktime into FCP and exporting a DVCProHD quicktime and viewing that in FCP and it looks terrible. Blocky as hell.
I intend to export those TGA quicktimes as Animation Quicktimes to deliver to our DVD house, but I need to make sure I’ve got the best quality source with those TGA Quicktimes.
Anyone have any insight into this?
Thanks.
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13 Replies
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Greg,
I answered this question for you last week and told you at that time that you were not doing the TGA sequence correctly. Go back and find that.
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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Yes, thanks for this and your earlier answers. As you mentioned earlier, FCP can indeed import image sequences as individual files to be made into a sequence within FCP. I’ve avoided that step because I have 117 minutes of 1280×720 material and I don’t trust FCP to handle folders full of many thousand individual files.
The FCP manual suggests importing the sequence into Quicktime and choosing SAVE, which it says will create an uncompressed movie with no compression applied. It also says you can choose EXPORT, as you suggested, to convert the quicktime to another codec. However, it emphasizes that saving the file creates this uncompressed version, which is why I chose this route.
In looking at this more closely, I’m discovering this problem: The targa files look fine in Photoshop. As soon as I import them into Quicktime, even before I save or export, they look like crap. Instantly, even a single frame is blocky as hell. Then no matter what I do – save, export, convert, whatever – it looks like crap. I’ve done a test burning of a DVD and it’s horrible.
So regardless of the quicktime process, I can’t even view the targa files in QT without them looking bad. Something is going wrong somewhere.
Any further insight? Many thanks.
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Use Motion or After Effects to export an Uncompressed movie.
I’d use After Effects.
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Why Motion or After Effects? Why not Quicktime? Everything indicates that QT merely saves the images as a movie file without compressing them – other posts on this board speak of this workflow too. But even just opening an image in quicktime makes it look bad, and this is what perplexes me…
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[Greg Newman] “The FCP manual suggests importing the sequence into Quicktime and choosing SAVE, which it says will create an uncompressed movie with no compression applied. It also says you can choose EXPORT, as you suggested, to convert the quicktime to another codec. However, it emphasizes that saving the file creates this uncompressed version, which is why I chose this route.”
Tested this and it works just fine, zero difference in quality.
[Greg Newman] “The targa files look fine in Photoshop. As soon as I import them into Quicktime, even before I save or export, they look like crap. Instantly, even a single frame is blocky as hell.”
Something is decidely wrong on your side Greg. That absolutely positively does not happen here.
[Greg Newman] “So regardless of the quicktime process, I can’t even view the targa files in QT without them looking bad. Something is going wrong somewhere.”
Definitely an issue in your pipeline somewhere. I created a TGA seq. in Combustion and a single TGA in Photoshop. All are at 1280×720 and everything is perfect when imported into FCP. On a 42″ plasma there is zero difference between originals and QT I created from the TGA sequence.
What program did you create them in?
How are you monitoring FCP?
Send me a few TGAs at “drw at drwfilms dot com” and I’ll analyze them.
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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[Greg Newman] “Why Motion or After Effects?”
Why not? Those apps handle image sequences natively and then you can transcode to whatever file you want for real time capability. FCO should accept image sequence, but alas, it doesn’t.
Just trying to save you some grief.
Jeremy
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I’ve just sent you an email with links to some files for testing. Thank you!
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You are using QT Player to view the Quicktime file, I presume? Have you tried checking the “High quality” checkbox in QT Player’s preferences? (“Show movie properties” / pick the video track / “Visual adjustments”: there you’ll find the checkbox)*
[*] These names might not be verbatim, I’m on a non-English Mac.
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Affirmative. High quality is checked.
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[David Roth Weiss] “Tested this and it works just fine, zero difference in quality. “
that is not my opinion David- I can see a difference on my scopes between the 2 files, minor, but there none the less.
[David Roth Weiss] “How are you monitoring FCP? “
Greg Set your timeline to Safe RT- and render the damn file out
It is not possible to Properly judge Image quality when using RT extreme or on a computer monitor.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD
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