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Jagged diagonal lines, quality loss when exporting from FCP
I’ve been working on this problem for several days and I’m going insane! Every time I export my movie from Final Cut, there is a significant quality loss. It is most noticeable in two ways: diagonal lines become very jagged (looking somewhat like diagonal lines in an older video game — more a diagonal sequence of blocks); also, in some areas such as faces, the colors get a little blurry and there seems to some “pooling” of colors around the edges of the face.
I’m pretty sure the problem’s not in capture: the Quicktime clips that I captured from the camera are all pristine. When I play them in Quicktime, I can blow them up several times their original size, and they maintain their sharp lines. (I also Reverse Telecined them all with Cinema Tools, if that’s relevant.) I also know the problem’s not just my computer monitor; when I play these movies on my external monitor and TV, they look bad too. The clips look bad after I bring them into Final Cut, and while I’m editing, but at first I figured that was because Final Cut sometimes doesn’t show full resolution in the timeline. Still, when I export, the quality of the original captures just isn’t there.
Some details:
Captured from 24A progressive, Sony HVR V1U HDV.
Using Final Cut 6.0.1, Compressor 3.0.1, Quicktime 7.2.0, OS 10.4.10 (all the most recent versions I believe).
I’ve exported in many different ways: using Compressor (and have tried a number of different settings: the DVD Best Quality 90 Minutes default Setting, as well as using a variety of bit rates from 3.0-8.0, One pass CBR, Two pass CBR, Two pass VBR, Two pass VBR best; Video Formats NTSC, HD 1440×1080…I have tried many combinations. Regardless of the size of the m2v created, the files seem to have the same problem over and over. I’ve also tried exporting from Final Cut as a Quicktime Movie and with Quicktime Conversion. Same result. I also tried using different compressors with my Final Cut sequence: Apple Intermediate Codec (which I used when capturing — you have to with the Sony HVR), HDV 1080p24, HDV 1080i60, Apple Pro Res 422, H.264…What’s happening? Why is Final Cut turning my nice pristine captures into jagged foulness? What can I try that I haven’t yet?
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3 Replies
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Are you working in the correct timeline settings?
If you work on a NTSC timeline with Pal material you get a similar problem…just dont ask how i know this. -
I’m pretty sure I have the right settings; when I drag the first clip in the window pops up saying “Attention — this clip does not match this sequence’s settings or any of your sequence presets…Change sequence settings to match the clip settings?” and I hit the “Yes” button. Is it possible that this doesn’t actually set the sequence to the proper settings?
Also, once the sequence is in there, I’ve tried changing the Sequence Settings in a number of ways — trying different frame sizes, pixel aspect ratios, compressors…I’ve even started new sequences and tried using all the different editing timebase. No luck.
When you had this problem with PAL material, were you ultimately able to correct it?
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Hey,
I’ve been having a similar problem with loss of quality on Final Cut 6. I was using green screen, and every time I readjusted my subjets’ sizes, their faces became blurry and lost quality. I think I’ve found the solution, though. If you double click on the clip so that the viewer for that clip is active, go to the motions tab at the top of that window. Below basic motion and crop is distort. If you click on the drop down arrow, the last option in that menu is aspect ratio. If you make sure the aspect ratio is zero, hopefully that will improve the clarity of your image.
Also, with regard to jagged edges, I used color smoother under the video filters tab. Just make sure that if you are using any other filters, the color smoother is the first filter in the last.Hope that helps. Best of luck!
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