.mov to FCP image quality

[David Battistella]

Welcome to the world of HDV.

Everything you describe is perfectly correct. You have the right workflow in Motion, etc. The problem lies inteh HDV codec. When you drop your pristine annimation into an HDV tieline then it has to be recompressed to HDV. The codec uses its own algorithm to decide how to compress it to the 20:1 compression HDV requires. Each codec on the market respond differently.

The only way to really ensure crisp graphics is to change the sequence CODEC to something like 8 or 10 bit uncompressed. This will require a render and MUCH faster drives to play out, but your graphics will hold together because they will not suffere the artifacting of 20:1 compression.

David

[Alexander Gao]

but the project can be switched over to these codecs after all editing is done, so that you’re still able to edit everything alright.

Alexander Gao

“When the revolution happens, I’ll be leading it.”

[Michelle Weiss]

Hey, thanks so much

There are so many factors influencing the final product! I changed the sequence settings, rendered out as h.264 QT Movie, as before (the final product is being shown via QT PLayer) and there is a noticable, (POSITIVE) change in the quality, even though the file size is smaller (6.7MB as opposed to 11MB)… I’m not here to question these things, thanks both for your help, I really appreciate it!

[Michelle Weiss]

and P.S!

I should mention that I am using your advice in conjunction with Lars’ suggestion, so I have changed my Motion files to 1920×1080, square pixels (instead of 1440×1080 1.33 aspect ratio), and I am placing the motion file directly into FCP, so it is only being rendered to QT at the final stage. So yes, Lars your suggestions does help now that I have changed the sequence settings in FCP, the direct import from Motion explains the smaller file size at the end. my bad. things are chaos right now, thanks guys for your help and the small restoration to my sanity! :))
-Shell

[Kevin Monahan]

Shell,
I think at the root of this problem was probably because you could not monitor your rendered footage through a proper device.

Improper monitoring will often confuse a videographics artist that is unaware that viewing the FCP Canvas at anything other than 100% zoom level will not show you the quality of your rendered graphic. If the Canvas is not or cannot be set to 100% (with no blue scroll bars), only a HD broadcast monitor fed by a video capture card like Kona or BlackMagic will show you the quality of your HDV footage.

Next time you want to check your render quality and if you don’t work with a monitor, you may want to either resize your Canvas or output a few frames to QuickTime and check those.

Another quick point: Your QuickTime movie you say, “Looks Improved”. I would suggest that it could look even better if you switch on the “High Quality” toggle, which not many people know about.

I’ve written two articles for you to read.
Regarding viewing your renders:
https://web.mac.com/sfcutters/iWeb/fcpworld/news/CC8E5EF3-32B5-4C05-93E6-81F50A8B52C7.html

Regarding viewing QuickTime movies at High Quality:
https://web.mac.com/sfcutters/iWeb/fcpworld/news/D4363B62-EFF5-4F30-B719-9A5E93AE4C92.html

Many, many people have complaints about the quality of their renders in FCP. Typically, it’s all due to to confusion brought about by not using a video monitor in your FCP system – and very seldom is it because of codec shortcomings.

Good video monitors and capture cards are expensive, for sure. Unfortunately, their necessary evils in post.

David is also correct, though. HDV and DV codecs are not too forgiving for creating good quality graphics. DVCPro 50 on up begins to look very good, though.

Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com

[Michelle Weiss]

Hi Kevin,

I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to let me know about these commmon problems with quality in FCP and QT. I didn’t know about the ‘high quality’ tab in QT movie properties, so that was great to know, although I couldn’t see a discernable difference in this particular footage. If I had an internet site, I would put up screen shots for you, which I am sure could illustrate the problems I’ve been having better than me trying to describe it! As for my FCP settings, I did have all of the quality control measures in place that you mentioned in your article, so hopefully I am not a completely lost cause!

I do admit that I am working from an Apple Cinema HD display and not a video monitor, but unfortunately I work at a bank and they are not so worried about spending budget on video monitors! However, most of the work we do here is viewed by staff over an intranet on their computer screens, or else it is compressed down to DV PAL format for DVD (we film pretty much exclusively on HDV with a Sony Z1). It is only on a new project that we are utilising some wonderful 65 inch plasma screens with motion graphics advertising products and businesses, therefore the need to get top quality presentation in high def. The quality of these is fantastic when viewed on the plasma screen, even the text, which is animated and lots of it! It is just the one logo as described in earlier posts that is causing the problems. The measures suggested above have worked in increasing the quality of this logo to an acceptable level, the text surrounding the logo has always been perfect, so I am thinking it is some kind of temperamental red on blue logo compression going on. Anyhow, you are obviously an expert in FCP, your help has been very insightful for me, and I will definitely take a look at some of your tutorials and articles, to expand my mind in this area!

Thanks again, much appreciated!

[Kevin Monahan]

Shell,
Dig this….

Regardless of how you output, you should still be monitoring correctly with a NTSC monitor. Especially if you are making a DVD. If you use the computer screen only, at least look into using the HD-Link from Black Magic Design. That will put all the correct pixels on the screen. Of course, it costs some money, but that way you can monitor your HDV accurately.

Too bad companies don’t spend the right money where they should. A video monitor is an INTEGRAL piece of hardware for ALL non-linear editing systems. This drives me completely bonkers. Tell them this: FCP is not an application – it’s a SYSTEM. So it should include all the parts that make up a NLE – Deck, Video Monitor, Studio Audio Monitors, and a Mac.

Ah geeez…..ya just can’t win, can ya?

If the problem you have is only for this particular logo, you might try dropping the saturation on the reds a bit. Engage View>Range Check>Excess Saturation. If you get the “!”, then use the color corrector to drop the saturation a bit.