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Need help selecting format for FCP projects
I just upgraded to FCP 5 from FCE HD because I wanted to have more choice in the format and resolution of my projects. I do not use any captured footage, all of my work is with scanned phtographs, Motion 2 files, photoshop files, Live font files, and various other graphics. My output is destined only for computer viewing and web distribution. I would like my main resolution to be 960 x 540 at 24 fps which for the web will be compressed to one half that size (possibly more). There will also be audio tracks. What is the best preset to create my kind of project in FCP? I want to avoid DV since these movies will be viewed only on the computer screen and I want very high quality. Also what will be the best compression codec to use–mp4? (I will use Flip4mac for Windows versions)
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3 Replies
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Hmm. You are working at a 16:9 aspect ratio. You can do uncompressed at 1280×720 or 1920×1080, but your file size, and renders times will be huge. Try using the dvcProHD 720p60 setup (or the 1080i60 setup for even bigger frame size). The frame size is 960×720, but if you create anything at 1280×720 fcp will do the scaling for you. Your files will be able to play off of a normal firewire drive as long as you aren’t doing major editing.
jg
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Since I start my projects in Motion 2, I selected the DVCproHD 720 24p setup. I edited the preset to 960 x 540, square pixel, 24fps. I will create all my graphics and crop my photos to this size. Will this work in FCP? What would be the difference in using this setting or using the large multimedia or presentation setting? And thanks for your quick response.
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Why are you editing this to 960×540, is my question.
Keep it 960×720. DVcPro HD works in anamorphic HD format. It is scaled to 1280×720 upon output to an HD monitor to honor the 16:9 aspect ratio of HD. FCP will try and render a movie that you have set to 960×540. If you keep it 960×720, FCP will not need to render it and will play it in real time. You can create your graphics at 1280×720 and upon rendering them out, they will get scaled “anamorphically” down to 960×720 in the DVCPro HD codec.
You should try that format if you plan on using FCP without a render after rendering from Motion.
Make sense yet?
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