PSD looking low rez on FCP… why?

[Mike J.]

So you feel that the images with additional DPI above 72 actually adds a moire pattern creepy crawly type (whatever fits best here) to the scaled or moving image in Final Cut Pro, Tom?

Would you only recommend taking 600 dpi images into Photoshop and resizing them to higher pixels vs higher than 72 dpi? It would seem that in Final Cut the effect of scaling higher pixel counts or higher dpi to the timeline size would be the same. You’re saying it isn’t?

Just asking.

[Walter Biscardi]

[mike] “So you feel that the images with additional DPI above 72 actually adds a moire pattern creepy crawly type (whatever fits best here) to the scaled or moving image in Final Cut Pro, Tom?”

I can tell you from experience it does. Not sure why, but it does seem to do weird things, especially when you get over 200dpi.

[mike] “Would you only recommend taking 600 dpi images into Photoshop and resizing them to higher pixels vs higher than 72 dpi?”

I would, but retain the pixel size. So if it’s 1000×1000 pixels at 600 dpi, change that to 1000×1000 pixels 72dpi.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Neil Ryan]

Some operators follow the trend of treating video as 72dpi because it has mattered on some systems in the past. Not so, now, on FCP.
Here is what God wrote on page 339 of the current Manual:
Video Is Not 72 Dots per Inch
There is a myth in video graphic design: Since some older computer displays used 72 pixels per inch, all video created on a computer must be at this resolution. This is not true or necessary. The dimensions of a video image are dependent only on the number of horizontal and vertical pixels used in the image. Pixel dimensions alone determine the resolution of a video image. You can easily test this yourself by creating two 720 x 480 images in a still graphics program, setting one image to a resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch) and the other to 72 dpi. Import both images into Final Cut Pro and compare the two. They are absolutely identical. This is because video editing software does not use the dpi setting of a graphic image.
Even though the dpi setting for your graphics is irrelevant for working with video, keep in mind that many people may still adhere to a policy that graphics for video must be 72 dpi. To avoid confusion with other graphic designers, you can just as well leave your video graphics at 72 dpi. Just know that there is nothing special about this setting.

[Kevin Monahan]

Most of the time, poor quality graphics are due to a couple of things, and both are monitoring issues.

1. Use a video monitor, as Walter says, and judge the graphics there.

2. Set the RT pop up menu to Safe RT, High Quality and Full Frame Rate, and put the Canvas at a 100% zoom level. You should see the proper quality then.

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

[Jeremy Garchow]

You need to render your graphics. You are probably looking at an rt effect gone bad.

Make sure to go to Sequence > Render Selection and Sequence > Render All menus and put a check mark next to each and every option (especially the full option). Then render your timeline and it should be clean.

And make sure you are watching on an external monitor as had been mentioned already, I just want to drive a stake through it.

Also make sure your graphic is on even whole number y-axis value. In the motion tab, under the basic motion parameter set your y value of the ‘center’ to an even whole number 12, not 12.23.

Jeremy

[Bret Williams]

Flat out, the still are at being displayed at half resolution, field doubled. Probably not rendered as mentioned. Although I would have thought they would have been rendered when exported a sa still.

Other notes: FCP and After Effects and probably every other graphics and video program completely ignore the DPI or PPI of an image. It is meaningless EXCEPT when scanning when of course you have to calculate how many dots per inch to scan.

It’s pretty simple really. You’re scanning a photo. What should you scan it at? For SD, your image is 720 pixels wide. If you’re just going to do some minor zooming or cropping, all you need to shoot for is a 1000 pixel wide image. So you’d scan your 2 inch wide wallet size photo at 500dpi to get a total of 1000 pixels.

A normal 4×6 gets by easily with 200 or 300 dpi depending on the orientation. 300 dpi would probably be fine for the wallet size as well, since you might not gain much over 300dpi anyway and start to notice the film grain anyway.

300 dpi would be overkill for sure for a 8×10 which could be more like 100dpi. But you might want to crop way in.

When a client asks what to scan their images at I tell them 300dpi since it’s usually photos 4×6 that I’ll crop somewhat. It covers most situations pretty well.

[Michael Webb]

i think it is due to the RT engine trying to play back in RT. FWIW I’ve had to put a 1 degreee rotation or a 1 pixel blur and FORCE FCP to render the graphic on a couple occasions.

Michael Webb
Training / Support
Apple Certified Technician Digital Video / Xsan for Video
Microsearch, Houston Texas
713-988-2818
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Michael Webb
Editor/Videographer
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