render setting question

[Steve Roberts]

Unlike editing apps, After Effects always recompresses.

Rendering to the Animation codec will preserve the current quality of the DV with no further loss due to recompression. If this clip is then going to be compressed to MPEG-2 (or whatever) right from AE, this is a good option.

However, if you plan to bring the Animation clip into a DV timeline in an editing app, the editing app will recompress it to DV to match the DV sequence settings. If you had rendered the clip to DV in AE, the editing app would not recompress it. So. If you are finishing to DV in an editing app, you will have to recompress it one way or the other.

[Göran Thorén]

Thank´s Steve!
So wich is the best solution to get from final cut to after effects and back?
Since AE recompresses my original dv file and Final cut recompresses an animation file
I will always get a worse result when processing a clip in AE?

[Steve Roberts]

DV is not a nice codec, especially for graphics.

I generally do this:

1. cut for timing in FCP, using raw footage or placeholders in the same codec as the footage.
2. export the clips to be processed in AE, at current settings.
3. in AE, work the magic and render to the codec used by the FCP sequence, in your case, DV.
4. in FCP, drop the effected clips into the timeline and export using current settings.

Now then. This requires testing: you might get a better result if you work in AE in a 16-bit project, then render to 10-bit uncompressed. Then FCP would recompress to DV, but the AE work would have been done in AE in a better color space. Depending on what you’re doing, you could get a slightly better look.

Anybody else?

[Darby Edelen]

[Göran Thorén] “and Final cut recompresses an animation file”

Final Cut doesn’t recompress your Animation encoded file if you set your Sequence settings to match the rendered file.

Darby Edelen
Designer
Left Coast Digital
Santa Cruz, CA

[Steve Roberts]

That would work, if going to something other than DV tape is the goal.

[Göran Thorén]

Thank´s for all your tips!
I usually have a lot of dv clips and maby I´m processing just a couple in AE. So doing an animation render and change the timeline settings in final cut to animation isn´t a very good way to work in my case.

Is this just an issue with dv files or is it applicable with other codecs as well?
I´m working more and more on dvcpro 50.

Göran