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When to sharpen a smaller version of a clip?
Hi,
I’ve got a question about producing smaller 400×225 web versions of clips which are otherwise produced for DVD or HD.
What I’ve been doing until now is finishing the HD or DVD version as required, then exporting a 400×225 ProRes version (from the final HD ProRes sequence), which I then re-import into a new 400×225 FCP sequence to apply sharpening and export final 400×225 web versions (h.264 or whatever the client requires). This way I have a kind of 400×225 ‘master’ in ProRes from which I can produce various final web versions with different levels of sharpening etc.
Is this normal or do people usually just export small final versions directly off the HD timeline?
Thanks,
Dan -
3 Replies
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Sounds like a WHOLE LOT of extra unneeded work.
I would just take your original digital master, the same one that you send to compressor and prepare for DVD, and simply send that to compressor and use whatever settings you need to compress it to your final web format.
**Hindsight is always 1080p**
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Thanks for the reply Zane. You are right, it’s an unnecessary bit of extra work, and I just remembered why I’ve been doing it. I’d forgotten about that whole ‘QT X has a minimum frame size’ thing, which means it’s been blowing up my 400×225 clips, making them look soft. I just exported one straight from the HD timeline and opened it in QT 7 at actual size and it’s all fine. Since re-setting up my machine a few months ago I’d forgotten to set QT7 as the default and had been previewing my web exports in QT X.
Thanks again,
Dan -
Hi Daniel,
Yes, you can do all at once and export an H264 directly from FC and will look well. But if you do it step by step and with the proper tools, will look better.
Your’s is the best workflow. Step by step.
Those steps may look unnecessary, but they are not.
I work like you.
I make a 10b Uncompress master with the size for the web, then I compress to H264.
The downscaling is critical. I do it with SHAKE and the difference with the FCS options is huge. You may try the Lanczos filter in Motion.
I make the master in 10b Unc for three reasons:
– At web-video size, the file is manageable.
– You are not constrained about size (with Prores you need to respect the macroblock structure).
– You can use Handbrake to make your H264. Handbrake is one of the best H264 available and is free, but do not import Prores.
rafael
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