Workflow AE & FCP HD 1920×1280

[Aaron Neitz]

Are you working in 23.98? 59.94i? 23.98 with a 3:2 pulldown to 59.94?

What is your source material? Are you bringing in 1080 video and working on it? Or creating original animation solely in AE?

What codec are you rendering to? ProRes? 10bit uncompressed? What are your sequence settings in AE? 1080 ProRes 23.98?

AE to FCP works great, but we need more info to help you!

[Arnie Schlissel]

This “bug” is new to me. But what do I know. I just use FCP every day with footage that’s 720P, 1080i, 1080P and 2k. If my timeline is correct, all of the footage works properly. I must not be doing it correctly, or I’d see the “bug”.

Do you have a broadcast monitor? That’s another “bug” in FCP. If you don’t have a broadcast monitor, you will often miss important things or misjudge your footage.

Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/

[Michael Gissing]

“Delivered some video files in full HD (1920×1280) with the quicktime codec in After Effects”

Quicktime is not a codec. Full HD is also not a codec. HD can be in a number of frame sizes from 4k to 720. Please clarify.

Like Arnie, I am not aware of a bug. I too send quicktime files to AE users without field order issues. Last project was ProRes4444 2K. Previously I have sent Apple Uncompressed 10 bit 1920 x 1080 and received back the same or Animation 1920 x 1080. I have never had a field issue unless the AE operator has forgotten to export with fields set correctly. Field settings in HD are rather simplified as all should be upper or none depending on original footage and intended delivery output.

[Jag Jagsson]

Ok,
My project settings in AE is HDTV 1080 25fps. Progressive, square pixels. If I render a clip with the same settings (1920×1080, no fields, square pixels) in quicktime animation, FCP interperets the clip as odd/upper fields. Looks wrong, both on screen and monitor, just because the file has no fields. FCP simply looks at it the wrong way. This is what I call a bug.

If I do exactly the same thing with same settings, but stretching the file down to 1280×720, there is no problem in FCP!

Both files are looking good in quicktime (and in the movie inspector) and if I do a fresh import of the file in AE. Also looks good in Premiere, vcl and all my other video apps.

Read about other persons on the web that had the same problem, but I never saw a solution.

Why, why, why?

[Jag Jagsson]

Forgot to say that I’m using AE’s own Quicktime codec. Set to Millions of colors+, 25fps. Same aspect ratio as the project=square pixels, etc. Nothing strange. Got the same wierd result with PNG sequence.

HD720 works great every time though!

[Aaron Neitz]

There’s no such thing as an AE qiucktime codec: it’s probably rending to Animation codec. In the FCP browser it will have the exact codec listed.

FCP works in 1080/25 pal as an interlaced format. Odd fields dominant.

What are your sequence settings in FCP? Did you try settings the field dominance to none? Did you try rending to the codec that your FCP sequence is in (like ProRes)?

[Michael Gissing]

There is no bug, just operator error. When you export from AE you must export with fields, upper. Doesn’t matter if the original material is progressive, it still needs to be in an interlaced quicktime if it is going to be put into an interlaced sequence in FCP which is obviously what is happening.AE can do this. I rant and rave at graphics people constantly until they get that setting right. When they do it works perfectly. I am nearly always working in 1920 x 1080 50i

The reason 720 seems OK is that it is a progressive sequence in FCP. If you want to throw away resolution and work in 720 instead of getting the AE export right, then that is one option.

[Jag Jagsson]

Kind of confused with the architecture of quicktime though. The timeline we worked with in fcp, is progressive. Also the files I rendered out. The meta data clearly says “25 fps, progressive, square pixels”. If I import it in AE, or Avid, the file displays just fine.

In THE SAME PROJECT in fcp, we imported both the HD1280 and the HD720. Fcp displays only the HD720 file as progressive. The other one as PAL with upper fields.

If I have the wrong settings in Fcp, where do I change this?

[Gerald Bouget]

Well I have got the same problem…
In FCP my timeline s set to prores 422 1920*1080 25fps square pixel and interlacing off.

In AE my composition is set to hdtv 1920×1080,25fps, square pixel. I render with field render off and with Animation codec.

When I import animation quicktime movie in FCP, FCP interprets it as interlaced footage with upper field…

I can’t understantd why. It’s like that for AE HDTV 1080 25 is always interlaced…

The problem does not appear if my AE composition is set to 1050×576.

Can anyone explain this please?
thanks

[Jasper Russell]

It’s a real thing – not an operator error.
I’ve tried exporting a whole bunch of different codecs from AFX (1920×1080) and each time I import it into FCP, it’s says it’s interlaced with upper field first.
Now – If I export pro res 422 (HQ) from AFX, then run this through Mpeg Streamclip again as Pro res 422 (HQ) it will then (and only then) import into FCP correctly. (in the fcp browser it says fields: none)
Now it’s not just FCP reporting it in the browser incorrectly – graphics in a timeline with fields set to none will look blocky.

So, the pro res and streamclip solution above is great for me but what if I have to give AFX created graphics to someone else that uses avid – I don’t think pro res would be great for them.

THe only close answer above is for AFX users to export interlaced, and always have an interlaced timeline in FCP – But excuse me but interlacing sucks and looks awful. I don’t want that look, I want progressive 25fps.

I’m hoping someone has an answer!