[Bdr]

Make sure the graphics are of the right size (720×480) so Final Cut Pro won’t have to scale them. The scaling algorithm in Final Cut Pro 4 was quite bad, version 5 improved quite a bit on that. Scale should be 100% all the time and aspect ratio should be 0.

Check that the center of the image (position) is on whole numbers, not fractional numbers. Fractional numbers will cause the use of subpixel rendering wich will soften the images. Try to use even numbers for the vertical dimension, it will help with flickering on an interlaced timeline.

[Bdr]

>>> Unfortunately shot on Sony DVD405=MPEG2 files (meaning I almost lost my mind trying to solve that nightmare which is another story altogether).

You know about MPEG Streamclip?

https://www.alfanet.it/squared5/mpegstreamclip.html

[Bdr]

Two things will need to be done:

1. change frame rate from 24p to 25p.
2. change frame size from 720×480 to 720×576.

It makes no sence to use any kind of standards conversion since you’re working in 24p. Just save your sequence using Export -> Quicktime Movie. Open the clip in Cinema Tools and conform it to 25p. This will speed up your footage by 4%.

Next, frame resize. You can use either Final Cut Pro or Compressor. In Final Cut Pro, select the DV PAL anamorphic easy setup. Create a new sequence. Go to sequence settings and set Field dominance to none. Set Motion Filtering Quality to Best. Import your clip into the sequence. Go to the motion tab and change scale to 120 and aspect ratio to 20. Export this sequence to Compressor.

If you want to use Compressor for the resize, duplicate the MPEG 2 setting you want to use. Change the video format parameter from Automatic to PAL on the encoder panel and change the Resize filter from Fast to Best on the Frame Control panel. Process the clip you got in step 1 with this setting.

[Bdr]

Excel will regard this 00:00 as a date. Use this formula in another column:

=CONCATENATE(“00:00:”;TEXT(HOUR(A1);”00″);”:”;TEXT(MINUTE(A1);”00″))

Substitute A1 for the column you need. Drag the formula to fill the entire column. Cut and paste to another sheet.

[Bdr]

I guess you’re applying the color corrector the wrong way. Load the clips into the viewer by doubleclicking on them in the timeline, not in the browser.

[Bdr]

Chapter markers are contained in a Quicktime text track, not in the video stream itself. The video stream won’t change a bit if you use File > Export > Quicktime Movie (not Export > Using Quicktime Conversion). Off course, don’t tick the “Recompress All Frames” option.

Adding motion graphics will cause rendering and recompression of all frames affected. This will compromise quality.

[Bdr]

> it’s a long story but my aquisition is HDV and the TIMELINE is Animation codec.

If so, what exactly would you expect FCP to do? Rendering the timeline will render everything to the Animation codec and Print to Video will render everything to HDV. Those two renders can not be combined.

[Bdr]

Technically, Export -> Using Compressor is better but you may not notice the difference because of a) MPEG 2’s compression artifacts and b) the quality of your source footage and the codec you use on the timeline. The better the timeline’s codec the less sense it makes to use Export -> Using Compressor. You’ll most likely notice the difference when using 4:1:1 DV with thin lined graphics overlayed.

What happens with Export -> Using Compressor is that FCP will hand each frame separetely to Compressor. The frames are uncompressed or rather, the same process as the one to create a render file is used minus the recompression at the end. This means that the source footage is decompressed, all filters (if any) are applied and the result is sent to Compressor. For a normal render, this frame would be recompressed to the codec of the sequence.

This means that Export -> Using Compressor is functionally equivalent to bumping your sequence to Uncompressed, exporting to an Uncompressed Quicktime movie and importing that movie in Compressor. Export -> Using Compressor saves you the diskspace required for Uncompressed, at the expense of time. Final Cut Pro will be busy during the export ’cause it has to do all the decompression and rendering over again.

[Bdr]

Dear BeeLaster,

There’s probably nothing wrong with the Quicktime file. It’s just that the default configuration of Apache, your webserver, doesn’t recognize .mp4 files and sends them out as the default type text/txt. This explains the extra .txt extension you get when you download the file.

The problem will be solved if you add the following line to a .htaccess file somewhere in the path to the quicktime file on the server:

AddType video/mp4 .mp4

[Bdr]

Off topic, but I think it’s a bit silly to require the user to do anything if you want to loop a track on a dvd. You don’t need a script. Just set the track’s End Jump property to itself and it will loop forever.