[Bryan Mailer]

As a test, I took one of my 480×720 sequences and customized the setting to 1080×1620, then expanded everything to 225%.

Then exported it, which took FOREVER, and the exported product’s file info says it is 1080×1620, but it plays “actual size” at 480×720…

Trying to figure out why has given me a headache, so I’ll take a run at it tomorrow, but maybe somebody has the obvious solution due to experience…

[Bryan Mailer]

You mentioned doing a ‘good quality blow up’ and that FCP MM wouldn’t be the optimal tool.

Do you have any recommendations?

And are you aware of any filters and/or plugins that can be used with FCP that produce a better result than just ‘225% zoom’?

[Bryan Mailer]

Thanks for the advice. Appreciated.

[Bryan Mailer]

I guess the only other thing I’d take your time to ask is that if you were doing some extensive titling and effects in Motion (and at a pretty high quality), and they were compromised by pulling them down to 720×480, would that make you consider up-resing the footage before the edit to maintain the integrity of those effects?

If I shrink the titles and effects down for editing purposes, and then up-res everything at the end, those titles will just be blown-up/zoomed-in low-quality, when they were designed at high quality in the first place. Does that make sense?

[Bryan Mailer]

I appreciate your helping sort things out.

While I am working with a lot of originally 480×720 footage, I just feel like that is not the highest resolution deliverable that might come into play down the road.

I guess maybe I should ask…if you were making Grizzly Man, what settings would you do your editing at and what do you think the highest resolution deliverable might be?

I just want to make sure I make the best decision at the outset and have to duplicate any more work than absolutely necessary.

[Bryan Mailer]

Hi Jeff, thanks for the reply.

Would the best practice not then be to select the highest resolution that your deliverable might be and then edit at that resolution?

The best analogy I can think of is if you were Werner Herzog with the Timothy Treadwell wilderness tapes. Would it be wise to size them all to HD and then do your titles at that level?

[Bryan Mailer]

This is an interesting discussion for some things I am working on.

If I had captured similar AVI files (480×720) and the ultimate destination was DVD and potential TV broadcast rather than Youtube, would it be a good idea to do a conversion to something like ProRes422 and would it be wise to edit at the highest resolution that might potentially used for broadcast?

Even if the image gets zoomed in to semi-mushiness at 1080×1920 or whatever, at least the title would be crisp?

[Bryan Mailer]

Thanks. That reply actually clarifies a number of the issues that had been bothering me.

If I can delve a little further…

I still feel like I may need to do some sort of expansion in editing for the following reasons.

– I have made some good hi-res titles to apply to the footage, but when I shrink the titles down to fit the 720×480 clip and simply export the sequence as a MOV file, the titles are mushy and blocky by virtue of being shrunk down so much. I get the feeling they demand a better resolution.

– The footage wasn’t filmed on something as good as a Canon XL1. It was a strict consumer grade old handicam. When I sampled the tapes as NTSC DV, the sequence automatically showed up as 480×720. The aspect ratio looks right in the window, so I never questioned these numbers.

I know I can’t take low-res footage and magically increase the resolution. But is there an effective way to increase the resolution of the final output to accommodate the better resolution titles?

If I export a current 480×720 sequence with titles and play it back at “fit to computer screen” the footage and titles look pretty lousy…

One of the reasons I have brought this up is that if I send a clip to a HD Motion Project, expand the footage to fit the window and apply HD titles / effects, it all looks pretty good. Having the handicam footage zoomed in (and mushed up a bit) with the good titles still seems to be a superior result.

However, if I do all of this at the original resolution, even the titles end up being fairly ineffective.

Thanks again for the time and tips.

[Bryan Mailer]

Thanks again for the answers and clarification.

[Bryan Mailer]

Thanks for getting back to me.

I suppose I have an additional question on transferability. If one downloads files and uses them in a project, can one sell that completed project and the new owner have no license issues going forward?

Another question is a minor detail. If the 7 day test period is tested and ultimately cancelled, how exactly is the 7 days measured?

For example, if someone signs up on Monday at noon, do they have to cancel by next Monday at noon, or before midnight Sunday night, or before close of business hours Sunday, etc?

Thanks for the clarification. Your helpfulness has caused me to consider Videoblocks, whereas no response to this thread would have probably ensured that I wouldn’t consider it, as I and many are wary of online offers.