[Dakota Joe]

Thanks — I’ll try that.

[Dakota Joe]

Well…I just went back and used the exact same files in AE 6.5 and AE 7 — I changed the frame rate by bringing a PAL tiff sequence into an NTSC comp in AE, exported them the same (as uncompressed, non-interlaced AVI’s), and I was right: the one created in AE 6.5 looks perfect, but the one created in AE 7 has its width stretched (in Encore, but not in Windows Media Player or Premiere). Any ideas?

[Dakota Joe]

Dudes, any ideas? (I really need to figure this out soon). :o\

[Dakota Joe]

Well…this problem seems to be solved. I reinstalled the program and there is now no problem with the menu/button. But there is another problem: Even though the clip I am working with is the right size (NTSC 720X480), when I bring it into Encore it becomes oversized and I lose a significant part of the outer edges of the image when I preview (it looks fine when I play it in Premiere or Windows Media Player). And it looks like this (oversized) on the actual DVD that I write as well. arrgh.

Oh, I don’t know if this is important, but I am working with progressive scan AVI’s.

[Dakota Joe]

I too have discovered what seems to be severe limitations to using Pixel Motion (bummer) — the same issue with background details being distorted. I am transfering from PAL to NTSC using AE 7. I tried Pixel Motion on three animated shorts (all with uncompressed progressive scan avi’s). The first short misled me because most of my backgrounds were static, so there was little distortion. But when there is motion in the background (like my two other pieces), the backgound details (like lines or basic noise) go crazy. The motion of big objects is very smooth, but these limitations make Pixel Motion basically unusable for me (unless someone has a good suggestion! :o] )

[Dakota Joe]

Thanks! I really appreciate it.

[Dakota Joe]

Thanks — I’ll try these suggestions! Also, what about using a deflector? I tried using a deflector with a flame emitter — specifically Flame2B (Martin Duerr) — but it didn’t deflect all the particles the way I thought it would. I wanted the deflector to act as a wall that would, at times, deflect all the particles, but it only deflects some of them. I’m sure I am doing something wrong…

BTW — I am truly enjoying getting to know PI3 — it is an amazing program — good work!!!

[Dakota Joe]

Thanks, Alan — very helpful. (And I look forward to the new improved point selection system in the future!)

[Dakota Joe]

It works now. As was suggested, I was using the firewire from Matrox’s card instead of using a regular firewire port. DOH! Thanks to everyone for the helpful suggestions.

[Dakota Joe]

I tried that and nothing changed (but thanks for the suggestion — it seemed like a plausible idea).

One other thing — when ever I open the project in PP2, I get a window saying this:

“The title’s video settings differ from your project’s. Convert this title’s video settings?”

I don’t know what this means, but it makes no difference whether I choose “yes” or “no” — the QT clips still don’t show as anything but blank white screens.