[Dave Johnson]

Ahhh, I get it now … most uses of the word Flash in this forum seem to refer to video encoded for Flash playback on the web, which is typically in the form of FLVs. So, something else to consider … when you put your images together in AE, add effects and render out a composition, it becomes video for all practical purposes … and it is usually best to use FLVs for video and SWFs for vectors.

[Dave Johnson]

Yes, rendering full-quality and using Adobe Media Encoder (or another quality encoder like ProCoder, Squeeze, Cleaner, etc.) is the way to go … I’d just add that you’ll typically get better results with the On2 Flash video codec compared to the others (i.e., Spark).

Something else to consider with fps is the amount of motion in your video … if it has a lot of motion, a fps rate that is too low can cause excessively jerky motion, but if it is a fairly static shot (i.e., talking heads), you don’t really need full fps, although fps doesn’t make a huge difference to file size … a much bigger size difference is in key frame placement (Auto is fine in most cases).

[Dave Johnson]

Glad to help, Jeff. And, I hope I didn’t seem to have a “kicking” tone in my wording … if so, it was totally unintentional.

[Dave Johnson]

If I’ve seen those films, I don’t recall the title sequences and my guess is the same will be true for many others here … perhaps you could post a link to an example of what you’re trying to do.

[Dave Johnson]

Personally, I consider MPEG4 a web delivery format only (not a working/intermediary or mastering format) so I never import MP4s into AE … for details as to why, look at any of Dave LaRonde’s posts that include his “stock AE answer #1”.

There many good formats and codecs you can use to render out your animation … you just need to choose one with an alpha channel to resolve the black background issue … I usually use Animation, although I’ve also started using PNG a lot lately (PNG lossless video codec, not a PNG sequence).

[Dave Johnson]

In order to answer, it would be heplful to know:

• what codec the MOV your trying to import is in
• how exactly you’re importing it (drag & drop, file>import menu, etc.)
• what version of AE you’re using
• any other details you can provide

It’s hard to say without much info, but my guess is it’s one of two things … either there is an issue with the file and AE can only read it as a project file or you have a preference set somewhere that makes your default import type project instead of media.

Sorry if I misunderstood your question.

[Dave Johnson]

There is probably nothing wrong with your files … it’s just that even the beefiest of computers usually have a very hard time playing back uncompressed video files in real time (without the full hardware support and better software support within an NLE program). Perhaps just put the video to tape, burn it to a DVD or whatever your intended delivery format is to confirm that your exports/renders are fine. There have been many post on this subject so, if you want more detail, try search terms like “QuickTime playback”, “QuickTime skipping”, etc.

[Dave Johnson]

Understandable … I only referred to PNG and Animation as examples of codecs that support alphas … there are tons of others so just find out which one they want and render to it … you might even be able to download an Avid codec from their website and render in their native format … I have a few AVID codecs in my collection, but I don’t recall whether I had to buy them or they were free (either as website downloads or shared workflow versions from partners on AVID systems).

[Dave Johnson]

It was a long time ago so, unfortunately, the details are what I don’t recall very well and, of course, that’s where the devil is, so to speak. I don’t recall whether I had to precomp the globe layers, when I applied the light emitter (i.e., before or after precomp) or whether I needed any kind of workaround for any issues I may have encountered.

Another thought … if you have 3D Invigorator, you could use a 3D model of a globe and a similar method to apply the light streaks. I don’t even recall whether 3D Invig was around yet when I did mine.

[Dave Johnson]

If you search this forum and look at the “Comparisons: MAC vs. PC” topic in FAQ section above, you’ll find tons of interesting input on the subject from various people.

Personally, I find Ron Lindeboom’s comments in this thread to be one of the rare truly objective comments on the subject:
Re: Question about PC or Mac by Ron Lindeboom on Feb 8, 2006
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/2/870649

In evaluating the various information/opinions you will surely get on this subject, it is extremely important to understand that the vast majority of the authoritative opinions offered come from individuals who have little or no experience with the platform that they claim to be not as good the other for any variety of reasons.

Having worked on both platforms daily in professional contexts for something like 15-20 years now, my humble opinion is that neither is significantly/noticeably “better” than the other … there was a time when one platform or the other had the upper hand in media generation/manipulation capabilities, but that time is long in the past … for at least the past 10 years, both platforms have essentially equal capabilities and both have pros and cons that offset each other so it basically boils down to which one you work most efficiently on and your budget … things only you can decide.

I hope my two cents is helpful.

By the way, I hope this thread doesn’t turn into yet another “platform war” as though any of us truly had any direct stake in either Apple or Microsoft … if so, I hope it at least gets moved to the COW’s “Platform Wars” forum, which seems to have been created to house those kinds of debates, unlike the AE forum.