[Ian Smith]

Wow, looks like we’ve generated a great deal of discussion.

To take this even further… it has brought up a new question that I thought I had answered long ago.

We currently shoot all video in our studio at 720 X 480, and everything ends up as on-line video. As I edit the video in Final Cut 6, I have the thin black edges on either side of the NTSC video. Now I have done plenty of research on that topic as to the difference between NTSC and PAL… so that is not what I’m about to ask about. Rather, in a simple persons terms… what should I do to get rid of the black edges, maintain the aspect ratio, and put the video on the web?

My procedure thus far:
Export the video at NTSCDV 640 X 480 (has been said to maintain the correct aspect ratio for web, as opposed to television. If for television then I leave it at 720 X 480)
Then, when encoding to an FLV I crop the edges off, and then to keep the entire dimensions the exact same I then lose 5 off top and bottom leaving me with the dimensions 627 X 470.

Am I a complete failure to our industry? Naturally, I just want to do it the Right way! : )

Side note: Thank you ALL very much for your input! Let’s all team up and form a company bigger than Disney, and decide our own vacation days!

[Ian Smith]

This video will be viewed online, so in that case don’t I have to change the dimension to 640 X 480 to maintain the correct aspect ratio?

Would you mind expanding a little on the last bit of info?
“You have to create ultra high quality Flash files to get them clean, maybe around 5,000 to 10,000 kbps but you won’t be able to play them on the internet without a Flash Media Server.”

And lastly,…I’m not knowledgeable about our server type, but I imagine that because we do nearly all web video we are on a Flash Media Server.

[Ian Smith]

I’m not sure of all your project details (how things are set up on the timeline etc.) but, if this is applicable to what you’re doing…
Move timeline off of Video layer 1, to Video layer 2 and above. (Example: If you have 3 layers of video, move video layer 1 up to 2, 2 up to 3, and 3 up to 4 – leaving Video layer 1 completely empty.
THEN – Leave entire project UNRENERED on the timeline. Seems strange, because you have to render it to see if it looks right for yourself… but if you export it with the timeline rendered it doesn’t maintain the alpha channel.
Lastly, export as an Animation with Millions of Colors +
That should do the trick.

I do plenty of green screen video work, so I have run into alpha issues myself. Hope this helps!

Ian

[Ian Smith]

I’m sorry I didn’t get back to this sooner. I appreciate your reply.

It is a green screen shoot. The background will be keyed, then the video just needs down sized. Then once exported maintaining its alpha channel and converted into an flv… it will be put onto a Flash website in which it finally gets it’s background.

….. so, if you can follow that lengthy step by step, does that give you a better picture? Let me know if I made that entirely too confusing.

Ian

[Ian Smith]

I think you may have missed something. That’s exactly what I have been doing, and I still have the quality loss.

I’ll go through my steps:
Import the 720×480 footage into Final Cut Pro. Slap it on the timeline. Control click the clip, and select Edit in Motion.

Once in Motion, I use Motion to scale the video down 20%. Even scaling it down 1%, there is an instant quality loss.

Video should never lose quality when shrinking,… should it?

All my render settings are at Full, Best, etc.

Exporting the video, the video looks exactly as it was in Motion, with the slight quality loss.

Thanks for the reply!

Ian

[Ian Smith]

I have checked all my settings through and through, and everything is ramped up as high as it gets. Also, I have done my Scaling down within Motion, and I have a quality loss.

The only way I have been able to maintain the highest quality so far is by scaling down within Motion, and exporting the final product straight from Motion as well. Still the picture should not lose quality. That just doesn’t make sense.

If I were to export it from the Final Cut timeline after using Motion to scale down, the quality is the worst.

My boss is, and will not be happy with this as my end result. Please give more suggestions. Thank you everyone for you replies! I really appreciate it!

Ian

[Ian Smith]

I have always made sure that, that is what I do. And in this case it is, and is still blurring…
I have the problem fixed now, by dragging the entire video up or down one verticle number, the image comes back into focus. (your reply reminded me to try similar)
Do you know why this is?
I asume it is due to the interlacing the video is shot, but I don’t actually have any professional instruction on that exact issue. Maybe to do with which resolution lines are refreshed at what time.
Any info is appreciated…. just looking for a little more education.

Thanks for the speedy reply, and the help.

[Ian Smith]

Thank you for the reply…

I created the general effect, though I wasn’t sure if it were actually the most efficient way.
Here is what I did:
I pulled a graphic of a leaf – Using an animated mask, I made the leaf look as if it grew.
I also drew a line, and using bezier curves, created the vine shape wanted. Then gave the line the “draw on” effect, and animated the “width over time”, to give the vine a similar look.
Last, I added on more very short line with the same effect, to be an off shoot of the main vine.

This does pull off the effect I’m looking for, though I can’t help but wander if I am doing it the MOST efficient way. It’s not a matter of laziness, rather I naturally want to do things the best way. I had played with the selectable floral designs and didn’t find them to be the exact look, though I could intertwine the two (using the floral, AND what I had custom created).

What is your view on this?

[Ian Smith]

From you discription I picture invision it as somewhat of a Stop-film animation… which in that case you could possibly make the effect by a series of several images of the process (unfolding) and with several layers (two layers of each “step” as it unfolds), and making them somewhat jolt around,… maybe.
It’s just a guess, but just throwing the idea out there. Nothing else maybe it’ll get someone else’s wheels turning and you’ll have your solution.

Ian

[Ian Smith]

Yes, I have noticed that both the black inpoint and detail gain both tend to decay image quality, and that by first adjusting the color RGB, usually B, then R… I have found best results.

I believe you’re exactly right about the blown out areas on my lit greenscreen causing the issues with a peach glow on the side of talents face.

Thank you very much for your input. I will put all of this to good use.