[Nick Jenkins]

Hi again,

thanks so much for all the help so far but I’m still experiencing the problem. I’ve remade the menu in the photoshop preset PAL Widescreen Square Pixel, I’ve simplified the highlight icon to a simple triangle arrow, I’ve also changed the =1 to =3 and tested it in a new Encore project so that there won’t be any issue with clearing the cache etc. and I’m still having the same problem. On my first preview of the menu the highlight icons are slightly distorted and out of position.

I think the problem comes from using the square pixel setting as I can’t have 720×576. The PAL Widescreen Square Pixel setting is 1050×576. My problem with this is that I need to have the square pixel setting in order to make a motion menu in After Effects. If I use the 720×576 setting with 1.46 aspect ratio, when I import it into After effects it becomes 4×3.

It seems that in order to avoid the highlight problem I have to forego the motion menu. This is a serious limitation with Encore if that is the case. I’m really struggling with this now as I have a deadline by which it needs to be finished and I’ve been trying to solve this problem for weeks now. Any further help will be immensely appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

-Nick

[Nick Jenkins]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the link. I read the thread and think this might have something to do with it as I’m running Snow Leopard. I understand how to change the =1 to =3 but I can’t work out how to empty encore’s cache. I’ve googled it but haven’t found any clear instructions. Could you please tell me what it is I’m looking for and whether I simply delete it or what?

Thanks,

-Nick

[Nick Jenkins]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies and sorry for not getting back here sooner, I’ve been trying to get this DVD finished for tomorrow and now it looks like that’s not going to happen.

You’re right in assuming that I’m making a DVD and not a Blu-Ray and so my problem with quality is likely due to Encore downscaling as you mentioned. I realise now that I made this mistake for no reason. Although my film is 16:9 1920×1080, once I compress it for the DVD it is 720×576. I made the mistake of assuming that if I create my menus in a high resolution then they will be better quality in the end. My problem now is how to downscale them myself in Photoshop. When I change the image size to 720×576 or 720×480 I lose the 16:9 ratio. Is there something I’m missing or will I have to create all the menus again using the Pal D1/DV Widescreen preset? I’m hoping there will be a way as I have a lot of menus to downscale as well after effects motion menus for each one which will need downscaling too (this I imagine will be easier as I can just change the resolution etc. when I export from after effects, is that right?)

Again, thank you for the help.

-Nick

[Nick Jenkins]

Just a quick thought, all my menus, motion and otherwise, are 16:9 1920×1080. This is due to my film being in that resolution and because I have a menu transition which has to be the same frame size as the video it links to.

Could this have anything to do with the problem?

-Nick

[Nick Jenkins]

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply and sorry for the delayed response, this is the first time I’ve actually tried to sit down and work on this project since the last time I posted. I’ve followed your advice and converted everything to ProRes 422 LT 16:9 720×576 and as a result FCP is running nice and smooth. Just want to say thanks again for the combined help and I apologise for the relative simplicity of the question. I’m finding it to be an enjoyable yet steep learning curve so I’m sure I’ll be back with some more questions in the near future.

Best,

-Nick

[Nick Jenkins]

Hi Walter,

Thanks for your quick reply. I’ve done as you suggested and the situation is better although I’m still having some issues. Just now I cut 2 clips from the same video file together and i got a big lag in video playback. I can’t understand what the problem is as it doesn’t do it with every cut I make, only this one so far. Could my mac possibly be an issue? I’ve just bought the 27″ iMac. I upgraded to the i7 processor but I didn’t upgrade the ram from the the 4gb supplied. Is this likely to be an issue as I also have lag when playing back transitions such as a basic cross dissolve. The only other possibility I can think of is that I didn’t use the right settings in the programs you suggested. In Compressor I selected Quicktime H.264 and in Streamclip I clicked ‘convert to quicktime’ and left it on the ‘Apple Motion Jpeg A’ compression that was selected by default. Again, thank you for your time, I appreciate that I have a lot of learning to do in regards to Final Cut. Until now I’ve only really used Avid.

Thanks again,

-Nick