[Shawn Liebling]

Ok, here are some actual screenshots of what I am talking about. I realize the blurriness isn’t huge, but I find it noticeable and it is important to me to have the highest quality that I can achieve.

Here is a downsized image of the full frame of original footage (for context):

To get the following screenshots I did the following: Create 720p timeline in FCPX and insert two clips of the same footage into the timeline. The first clip is the original 1080p footage (which is downsampled in FCPX by placing it on the 720p timeline), and the second clip is the same footage which has been downsampled using QuickTime Pro to 720p before importing into FCPX. Next, I “shared” the footage using the “Master File” setting and choosing “ProRes 222” format. Finally, I opened the output file in Quicktime and took screenshots from the same frame in each clip.

And here is the crop from the footage downsampled in FCPX:

This is a crop from the footage that was downsampled using QuickTimePro:

And just in case people can’t see the difference (which would surprise me), here are the two crops enlarged by 200%:

The FCPX clip:

The QuickTime Pro clip:

[Shawn Liebling]

[Patrick Donegan] “Did you wait enuf time for the “Render / Transcode” to occur?”

Yes. As my original post states; the issue I am seeing is both in the timeline (after render/transcode is finished) as well as in the final output.

[Shawn Liebling]

[Joe Marler] “I have edited lots of H264 1080p material from various cameras including GH4 and exported 720p H264 without seeing a major decrease in sharpness or apparent resolution. I have done frame grabs of the output at 1080p vs 720p and there is not a huge visual difference. This is using 1080p content in 10.1.2 or later and edited in a 1080p timeline, exported at 720p vs exported at 1080p”

Hmm… I wonder if it has to do with the version of FCPX that I am using? (10.0.9) I wouldn’t think this would be the case, but who knows. Eventually I want to start shooting in 4k and downsizing to 1080p, but as I mentioned in a post above, I am simply not there yet in terms of equipment, etc.

Thanks for the response,
Shawn

[Shawn Liebling]

[Christopher New] “You also haven’t mentioned anything about frame rate. E.g., if you’re shooting in 23.98 or 30p, & your 720p timeline is 59.97, then FCPX has to do some frame doubling.”

Original footage from camera is 29.97fps and my timeline is 29.97fps. No framerate changes during any of the input/editing/output process.

[Christopher New] “You said you were comparing the 720 outputs to your original footage: this will always look blurrier, even with the best downres. Make sure you’re comparing apples to apples (no pun intended) – 720 to 720. I agree with Noah; try a 1080 timeline, but then also try to export a 720 .m4v from the timeline to see if your results are better. Another thing to think about is if the blurriness you’re getting is the stabilization of shaky footage? Are you comparing clips when both have stabilization turned on?”

Actually, the downres looks better than the original footage in my opinion (when done in QuickTime instead of FCPX). I will post some screenshots in a different post when I get a chance. I have tried a 1080p timeline with a 720p export and it looks identical to a 720p timeline export.

The blurriness isn’t due to stabilization.. I am comparing non-stabilized footage because I am fully aware that the stabilization blurs the footage by cropping it (although I was hoping the downsizing thing would make it less of an issue).

Thanks for the response,
Shawn

[Shawn Liebling]

[Noah Kadner] “I’d suggest a 1080p timeline and then export at 1080p ProRes 444 and then convert that to 720p in Compressor.”

That may be what I end up doing. However, I am still trying to to answer the original question of whether or not FCPX is capable of downsizing to 720p without the blurriness. Also, I like having the ability to pan/resize/zoom/etc when working with 1080p footage on a 720p timeline.

[Noah Kadner] “Also, with all due respect ‘blurry’ is very subjective.”

You are right. I tend to be a “pixel peeper” and tend to notice the details more than the average person, however I feel there is a noticeable difference. I will go ahead and attach screen shots in another post.

[Noah Kadner] “Why 720p at all? Blu-ray web, YouTube etc all accept at the very least 1080p and most a lot more now.”

There are a few reasons. The main reason is that all I have is a 13″ MacBook Pro with a 1280×800 screen… so I am literally not capable of viewing 1080p footage at 100%. I am pretty much constantly traveling, so having an external monitor isn’t really an option. Also, I am a little behind the times and still happy to be doing 720p. I plan to switch to 1080p in the near future, but I just haven’t gotten there yet. I need a new computer, a better camera, etc.. so it will happen eventually, just not quite yet. 🙂

Thanks for the response,
Shawn