[Tom Brooks]

Yes, that’s the setup I used. I tried free run — no change. The analog out is going to a Beta-SP vtr and the monitor is composite coming off that. I know, my bosses are cheap. The Beta gets ref video also. It has been OK for SD with that setup and I don’t get any strange offset. I don’t see why the downconverted output should be any different from the primary —unless there is always a timing shift on downconvert (which would not be surprising). Let me try a couple things and report back to you.

[Tom Brooks]

Will do. Thanks.

[Tom Brooks]

RJ,
You realize that Quicktime player will default to “Low Quality” playback for D50 movies? You need to set checkbox to “High Quality” to see full rez in the player. Look it up in QT player help. Sorry if you knew that.
-TB

[Tom Brooks]

Bob, I would have jumped in if I’d had a clue, but I’m way newer to Kona and even FCP than you are. I’ve had excellent help from AJA when needed. I’m right up the road with a Kona LHe system. My upgrade to 5.1.1 and now 5.1.2 have gone just fine, knock on wood. This give me some new effects, which seem to work, and the new scopes that update during playback. Very nice, too.

Final Cut Studio, FCP 5.2.1, After Effects 6.5 Pro, Quicktime 7, G5 Quad 2.5, Kona-LHe V3, 4.5GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 7800-GT, G-RAID 2x1TB FW800.

[Tom Brooks]

Peter,
It’s a guess, but it sounds like you have a gamma issue between the display you use for editing and the TV, so that what you see while editing looks good to you but is actually too dark for a normally adjusted TV. That’s why you need to view your edit on a properly adjusted TV monitor as well as your computer display. Can you set your system up with a monitor connected to the AV output of the JVC?

Other than that, I will say that it’s normal to see a quality loss on the final, compressed output to DVD–in terms of detail anyway. Sorenson Squeeze isn’t well regarded for MPEG-2 compression in these parts, so that could be part of the problem. Still, I’d look first at monitor calibration issues. If you can become convinced you’re ok on that score, you can start to troubleshoot the compression settings. Maybe some mild preprocessing for gamma and contrast could help a bit.

Is the interlace problem apparent when the DVD is played on a standalone player connected to a TV or only when played on a computer?

Final Cut Studio, FCP 5.1.1, After Effects 6.5 Pro, Quicktime 7, G5 Quad 2.5, Kona-LHe V3, 4.5GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 7800-GT, G-RAID 2x1TB FW800.

[Tom Brooks]

Are you viewing your work on an NTSC monitor throughout the production process? Is the SD television on which you view final DVD properly adjusted for brightness, contrast and saturation?

Final Cut Studio, FCP 5.1.1, After Effects 6.5 Pro, Quicktime 7, G5 Quad 2.5, Kona-LHe V3, 4.5GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 7800-GT, G-RAID 2x1TB FW800.

[Tom Brooks]

Your source is 720×480 anamorphic. For web, you’ll need 853×480 with square pixels. That conversion makes it look correct on computer monitor.

Duplicate one of the MPEG-4 settings and modify it. Go to Geometry tab. Set frame size to custom. Set Contrain to Display Aspect to 16:9. Set Pixel Aspect to Square. Move back up and set height to 480. You’ll end up with 853×480 size in the setting. Apply this to your source and go.

Final Cut Studio, FCP 5.1.1, After Effects 6.5 Pro, Quicktime 7, G5 Quad 2.5, Kona-LHe V3, 4.5 GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 7800-GT, G-RAID 1TB FW800.

[Tom Brooks]

Could be Mediamax.com

[Tom Brooks]

Any of those options can be made to work, but WMV is by far the best in terms of ease of use in Ppt, especially if the presentation is used by various people with various computers.

[Tom Brooks]

To answer your specific questions:

[wayne kurtz] “I am using an Espon 3170 scanner and I was advised to keep the resolution
set to 96 as FCP can’t handle more that. Should higher resolution be used? (especiall if I wish to zoom into pics)”
This might not be high enough resolution. See my other post and search posts for tips.

[wayne kurtz] “The image type was set at 24 bit colour. Perhaps it should set to 48 bit colour?”
No, 24 bit is enough.

[wayne kurtz] “Is the “target size” to be used or left on “original”?”
Make the size of the scan at least double both dimensions of your sequence.

[wayne kurtz] “Should the Unsharp filter be used and at what level? Low.medium or high”
Generally, no. Most high rez scans are too sharp for video if anything. Adding Unsharp Mask will only create problems with noise and ‘buzzing’ detail.

The whole process of optimizing scanned stills for video is something of an art and requires use of Photoshop or similar to get best quality. Once scanned, the proper use of movement, motion, and blur are also factors.