scaling (or other) artifacts?

[styler7]

Hello everyone,

Forgive me if this has been covered, but I have done several searches and have yet to stumble upon the precise answer.

I am editing a project in FCP that was shot on an XL2, 4:3, 29.97 fps. the footage looks great played back on tape "raw," but once I import it into FCP, using what I assume are the proper settings (DV NTSC), the digitized footage now has several unpleasant artifacts-- moire-like patterns around certain detail areas like eyes and hair of interview subjects; a slightly softer look...

What stupid thing am I doing wrong?
Thanks
Steve

[Evro]

Just curious... are you seeing the artifacts in a timeline preview screen or in the finally rendered footage??

[jaegersing]

How are you viewing the footage, on the computer screen or a TV monitor?

By the way, the footage is already digitized in the camera so transferring it to the Mac should not change the quality at all.

[styler7]

Thanks for the replies, guys. You both make suggestions that seem logical and I'll address them. I haven't looked at the material in question on an external monitor, only my iMac, so I will find a way to hook one up.

I'm sure you're right that the footage should not degrade once it's in the digital realm--it's all just 1's and 0's--but I'm clearly seeing a difference between the original tape and the digitized clips. I just hope that what I'm seeing is just the limitations of the iMac screen to handle the compression, and not some setting I've done wrong.

Thanks for your help.

Steve