Trouble with imported graphics.

[BlueLaw]

Heya Kids! I have finally managed to set up FCP to capture my 25P footage and not look pixely/low quality.

The issue I’m having now is:

When I import .jpegs or .png files they look like low resolution files (even if they’re massive files outside of FCP)

Any clues to why this is and how I can resolve it?

[gunleik]

Are you in SD or HD?

Your images will be displayed at the resolution you're editing independent of the rez they have in photoshop. (And this BTW is totally right.)

Gunleik

[BlueLaw]

Gotcha, Understood!

I’m with the DVX so I’m working in SD.

I still don’t fully understand though, if my SD DVX footage can be blown up to full screen and not appear jagged and low-res then why can’t the jpegs I import look the same?

So what are the implications for exporting to say DVD though MPEG2? (Perhaps I should just try it)

On another note.
I’ve recently been exporting using the uncompressed option in MOV format and found the results to be really clear – just in case anyone is interested.

Thanks for your help!

[gunleik]

This could be interlace issues. How are you monitoring?

Which makes sense, because of the lower colorcompression and can be a good final step, together with "sequencesettings-render all in high precission YUV" before encoding DVD.

G

[bigbossbmb]

One thing most people don't do is to open the image in Photoshop and change the pixel aspect ratio... There is a preset for DV pixels in PS.

[gunleik]

Well... except for that this is just a way to preview images from a non-square source...

FCP reverses the function automatically.

A bigger problem is the gammashift.

Gunleik

[adkimery]

As gunleik has stated when you bring a picture into an SD FCP project you are down-rezing the picture to 720*576 (I'm assuming you are PAL) which is pretty much the lowest quality setting on most digital cameras. Once you place the pictures in your timeline you'll need to render them to see anything other than a crappy proxy image. Also you'll need to use an external monitor (ideally a b'cast monitor, but a consumer TV is better than nothing) to get a more accurate idea of what your images really look like. I'm sure gunleik can go into more detail about using an external monitor if anyone has questions. ;)


-A

[gunleik]

I actually plan to give up -;)

G

[BenB]

Your images will be displayed at the resolution you're editing independent of the rez they have in photoshop. (And this BTW is totally right.)

Actually, that's half correct. Anything you bring into a digital video Sequence will get re-sampled as 72 DPI.

BUT, let's say you start with a 300dpi image in PS. When FCP imports it and you drop it into your Sequence, it goes down to 72dpi, yet in an interesting way. FCP will count the first 72 pixels and say, "this equals one inch in this Sequence". So the overall size of the image will increase, if we're talking inches of physical size.

Thus, a 300dpi image in PS will zoom in more and maintain clarity (as per Ken Burns effect) with better resolution, than an image that is 72dpi in PS.

The higher res you input, the more room you have to work with it in FCP, even though your Sequence will only be 72dpi.

[BlueLaw]

Thanks for all the response here, it’s been very helpful.

I found a solution to my problem of jagged lines, but I’d like to know what you think too.

Because I was dealing with very sharp edges with sharp white lines it looked poor, so before exporting from PS I blurred the image slightly.

In FCP this gave the graphic a more filmic look and seemed to get rid of the jagged edges almost entirely.

Now, let’s discuss monitoring….

TO THE MONITORING THREAD!

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=82018

:)