I posted a query over on the Avid forums, but felt the answer was a bit vague, so I'm returning to my trusty cadre of resident DVXuser experts. Does switching the Video Quality switch to a lower quality affect the quality of rendered effects? I assumed the Video Quality only affected what I was VIEWING in my monitor (for purposes of real-time previewing) and that the quality switch did NOT affect the quality of any effects rendering (i.e., being on LOW video quality had no impact on rendering an effect). The guy who responded on the Avid forum said it didn't have an impact. I just have to be sure. Cheers!
Video Quality switch and Quality of renders
- Thread starter sean90291
- Start date
Thanks Krestofre. Yeah, I was talking about the Green vs. Green/Yellow vs. Yellow button. You confirmed (as I suspected) that that video quality toggle only affected viewing (though I've read it should be GREEN for a digital cut).
I found the render quality settings in the Settings tab. Thanks. So now I will always render stuff with 16-bits, because I like to use nested effects. I wish Avid's default hadn't been 8 bits (that's what I get, apparently, when the Render setting is set to Automatic and I'm cutting "8-bit footage"). One has to manually change the render setting from Automatic to 16-bit. I didn't know that!!! So I have been rendering with some loss of quality all along. No more.
I'm trying to find all the ways to get MAXIMUM visual quality out of Avid software only NLE's, while cutting plain old miniDV footage. No Mojo. No HD (not yet). To that end, I'm still trying to understand benefits of Avid Media Composer vs. Xpress Pro.
1) If I import miniDV footage via firewire (no Mojo) into Avid Media Composer (software only), am I operating in a 10-bit color space? That was my impression. Is that also true for Xpress Pro?
2) I noticed that my default capture settings have always been set to a video resolution of DV25P 411 OMF. When I'm capturing miniDV footage (from DVX100A/B via firewire), is there any benefit to changing the capture setting from DV25P 411 OMF to 1:1 OMF? I seem to recall that miniDV is only DV25P 411 to begin with, so maybe a higher video resolution in capture settings does nothing.
3) Similarly import settings are at the default of DV25P 411 OMF, but there's the option of 1:1 OMF. When bringing a rendered Quicktime Movie in from After Effects, again is there any benefit to the import setting of 1:1?
4) Is there any benefit to transcoding the entire timeline (with footage captured at DV25P 411 OMF) to a 1:1 OMF project?
Sorry for the list. I'm determined to figure out how to maximize my Avid outputs with low resolution footage and effects. Any thoughts greatly appreciated. And hopefully the discussion can help inform other Avid users. Cheers.
I found the render quality settings in the Settings tab. Thanks. So now I will always render stuff with 16-bits, because I like to use nested effects. I wish Avid's default hadn't been 8 bits (that's what I get, apparently, when the Render setting is set to Automatic and I'm cutting "8-bit footage"). One has to manually change the render setting from Automatic to 16-bit. I didn't know that!!! So I have been rendering with some loss of quality all along. No more.
I'm trying to find all the ways to get MAXIMUM visual quality out of Avid software only NLE's, while cutting plain old miniDV footage. No Mojo. No HD (not yet). To that end, I'm still trying to understand benefits of Avid Media Composer vs. Xpress Pro.
1) If I import miniDV footage via firewire (no Mojo) into Avid Media Composer (software only), am I operating in a 10-bit color space? That was my impression. Is that also true for Xpress Pro?
2) I noticed that my default capture settings have always been set to a video resolution of DV25P 411 OMF. When I'm capturing miniDV footage (from DVX100A/B via firewire), is there any benefit to changing the capture setting from DV25P 411 OMF to 1:1 OMF? I seem to recall that miniDV is only DV25P 411 to begin with, so maybe a higher video resolution in capture settings does nothing.
3) Similarly import settings are at the default of DV25P 411 OMF, but there's the option of 1:1 OMF. When bringing a rendered Quicktime Movie in from After Effects, again is there any benefit to the import setting of 1:1?
4) Is there any benefit to transcoding the entire timeline (with footage captured at DV25P 411 OMF) to a 1:1 OMF project?
Sorry for the list. I'm determined to figure out how to maximize my Avid outputs with low resolution footage and effects. Any thoughts greatly appreciated. And hopefully the discussion can help inform other Avid users. Cheers.
krestofre
Knight of the Holy Order
You're asking difficult questions that really don't have an "official" answer, or at least an answer that everyone agrees on.
1. I'm actually not sure about this one. I've been using FCP a lot lately and I'm starting to get my bits confused. I think Xpress Pro is 10 bit or 12 bit depending on your settings, but you might check the manual.
2. In my opinion, bringing DV25 footage in at 1:1 isnt' worth it. It won't increase your quality just by converting it to 1:1. It will help you in projects that involve a lot of rendering or if the video is going to go through several generations, but the trade off of time and hard drive space is enough to just make me be careful with my DV25 footage instead of messing with 1:1.
3. Now I will use 1:1 in this case. If you create motion graphics or do compositing in AE then I render out uncompressed and bring it in to Avid at 1:1. These are usually short pieces and you can create video in AE that is sgnificantly higher in resolution than DV25, so here 1:1 makes sense to me.
4. Not in my opinion (see answer #2)
I hope that helps.
1. I'm actually not sure about this one. I've been using FCP a lot lately and I'm starting to get my bits confused. I think Xpress Pro is 10 bit or 12 bit depending on your settings, but you might check the manual.
2. In my opinion, bringing DV25 footage in at 1:1 isnt' worth it. It won't increase your quality just by converting it to 1:1. It will help you in projects that involve a lot of rendering or if the video is going to go through several generations, but the trade off of time and hard drive space is enough to just make me be careful with my DV25 footage instead of messing with 1:1.
3. Now I will use 1:1 in this case. If you create motion graphics or do compositing in AE then I render out uncompressed and bring it in to Avid at 1:1. These are usually short pieces and you can create video in AE that is sgnificantly higher in resolution than DV25, so here 1:1 makes sense to me.
4. Not in my opinion (see answer #2)
I hope that helps.
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
Didn't know you left Avid dude... sad....