Jumpy Still Graphics- FCP5 Bug?

I just read one of the forums dealing with this issue and got quite a bit of info, but it still hasen't solved my issue.

I have a High res. JPEG graphic that I'm resizing to about 30%. Since I have upgraded to FCP5, I get a wierd shaking and blurring of the graphic imports whenever I use them. I have tried to change my field dominances, my sequence presets, and everything mentioned in the posts from this similar topic, yet nothing works, still.

Has anyone figured out what this problem is? I never had this problem w/ FCP 3 or 4, just after the upgrade. The image is solid on my LCD Moniters, but I have an NTSC Preview Monitor through my DV Deck via S-Video. I though it may be the monitor, but when I route mu FCP3 Powerbook through it, no issues. What?

Any Info?

-Jay

<<<The image is solid on my LCD Moniters, but I have an NTSC Preview Monitor>>>

We assume a glass one. Now you know why nobody is breaking their neck to switch to LCD monitors. They don't show you everything you need to know.

I can't think of anything particular to FCP5 that would cause that. All the usual still graphic problems have to do with something appearing on one television field without also appearing on the other. Really fine detail, for example. Flicker at 60 times a second (both fields) can't be seen, but flickering at 30 (only one television field) is perfectly visible and annoying.

Resizing the graphic (we assume in Photoshop) should cure that. We routinely create original art at double the screen size and when we cause Photoshop to resize to the actual operating graphic, all the flicker problems go away because Photoshop gently blurs everything so each picture item always appears on both fields.

I'm stumped as to why one FCP and not the other. Your problem should happen no matter which FCP you use.

Koz

That's a pretty good analysis Koz, but that doesn't explain why the exact same graphic, sized the same on my G4 Powerbook in FCP3 and previewed in the same Glass Monitor has NO shaking or blurring, but when it is previewed in FCP5 on my tower, it does. I don't think it has as much to do with the monitor as it does with the system, somewhere. Any further analysis?

The settings are different somewhere... :-) I think.. ;-) Silly questions... Is the graphic rendered completely in your timeline? Are playback video settings set to High? Is Playback frame rate set to High?

Just some thoughts...

Good luck!

Lisha

Is the graphic rendered completely in your timeline?
GRAPHICS ARE RENDERED.

Are playback video settings set to High?
tHEY MIGHT BE, WHAT SHOULD THEY BE.

Is Playback frame rate set to High?
IT COULD BE. WHAT IS RECOMMENDED?

<<<Is Playback frame rate set to High?
IT COULD BE. WHAT IS RECOMMENDED?>>>

That's a good point. If the system is set to something other than full speed playback, it might default to field-only which is how your editing screens work. That's why some people get nasty surprises when they play their timeline out to a glass monitor.

There's a way to tell.

[www.kozco.com]

I/we created this motion video on a very expensive Inferno video system and told the system to carefully label each television field as it went by.

Download the video, park it on a timeline (render if you need to) and play it. On the glass monitor, you should see 1 and 2 vibrate against each other as the checkboard goes around. The checkerboard motion should be dead smooth. If you only get one number or gritty motion, you're only looking at half the video or less.

Typically the Timeline/Canvas will only show you one field all the time unless you mess with the Canvas View.

Thanks to Tim Miller the Inferno Operator.

I'm guessing that the system that's "broken" is actually working OK and the ones that look OK are set wrong.

Koz

In the timeline, in the upper far left hand side is the drop down RT menu. Click on it and look for "Playback Video Quality" and "Playback Frame Rate". They should both be set to HIGH for normal playback.

Lisha

Jay
Did you get this resolved? I have been having the same problem. Started when I went from FCP3 to FCP5. My stills jump and go out of focus, briefly. Had to go in and recut all my stills to get rid of it! I posted this question in late Nov or early Dec and got no response that would correct so I am curious if you were able to fix. Is it a FCP5 bug??
G

I've been on FCP 5 since October and have had no problems with stills. In my previous postings to Jay I made some suggestions. Did you try those? Also, is this a project you initially created in an earlier version of FCP and then imported to FCP5? If so, I've noticed that when I open a project in FCP 5 which was created using an earlier version unless I trash the render file and re-render, the render files are off. FCP warns you about this when you are opening a file created in a newer version and gives you the option to re-create your render files.

Peace,
Lisha