How FCP 5.0 Handles still images...

Anyone else out there working with still images in FCP 5 (rotating them, zooming in, giving movement, etc.) have any problems with pixelation issues ? In 4.5 I never had problems with any of my scanned photos giving me problems but in 5.0 I often get pixelated images even after Full Renders. What's the deal ? Is this a DPI issue, resolution size issue, FCP 5.0 issue ? Something makes me think this is an 5.0 issue because I've never encountered it with 4.5.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm pulling my hair out!

thanks,

R.

This a project started in 4.5? Try setting the field dominance to NONE



Michael Horton
-------------------

No it was created in 5.0. But I have had this with projects in 4.5 that were imported into 5.0.

I'm putting the finishing touches on a project that is using lots of stills. Honestly, though, I find it best practice to shoot them ala Ken Burns. I've been very happy with still images in FCP 5. As Michael mentioned, adjusting the field dominance to none in the settings tab under the sequence tab goes a long way to making things nice and clean.

Best
Chet Simmons

I do my "pan and scans" in AE. Something to consider, as the results are excellent.

FCP 5 handles scaling differently than 4 so stills brought in from 4 will be noticeably different in 5. You can try going to the MODIFY window and selecting "Scale to sequence" to see if that helps otherwise setting Field order to NONE should help.



Michael Horton
-------------------

I am rendering all the stills with field dominance set to none to see if this works. Should I be messing around with the compressor Advanced Tab ? I went in there and changed scan mode from interlaced to progressive.

What do I do if I shot video to go along with my photo montages but the video was interlaced ? The only work around I came up with was to have a seperate sequence for photos with field dominance to none, then I would export this sequence as a single MOV file and reimplant that into my Master Sequence with video clips intact.

thanks for all the help thus far

[ I went in there and changed scan mode from interlaced to progressive.]

Hm. Tell us what you get. I'm thinking you want to stay interlaced if you're program out is interlaced. I think by setting field order to none you let the system decide how to order it, based on your sequence settings.

[The only work around I came up with was to have a seperate sequence for photos with field dominance to none, then I would export this sequence as a single MOV file and reimplant that into my Master Sequence with video clips intact.]

And it comes in good quality? I like this "factory clip/round trip" system to reduce load on the CPU, even if it adds some time. Keep your actual photo scans with keyframe animation out of the timeline altogether, export native format, reimport a QT clip of each. No rendering! You just have to repeat the cycle if you need to tweak photomotion.

Like Wes says, AE is one of the champs of photomotion, look it over. Also look at StageTools MovingPicture-- smaller import world but brainlessly simply, and you don't leave FCP.

- Loren
Today's FCP 5 keytip:
Set your custom layouts by pressing
Option>Windows>Arrange>Set Custom Layout.
Access your custom layouts 1 & 2 with Shift & Option-U!

The FCP 5 KeyGuide?: your power placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central
www.neotrondesign.com

The problem is not keyframing or motion, it is resolution. His rendered quality is not up to par. As long as you are monitoring on a pro video monitor and rendering at high quality and Safe RT, everything should be fine.

How does it look in Safe RT/High in the video monitor? Switch Dynamic playback to high as well.

Another thing you can try is to go to the Sequence > Settings pane, click on Video Processing and set Motion Filtering Quality to "Fastest". "Best" should give the best results, but many report that "Fastest" is better.

AE is great for this, but you should be able to do a good job in FCP.

Good Luck,
Kevin Monahah