importing JPEGS- blurry when played on timeline/exported?!?

Ok... Been working on FCP for a few years now, never had this problem before, hoping somebody's got an answer! Blessings for your help, on a deadline here.

Importing JPEGS, high res about 1.3MB... have tried 'read only' and 'read&write' versions... tried to change resolution, size, de/interlaced, alpha chanel etc... everything i could possibly think of with the help of FCP Help and friends.

Here's the PROBLEM! When I place these JPEGS on the timeline (like I've done a dozen times before with other JPEGS) they appear clear in the viewer and canvas windows at any size; fit to window or otherwise. When i play the sequence these JPEGS become slightly blurry, same thing when i export as a quicktime file (as well on the monitor). It appears as though when i view the image in the canvas at %100 it remains clear, but that doesn't do me any good. I intend to zoom and move around these images, but the same thing happens then too!

HELP, what do i do?!?!? A quick disclaimer, if it matters (although i thought JPEGS were universal?): these images are from a European origin.



MY SPECS:
Machine Model: PowerBook G4 17"
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.33 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.7.1f1

Final Cut Pro 4.5 HD

This might not be an answer for you, but:

When I do Jpegs on a timeline, they usually look blurry or even outlandish.

When I go ahead and finished the project on a DVD they look OK (or way way less blurry)

lazy me, I never investigated why... I hope to learn from this topic..

good luck



Who controls the past, controls the future.
Who controls the present, controls the past.

Got to ask if you are looking at these jpegs on an exernal monitor. What you see in the canvas is not what you get.

>these images are from a European origin.

Ah the ol' European Jpegs

What is your sequence settings?
Are there any colored bars at the top of the timeline? If so is that color checked in your sequence render settings? Have you rendered them and still get the blurry look?

much thanks for all the quick responses.

I've looked at it on a monitor too- i still saw a big difference... the images were defintly blurry! But that was just in preview mode... as in,< external monitor< view all frames. So, Im failry certain that the pics will be blurry on a monitor even after exported. I've exported test clips from the timeline into FCP quicktime movies and those are much blurrier than the original image as well.... at least on my computer screen. Have not checked those on a monitor. However, my final product is also to be viewed online... so I need it to work on any screen.

as for the 'sequence settting'... rendered or not; real time rendering, safe, unlimtied etc... doesnt make a difference.

any other ideas?

i know... european JPEGS... shouldnt matter right?

Just for giggles try setting field dominance to NONE

Also, exactly how did you process these pics before you brought them in. 1.3 MGBs doesnt tell us much

Try opening the same jpegs in PhotoShop on the same machine as your Final Cut Pro... check Image Settings and re-Save As to a new file(name).

There can be incompatibilities in PC vs WIN creation... various softwares and versions of those softwares that could have created the jpegs, and different types of jpeg compression.

Standardize/normalize them in PhotoShop on the same machine as your FCP.

so where do i set field dominance to NONE?

The JPEGS were given to me on a cd from a company in Europe... as far as how did i "process" them? i didnt do much except copy them from the cd onto my desktop and import them into final cut.
Ive tried reopening in photoshop and resaving with a new name etc... as i mentioned before, tweaking eveerything from resolution to alpha channel.

what do you mean by "standardize/normalize" in photoshop?

thanks again all of you... but still no luck here!

You essentially prepare your pics like this

[docs.info.apple.com]

How often do we see this problem? Every day? This should definitely be in the FAQ. The main problems people have are:

A) Not understanding how RT Extreme works.
B) Not monitoring properly
C) Not optimizing images in Photoshop prior to import
D) Using lossy JPEGS instead of PICT, PSD or TIFF

Here's the solution:
1) Make sure that you are rendered at Full Quality prior to checking playback on your video monitor. Go to Sequence>Render and make sure that all the colored bars are checked, especially the dark green one that says full - THEN render. Never judge your stills UNTIL they are fully rendered. RT playback will never show you the full playback quality - they MUST be rendered at Full Quality.

2) Make sure that your RT Pop Up is in SAFE RT and FULL frame rate (not dynamic).

3) ALWAYS work with a video monitor set up out of your deck or camcorder. ONLY rely on what you see there. TOTALLY IGNORE what you see on the Canvas.

4) NEVER rely on the quality you see in exported QuickTime movies. They are being displayed at low resolution on the computer screen. You can change that in the QuickTime settings (CMD + J), however. It is important to know this, because it can confuse you seeing a "blurry" output, when the actual high quality version is not blurry. YOU just didn't know that the standard output is of low quality but the high quality is embedded there - trust me. The high quality version is what is displayed on the video monitor. Makes sense right?

5) ALWAYS optimize your images in Photoshop prior to importing them into FCP. If you'd like to do motion on the stills, avoid the tendency and temptation to make them TOO big. FCP will choke on images that are too large or have too much bit depth. If your frame size for the stills are more then 2-3 times the size of your standard DV or SD frame, then they are likely too large. Do not work with a bit depth of more than 72 DPI which is the target resolution of television. Any more than that is overkill and will kill your RT Preview and could introduce artifacts and moire in the rendered output.

6) NEVER use JPEG as it is a lossy format and makes for poorer quality renders. The lone exception would be if these JPEGs came from a digital camera. Even then, they should still be optimized for size in Photoshop. A better choice is PICT, PSD or TIFF.

Hope this helps you and others that have problems with stills. I'm sure that you'll have a much better product if you follow my guidelines.

More of this stuff is in my book. Please check it out.



Kevin Monahan
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