Converting project with text to Quicktime

I can't seem to understand how or why it is that when I export my project file with text to Quicktime, the text appears very bad with fields or ridges. I've tried setting it to MPEG 4 and Sorensen 3. Is there something I am missing or doing wrong? I am trying to get this to show on TV via DVD. I can get it to DVD but the clip is just awful with the rough-edged text.

Any info will really help!!
Thanks,
Violet

violet,

What you are seeing is a result of the interlace between frames in NTSC. The only way to really view it is on a CRT monitor that displays interlace accurately.

You see, text covers more than one scan line and the scans will not match up unless displayed on a device that can correctly reproduce them. Certainly not on a LCD display which is progressive in nature.

Assuming there really is no problem with the text you are using , it should all come out fine when the DVD is viewed on a scanned display.

> I can't seem to understand how or why it is that when I export my project
> file with text to Quicktime, the text appears very bad with fields or ridges.

When viewing on QuickTime Player, make sure the video track is set to "High Quality". Access this by opening the movie file in QuickTime Player, pressing APPLE-J, and clicking on Video Track.

That said, you haven't told us what text you're using. Photoshop? TIFF? FCP's own Text tool? Boris 3D? What font size and type? Perhaps your font size is too small, you didn't apply a Flicker filter, or the colour saturation and brightness you chose are too high.

I used FCP's own text tool, Palatino-- because I'm not at my computer right now, I can't tell you the exact size, but it is small. I am using text to tell my story on the right side, center. I took a color that was relative with the rest of the project using the droplet and then contrasted that to appear closer to white. The exact color is somewhat of an ivory. Do you think i should just use the standard white?

Question:
"I've tried setting it to MPEG 4 and Sorensen 3" If you're going to DVD - why on earth are you going anywhere near those codecs? For simplicity - Export right from FCP with chapter markers and go straight into DVDSP or iDVD.

"FCP's own text tool, Palatino-- it is small."
Yikes! Use Boris 3-D text. Flee from the regular text generator and never look back. Small=fuzzy. Go palatino bold. carefully evaluate if a drop shadow helps with legibility. Fewer words at once and larger text is a good thing.

Ian

I've tried what you have all suggested. Am I still doing something wrong? I've used Boris 3D to replace all of my text (with a light drop shadow). What codec exactly will work to export this nice and clear onto Quicktime (now seeing that MPEG and Sorensen won't work--despite what was said from a colleague)?

Once I understand better, I will feel more comfortable getting it onto DVD and moving on.

Many thanks for your help. Any further info would be greatly appreciated.

v-

Along Ian's lines, I think you're panicking prematurely. Go ahead and burn a test DVD and see what it looks like. You can't judge a DVD from QuickTime movies, especially compressed ones. Try the burn and see the results, then look for a solution if you need to. If the DVD turns out fine, all your barging around will be wasted effort.