Export settings for AE

Hello,
I am experimenting with timeline settings for my Quicktime export to do a filter application in AE. My editing timeline is set at
HD 720p24 with a compressor of 720p60. the footage does not have to be rendered and looks groovy. However, I am trying to get it out of the timeline to get it into AE and I have tried various settings (None, uncompressed 10 bit, Ucompressed 8bit, Blackmagic 8bit and lastly 720p60) and all of them have made enormous files. That is with the exception of 720p60-- which makes a file slightly smaller than the original. Is using the the 720p60 setting okay to export a file to use in AE? I haven't done "Animation" setting yet, should I try that one?

Thanks in advance for your answer

Carole
[www.crowdedmetrofilms.com]

Anything you import into AE for treatment should be at a very high resolution - not compressed. I work in an Uncompressed 720p environment and export Animation codec files to AE for treatment from my Avid Adrenaline HD and FCP. Yes, they are huge files, but high quality rules out over disk space every time.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Size sometimes isn't an issue, even if drives are cheap...

[www.digitalanarchy.com]

You're best off simply using FCP's own media files directly in After Effects. That way there is no need to export from FCP, and certainly no chance to export incorrectly from FCP.

Check out Pro Import AE from Automatic Duck. If you're frequently combining the powers of FCP and AE, it may be just what the doctor ordered.

--
Wes Plate
Automatic Duck, Inc.
[www.automaticduck.com]

grafixjoe Wrote:
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> Anything you import into AE for treatment should
> be at a very high resolution - not compressed. I
> work in an Uncompressed 720p environment and
> export Animation codec files to AE for treatment
> from my Avid Adrenaline HD and FCP. Yes, they are
> huge files, but high quality rules out over disk
> space every time.


So let me understand what you're saying-- set up a timeline with no compression on it and export with the animation codec?

thanks

Oh and thanks all of you-- I thought that because the files were huge that I was doing something wrong.

Carole

>Oh and thanks all of you-- I thought that because the files were huge that I was doing something
>wrong.

Actually, you can just export via Compressor. You don't have to set it in a timeline with no compression. Compressor renders straight off the source footage. However, it assumes the frame size and field dominance settings of the sequence.

Here's a pretty funky tool from Digital Heaven if you need to calculate disk space. [www.digital-heaven.co.uk]

strypes Wrote:
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Compressor renders straight off the
> source footage. However, it assumes the frame size
> and field dominance settings of the sequence.

Thanks Stypes-- so let me make sure I understand what you're saying-- does that mean that if that if I leave it on the timeline set at 720p24 and use compressor to generate a scene at the animation compression, it will ouput a scene at 1248x702 because that is what the scene is coming of the camera?


Thank you for your answer

Why are you going through all this trouble? Why not right-click on the clip in FCP and select Reveal in Finder, then drag that movie in the Finder into After Effects?

No exporting necessary.

--
Wes Plate
Automatic Duck, Inc.
[www.automaticduck.com]

wplate Wrote:
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> Why are you going through all this trouble? Why
> not right-click on the clip in FCP and select
> Reveal in Finder, then drag that movie in the
> Finder into After Effects?
>
> No exporting necessary.

Unfortunately, unless i'm totally lame, it doesn't work that way. What happens when you right click open the file is that you get the WHOLE unedited scene.

carole
[www.crowdedmetrofilms.com]

That's correct. Easy to trim the layer in AE though.

--
Wes Plate
Automatic Duck, Inc.
[www.automaticduck.com]

wplate Wrote:
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> That's correct. Easy to trim the layer in AE
> though.

yes and no. I have tried trimming the layer and even if I use the exact same numbers in the time code, the image seems to shift one frame or the other... which would not be a problem if I hadn't already mixed the sound. Yes, I know its backwards, but I could only get the time on the soundstage when I got it, and it was before my cinematographer was available for color correction.

Carole
[www.crowdedmetrofilms.com]

Ok, just trying to help. You're spending far too much time trying to get out of FCP.

If Pro Import AE isn't for you, but it sounds like it could be, then export each clip as a reference movie from FCP. Drag the clip from your timeline into the bin to create a new clip that is only the In to Out, then export that clip to a reference movie. Use File->Export->QuickTime Movie and turn off "Make Movie Self-Contained".

--
Wes Plate
Automatic Duck, Inc.
[www.automaticduck.com]

wplate Wrote:
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> Ok, just trying to help. You're spending far too
> much time trying to get out of FCP.
>
> If Pro Import AE isn't for you, but it sounds like
> it could be, then export each clip as a reference
> movie from FCP. Drag the clip from your timeline
> into the bin to create a new clip that is only the
> In to Out, then export that clip to a reference
> movie. Use File->Export->QuickTime Movie and turn
> off "Make Movie Self-Contained".

And I thank you so much for your help! Really. And yes, the automatic duck seems really really helpful, but with all that I've spent on this film I just have no more money to spend for big ticket items. I am hoping the next one is paid for by someone else then I'll be all over the Duck!

Thanks so much for the help
Carole
[www.crowdedmetrofilms.com]

> does that mean that if that if I leave it on the timeline set at 720p24 and use compressor to
>generate a scene at the animation compression, it will ouput a scene at 1248x702 because that
>is what the scene is coming of the camera?

Yup. You have a few options to preserve quality- 1, export through Compressor; 2, change your sequence to Animation and export a self contained movie; 3, Automatic Duck is a pretty good software as well for working between post pro apps.

Also, remember to lower the whites to 100% and make sure chroma is within safe zones, as exporting to an RGB codec can cause the video to clip, due to FCP's mapping of YUV-RGB. The nice sun through the clouds shot, horizons, etc... these need to be within safe zones.

here is another idea. do you NEED to have the full res FCP footage into AE?

can you shoot out a low res from fcp, use it for reference in AE then export your AE result with alpha for import back into FCP?

wayne granzin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> here is another idea. do you NEED to have the full
> res FCP footage into AE?
>
> can you shoot out a low res from fcp, use it for
> reference in AE then export your AE result with
> alpha for import back into FCP?

Ummm.... how do you do that?

well, it depends on what it is you need to do in AE. but in most of my cases im just applying text and graphics over existing video. so heres a basic explanation of what i do:

keeping in mind im working in dvcproHD 720p - but this will work with any codec.

1. in fcp, file > export > quicktime movie. current settings, make video self contained
2. import that into ae
3. create new composition in ae. (in my case 1280x720 square pixels)
4. lay the exported fcp clip onto the timeline for reference.
5. do my AE work over that
6. turn off the layer with the fcp clip
7. make movie - best settings, animation compressor, lossless+alpha
8. import that into fcp
9. lay that over the point in the timeline relative to what i exported
10. render.

now keep in mind. this works best for situations of simple graphic overlays (lower 3rds, frames, titles etc...) there will be many times when your compositing needs will be more sophisticated and you'll need to follow the workflows described earlier in this discussion.

Thanks so much for that! I appreciate you're taking the time to write it down for me. I will experiment with it.


Carole
[www.crowdedmetrofilms.com]