exporting stills from fcp

I need to export still photos from my standard def footage. I was hoping someone could advise me on the best way to get the best quality still from my footage. thanks.

g5 dual 2.7 4 gb ram fcp 5.1.2

If possible, use an external (NTSC) to view the frame you'd like to export. If the external monitor shows a "jittery" frame, you know its not the best choice. If you don't have an external monitor, then set the canvas in FCP to 100% which will show you both fields, and you'll be able to see the "jaggies" on the bad interlaced frames.

With the playhead parked over the frame to export > choose File > export > using QuickTime Conversion. Set to still image, click on options button, and choose the file format of choice.

If your export has to come from one of these "bad" frames, don't de-interlace first in FCP. Export the still and use the de-interlace filter in Photoshop. Also, if working with standard def footage, the exported still will look "wide". To compensate, go to Image > Image Size. Change the horizontal proportions to 90% of original (make sure contrain proportions is turned off in the window).

Good luck,

Andrew Balis
Lead Final Cut Pro instructor
www.moviola.com

Stop the timelline on the picture you want.

File, Export, QuickTime Conversion, Still Image. That will give you a slightly oblong picture, but nothing you can't cure in Photoshop. I think you can cure it before the export, but I don't remember how right off.

But that's only going to be the start of your problems. You understand that standard definition television as about the same quality as a one-third megapixel still camera? I don't think they make cellphones that bad any more.

Also, you're going to discover that a still export carries both telelvision fields, but the canvas view shows you only one. Unless you luck out, you will suffer from either smearing or jagged lines in your export because of theatrical motion. By the time you fix that, you will figure out that it's less effort to shoot the scene again with a real still camera.

But that's just me.

Kkoz

File, Export, QuickTime Conversion, Still Image.

but that gets boring real quick,

so i...

mae new bin.
put your stil image source sequence in the bin
go thru the sequence, stopping on the frame you want.
matchframe
Mark in point
Create Subclip (new subclip appears in the new bin)
re-name to taste.

collect all new subs,
Batch export (File Menu > Batch Export)
now do all the stills at once.

this article looks old, but batch export hasn't changed:
[www.lafcpug.org]


nick

What if he's exporting from a 60i or 50i movie? Aren't those progressive frames? Therefore each frame should be a whole field, no?

Please clarify this for me.

I exported some stills from a trailer I shot recently. I de-interlaced the scene I was drawing the frame from. I did a freeze frame and exported the single image to Photoshop. The images looked okay. As you pointed out, Koz, the images from even digital video aren't as good as stills camera images.

But is my thinking right on this?

Andrew, you pointed out that it's better to de-interlace in Photoshop. But was the frame exported a two-field, two-frame image or was it a single field image? If it was a single field image, what's the use of de-interlacing.

Again, I'm just asking because I don't know if my question is technically sound.

60i (this stands for 29.97fps) and 50i (25fps) are interlaced and would suffer the same interlace artifacts. But if the frames are progressive, 24p, 30p, 60p then there is no need for checking for interlace issues or de-interlacing as you mentioned.

As for de-interlacing, the options in Photoshop are much cleaner, and give more options than FCP's approach, which is to simply strip one field and replace with a duplicate of the other.

Andrew Balis
Lead Final Cut Pro instructor
www.moviola.com

I just FAQ'd this one - hope that's OK Andrew and Nick. Let me know if any changes needed.

FAQ : How do I export stills?