problem w a move on a still

I have a jpeg (5616 x 3744) I'm using in a prores 422 sequence in FCP6, and I built in some simple motion - a diagonal move and push in - using the wireframe. The detail in the resulting clip has taken on a sort of pixillating quality. I'd be happy to yousendit if anyone's curious.

Wow. That's a huge file. I'd do that in After Effects. If I remember correctly FCP (and Motion) will pre-render it down to a 2K file.



www.strypesinpost.com

It's too large. Resize it to be under 2000 pixels in Photoshop to be more manageable. FCP isn't spec'd to handle any files larger the 4000 x 4000. I'm surprised you were able to add it to the Canvas.

You should always "optimize" your images for video in Photoshop prior to using them in a FCP timeline. Target the size as to whether you'll be doing any scaling or repositioning. If so, make it no more than 2x the frame size. If you are just using it for a still, then size it to be precisely the frame size. You'll get better looking images that render faster.

How you monitor your images is equally important. You'll have disappointing results if you judge your renders in the Canvas. An external video monitor is really what is required. No monitor, then set your Canvas to 100% to get an approximation of the results.

Kevin Monahan
Social Support Lead, DV Products
Adobe
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro Community Blog
Follow Me on Twitter!

Avoid using JPEG, Your description of the effect is exactly why. Stick to RGB 8-bit-per-channel TIFF's, or native RGB PSD files of single or multiple layers. Avoid greyscale or line art TIFF files.

You're safe to use digital stills or imported scans up to 4,000 pixels square in FCP. (The Apple G-world is described as 4096 X 4096 square-- the same as Motion's project size.) After that-- you're on thin ice, as indicated above.

While 2000 pixels may be "safe," your first criteria must always be "What do I need from this image and what do I have available to do it?"

2X enlargement is pretty lame for photomotion, which often requires much higher magnification ratios. Ken Burns could not tell but a fraction of his stories following those guidelines. I know, I watched many as they were being shot at Frame Shop, Newton Mass, for over 20 years. Some huge Oxberry zooms involved there. So determine your creative needs. Then determine what app or plugin supports your creative needs.

After Effects has a huge working space, tens of thousands of pixels square, I don't know how big it is currently; I stopped counting after AE 5.x at about 40K square. Today, that's pretty good for moves in HD screen sizes, so I would consider AE the champ. MovingPicture, a "rostrum camera" plugin for FCP from stagetools.com, supports scans and imported stills up to 8,000 pixels square-- and you don't have to leave FCP! It also comes closest to feeling like a traditional rostrum camera reticle.

There are other solutions, others will comment.

- Loren

Today's FCP keytip:
Set a motion effect keyframe instantly with Control-K!

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Thanks, all. Much obliged.

Quote

2X enlargement is pretty lame for photomotion, which often requires much higher magnification ratios

I guess Loren, if you want to zoom into a nose hair!

Kevin Monahan
Social Support Lead, DV Products
Adobe
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro Community Blog
Follow Me on Twitter!

I remembered an FCP warning about exceeding the size limitation for stills in the early FCP 6 versions, and it would pre-render to 2K or something (was trying to do scrolling credits on a tiff file and for some reason I didn't want to go to AE then). That looked pretty bad and it went to AE. But I just tried it in a FCP 6.0.5 and that limitation seemed to have gone away.

Then again, you really don't want to render huge stills in FCP as you will end up with huge render times. Resize it to something much smaller, rough it up in FCP and go to AE or Motion. You get better control as well as better rendering on movement, and faster rendering times.



www.strypesinpost.com