Newbie and Text Render

I know this is been blogged about many times and I know I have read everything I can find.

I know there is a large difference between display mpeg-2 720p movie on my mac desktop monitor and showing it on a LCD TV at 720p.

I cannot for the life of me figure out the correct settings for proper font render from FCP/Compressor.

I know it is something to do with two facts.

I just starting FCP video editing cold. just out of the box. Do web edit which is rather easy to TV outputs.

I have a lack of understanding on the correct HD fine options in FCP, but i know my final output has to work on 720p LCD TV

I have everything set to 720p format in FCP and for Compressor output.

I know I am missing something since what every font text I put into FCP it looks like dog crap.

I create text in FCP text editor, Motion Text editor, Photoshop and Illustrator all look good on my MAC but when I display it on my 20 inch LCD 720p monitor for final test output pix-elated text.

I only doing simple photos sequence and adding a text line to give photo credit to the photographer. this text looks bad.

I have read to use a San Sarif font Gill Sans, I enlarge the font pt size to over 18pt...

nothing seems to make it better.

I know if I had a FCP knowledgeable person to review my settings. after 10 minutes I would be able to correct this problem.

just frustrating trying different settings with no luck...

thanks
bill -

If anyone is in Palm Springs area and working in FCP. I can pay for your time to help me correct my setup and show my what I am doing wrong in
the font rendering.

thanks
bill

Bill,

A few questions... What are your sequence settings in FCP (frame size, codec, frame rate, etc.)?
How are you exporting your video from FCP? What exactly are you doing with Compressor (settings, etc.)? Are you rendering your video properly in FCP before exporting?

The reason I ask is that you aren't clear about whether you are editing HD video at 720p and converting that to MPEG-2 HD video at 720p in Compressor, or if you are editing editing HD video at 720p in FCP and exporting to Compressor to create an SD MPEG-2 file (for a SD DVD, for example), or ... How are you displaying the video on your TV? SD DVD?

Back to FCP... there are various settings for quality and choice of codec used that can greatly influence the quality of your rendered text... Since you are new to FCP, you probably could benefit (hopefully not begrudgingly) from reading through the FCS documentation and maybe a few third-party training books (see the LAFCPUG Store for more info).

Quote
Bill
I know if I had a FCP knowledgeable person to review my settings. after 10 minutes I would be able to correct this problem.

just frustrating trying different settings with no luck...

"Flying blind" is no fun... You're probably right that it is something that can be "fixed" with a few changes to your workflow...


-Dave

Dave

I created a blank new FCP project i am creating video from scratch. no video imported. just imporitng stillimages jpg png.

the project is to make a video presentation for the local Palm Springs Historical Society. They provided me with serveral photos to test with. it is not a pay project. i ask to do this for my own learning... and maybe future business of displaying this with my name on it.. lol..

My project:
dropping one image as background layer
dropping one image for content which is using the cub effect in/out
dropping text for photographer credit. ( the pain in my side at the moment)

my setup

FCP Easy Setup Menu:

Format HD
Uee HDV-720p30

Rate 29.97fps

Work Flow: editing at 720p in FCP and exporting to Compressor to create an MPEG-2 file for display on my LCD TV

My final display is a BrighSign Device ( the video decoder / pc part ) with a HDMI output to my 720p HD TV. (this is my final review option) I am running FCP 7 on my laptop so i cannot do an external second "post" monitor.

The display is a 20 inch Insignia LCD TV which hands 720p at 1280 xx 720.

PS > this Compressor settings were provided to me as a file by the BrightSign company as a working mpeg-2 output support by their box..

Here are my Compressor settings

Name: MPEG2 1280x720
Description:
File Extension: mpeg
Estimated size: 8.27 GB/hour of source
Type: MPEG-2 program stream
Video Encoder
Format: M2V
Width: 1280
Height: 720
Pixel aspect ratio: Square
Crop to: Center crop for 1.778:1
Padding: None
Frame rate: 23.976
Frame Controls On:
Retiming: (Fast) Nearest Frame
Resize Filter: Statistical Prediction
Deinterlace Filter: Best (Motion Compensated)
Adaptive Details: On
Antialias: 0
Detail Level: 0
Field Output: Same as Source
Start timecode from source
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Field dominance: Automatic:
Selected Progressive
Average bit rate: 18 (Mbps)
1 Pass VBR enabled
Maximum bit rate: 27 (Mbps)
High quality
Best motion estimation
Closed GOP Size: 1/2 second, Structure: IBBP
Audio Encoder
Format: MPEG
Sample Rate: 48.000kHz
Channels: 2
Bits Per Sample: 16


Many thanks for taking time to look at this.. There are allot of moving parts to this video editing for TV. more than my web editing..
Let me know if you need more settings info...

bill

Dave I have been reading everything I can find and started the FCP doc. just allot to absorb in a short amount of time.



just didn't like hitting this wall .... lol

thanks
bill

Bill,

Thanks for the info...

Depending on your setup, I would suggest that you use the ProRes 422 codec, not any kind of HDV (you probably don't need to use the (HQ) variant of ProRes 422). Using ProRes will greatly improve the look of your exported video (and text).

I did a quick look at the BrightSign website. Do you know exactly which model will be used and the exact display? The BrightSign website mentions something about all their models supporting 1080p video...

I would work backwards from the final delivery/display specs. I would also suggest that you check on the exact video settings supported by the BrightSign device that will be used. So, if the display will support 1080p video, then you'd ideally want to edit in a high quality 1080p sequence in FCP, export after full rendering, etc., and create a 1080p video output from Compressor (that is optimized for the BrightSign device).

Don't create the project based on your preview display's resolution if it doesn't match the actual display that will be used for final viewing.

---

Read through the parts on rendering in the FCP manual, as time permits. It will take some time to learn the tricks of the trade (months to years)...


-Dave

Dave thank you .

will check the ProRes 422 codec setting out.

I wanted to output ot 1080p for the Brightsign box. but sub 20 inch TV only can handle 720p at this price point. So I was starting at 720p.

i will rework my test to ProRes 422 codec. then export to compressor using the 1280 x 720 mpeg-2. then see what happens.

I am using the 210 model of BrightSign box.

many thanks again..

bill

bsanderson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dave thank you .
>
> will check the ProRes 422 codec setting out.
>
> I wanted to output ot 1080p for the Brightsign
> box. but sub 20 inch TV only can handle 720p at
> this price point. So I was starting at 720p.
>
> i will rework my test to ProRes 422 codec. then
> export to compressor using the 1280 x 720 mpeg-2.
> then see what happens.
>
> I am using the 210 model of BrightSign box.
>
> many thanks again..
>
> bill

If your final display device is only 720p, then edit with a 720p30 ProRes 422 sequence preset. If your final display device can handle a 1080i/p signal, then use a 1080i60/1080p30 sequence. The idea being that you don't want to scale your original video during the export and transcoding part of the workflow.

There sequence settings that you can change to adjust the final quality of your rendered FCP sequence. Also, make sure everything is getting fully rendered before you export. Don't use the QuickTime Conversion option when exporting. Ideally, you'd keep the same settings as your sequence and export as a self-contained QuickTime movie file, using that for import into Compressor. I'd also suggest that you check the TechNote on the BrightSign website on Video Quality. There's also some info about setting up Compressor, as well. You may be able to adjust the bit rate settings in Compressor to yield a better quality output.

Once you finalize your piece (or before), you can always select just a portion (a minute or two) and export that. Then, try different settings in Compressor until you're satisfied (and save them as a preset). Then, process the entire project...

Good luck!


-Dave

Dave

I finally was able to correct me settings and get my text working.

I basically went back to my laptop and connected my LCD Monitor as a FCP output monitor via a dvi to hdmi cable. i wanted to verify it was not
a limitation of the monitor so how.

I notice the LCD monitor was able to manage higher rate than what the box says. 720p and up to 1080p.

I have adjusted the BrightSign box to 1080p and adjusted FCP

so not things seem to be 100% better on the text output.




thanks for the pointers.