Final cut pro video loss.

[HappySnail]

I am using final cut pro with quick time files in .mov exported from another program. These look fine as they are exported in HD and playing in quicktime are fine but as soon as i import them to final cut pro the quality loss is unbelievable. The edges are all jagged and the movement is blocky, even the text inside final cut looks bad. I have exported the video in many different formats having been told it was the bad quality canvas and it still looks bad. Anyone know how to fix this.

Thank you for any help.

 

[LethalWolfe]

What specific format are the videos (codec, frame rate, frame size, etc.,) and what is the specific format do you have FCP set to edit in?


Lethal

 

[HappySnail]

they are 1900x1080 MPEG-4 files, the bit rate says 4,012. I also tried DVCPRO HD 1080i50 codec encase it was the codec causing the problem and tried using high quality JPEGS and TIFFS to check, all of these look rubbish in FCP. The FCP settings are DVCPRO HD 1080i60 purely because that looked like the highest and i wasn't sure what else to go for.

 

[-DH]

they are 1900x1080 MPEG-4 files, the bit rate says 4,012. I also tried DVCPRO HD 1080i50 codec encase it was the codec causing the problem and tried using high quality JPEGS and TIFFS to check, all of these look rubbish in FCP. The FCP settings are DVCPRO HD 1080i60 purely because that looked like the highest and i wasn't sure what else to go for.

Use Compressor, QuickTime Pro or MPEG Streamclip to convert the MPEG-4 files into the format that matches your FCP Sequence settings.

FWIW, the DVCPRO HD 1080i50 codec that you tried is PAL ... but the DVCPRO HD 1080i60 setting you used in FCP is NTSC. No wonder it looks bad.

-DH

 

[LethalWolfe]

Is your source footage interlaced or progressive and what's the frame rate? For example, if you have 24p footage and you are converting it into 60i or 50i it will look bad unless you take the steps to add the proper pull down. DVCPro HD isn't full raster either so going that route won't look as sharp as the original.


Lethal

 

[HappySnail]

It seems it was the 60 rather than 50 that did it, don't know why but at least it's fixed now, Thank you for your help.

 

[RatVega]

I am using final cut pro with quick time files in .mov exported from another program. These look fine as they are exported in HD and playing in quicktime are fine but as soon as i import them to final cut pro the quality loss is unbelievable. The edges are all jagged and the movement is blocky, even the text inside final cut looks bad. I have exported the video in many different formats having been told it was the bad quality canvas and it still looks bad. Anyone know how to fix this.

Thank you for any help.

they are 1900x1080 MPEG-4 files, the bit rate says 4,012. I also tried DVCPRO HD 1080i50 codec encase it was the codec causing the problem and tried using high quality JPEGS and TIFFS to check, all of these look rubbish in FCP. The FCP settings are DVCPRO HD 1080i60 purely because that looked like the highest and i wasn't sure what else to go for.

It appears that you have some transcoded 1080(i or p, who knows?) footage, probably HDV.
Although MPEG-4 can be used, it'll require rendering and whenever it's not rendered it'll look bad. If the MPEG-4 is sufficiently compressed, it'll look bad no matter what.

If you're using FCP6, your sequence will auto-conform to the first clip that hits the timeline, so getting the sequence settings right shouldn't be the issue. If you're on an earlier version of FCP, you're going to need to bring in a lot more specifics on the footage before you can resolve the sequence settings.

Try transcoding the source footage into Apple ProRes 422. It's your best shot at maintaining quality.

 

[obeygiant]

I am using final cut pro with quick time files in .mov exported from another program. These look fine as they are exported in HD and playing in quicktime are fine but as soon as i import them to final cut pro the quality loss is unbelievable. The edges are all jagged and the movement is blocky, even the text inside final cut looks bad. I have exported the video in many different formats having been told it was the bad quality canvas and it still looks bad. Anyone know how to fix this.

Thank you for any help.

Do you use an external monitor? Sometimes the image is clean thru the monitor and back to tape even though what's in the edit suite looks "offline".