Poor resolution burning to QuickTime from Final Cut Express

[Bob Johnson]

Has anyone figured out how to get hi-rez (or at least acceptable for wide screed wall monitors) video burns out of these programs?

If you can call with info, that would be appreciated. 800-328-3519.

Thanks.

Bob Johnson

 

[Gymnut]

When you say "burning to QuickTime", I'm going to assume you want to know the best possible way to export out of FCE to create a self-contained QuickTime file for playback on a Mac/PC hooked up to these monitors? What is your source media? Standard Definition DV? HDV? AVCHD? etc...

I haven't used FCE(I'm a FCP user), but I can't imagine the exporting process being any different. If you want the highest resolution possible(providing this is your on-line edit and it's not Uncompressed) for playback on a computer with a standard hard drive, simply File->Export->QuickTime Movie; This'll export your sequence in its native form.

If you need a smaller file size, yet want to retain a high quality, then your option would be to use: File->Export->Using QuickTime Conversion.

In the pop-up window, select the Options button, which will bring up a Movie Settings window. Select the Settings tab and change the Compression type to H.264, keyframe at whatever your frame rate is, and increase the Quality to Best; You can also restrict the data rate if this is destined for web.
Select the Size button and alter the dimensions for your intended output. You can compress the audio instead of leaving it uncompressed as Linear PCM if you want(AAC should be fine).

 

[Bob Johnson]

Further to poor QuickTime resolution

Hi Gymnut,

Yes, editing in Express HD, from stills that are 34 MB each (so, very high quality), and converting to QuickTime. The results are crappy. Can't even recognize the faces of people when in a 5 person group photographed from the waist up. Totally unusable. I bought FCE-HD to get away from Imovie (which even Apple admits is lousy, resolution-wise) to "up" the visual quality. But, it's very poor. What I think is happening is that QT is burning at a "old TV" resolution and not anywhere near HD.

If you have any time to discuss, you can call me in the office at 800-328-3519. I'll spring for dinner at your favorite gourmet Hawaiian restaurant if you can help figure it out!

Bob Johnson

 

[Gymnut]

Sorry, I can't make personal calls from the office. Just out of curiosity, what are file types for the images you're bringing in? Are they JPEGS? Ideally you want to steer clear of JPEGS if you're going to bring still images into a NLE(tiffs or pngs are better) and what is your sequences compressor settings? NTSC-DV? If so, NTSC DV will trash your still images. Is this project intended for an HD output(1920x1080 or 1280x720) or simply a Standard Definition output(720x480)?

Try changing your compressor settings in your sequence settings(CMD+0) to something like Apple Intermediate Codec, Animation, or Uncompressed, if either or all are available. Again, I haven't used FCE, as it's a stripped down version of FCP, so I can only guess that these options are available to you.

 

[martinX]

Yes, editing in Express HD, from stills that are 34 MB each (so, very high quality)

Doesn't matter.

What matters is sequence settings, image dimensions (there is a limit to what FCP can handle - I think it's 2000 x 2000 pixels), what you do with it once it's in there and what you are exporting to.

Your sequence should be 1920 x 1080, progressive. Crop the images as required in PS or equivalent. Bring images in. Place on timeline. And ... how are you exporting? Are you burning a DVD? Or creating a Quicktime file for playback via computer?