What am I doing wrong? Text looks BAD

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Level 1

4 points

What am I doing wrong? Text looks BAD

What am I doing wrong here? Created a Motion opening sequence, and exported to movie with Animation as Compressor. Looks GREAT! Then import it into FCP6, and what ever I try, it looks REALLY BAD! I know it probably has to do with the compression I am using, but not sure what to choose! End result is for a DVD.

In iMovieHD(6), I can Export a video directly to iDVD and all looks great. Not sure if this is the problem I am experiencing in FCP? I can't just move it to iMovie, do to the number of cuts/length/video tracks involved, so any suggestions?

Thanks!

MacBook Pro, iMac 24", Mac OS X (10.5.6), Final Cut Studio 2

Posted on Jan 6, 2009 3:13 PM

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Answer 1

Drew13

Level 6

12,387 points

Jan 6, 2009 3:42 PM in response to Bill Lindsay

What is the timeline Codec? DV will make it look bad. Are you viewing this on the monitor or does it look bad on the final DVD? (Could be something in the process from Final Cut to DVD). What were the settings in Motion?

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Answer 2

Bill Lindsay Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 6, 2009 3:57 PM in response to Drew13

Okay, I see the Timeline Codec is currently set to DV, and if I change it to Animation, the text looks GREAT, so that part I understand. But if I change the Codec to Animation, I will have to render ALL the footage except the text? (And won't the files be HUGE?)

As it is now (DV Codec), on the monitor, it looks bad, AND on the DVD it looks no better! The video I captured was DV, and final result will be played back on TV. I want the text to look good!

THERE MUST BE AN EASIER WAY! You'd think I could click one button and ALL the Codecs used would play nicely together!

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Answer 3

Studio X

Level 7

27,229 points

Jan 6, 2009 4:04 PM in response to Bill Lindsay

Bill,

As was noted in your other thread, video is not simple. If you want simple, stay with iMovie. If you want control, well with great power comes great responsibility. And great responsibility requires continuous study.

DV is one crappy format. It compresses images 5:1 and works in a 4:1:1 color depth. All this means when you go to composite something (.eg text), it will likely look like crud.

One strategy is to increase the color depth in the sequence to 4:2:2. DVCPro50 or ProRes422 DV will do this. These codecs will not improve the original image, but will give a bit more breathing room for color in compositing.

Good luck,

x

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