HD footage pixelated when scaled down

Question

HD footage pixelated when scaled down

Hi, I'm scaling my HD footage in FCP to about 70% and the graphics doesn't look good, they're jagged/pixelated. This method works fine in SD

Any help appreciated

Thanks

G5 Dual, Mac OS X (10.3.x)

Posted on Mar 19, 2009 11:26 AM

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Answer 1

dna87

Level 2

190 points

Mar 19, 2009 1:05 PM in response to friendlygiraffe

after you scale your footage down are you rendering? Also, are you scaling down because you're using HD in an SD sequence? If so you're trying to fit what was created in a larger amount of pixel space into a much smaller area.

Let me know exactly what you are doing with it and I can probably be more specific.

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Answer 2

RedTruck

Level 4

2,145 points

Mar 19, 2009 2:19 PM in response to dna87

If these are vector graphics, and you are creating them, then scaling to see how they fit... once you get the right fit, go back and scale the graphics in the graphic application to the proper size, then bring them back into FCP and use NO scaling. That way everything will be 100% and look perfect.

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Answer 3

Mar 20, 2009 3:37 AM in response to dna87

It's square pixel quicktime footage (animated graphics, not captured footage) at 1920x1080 25fps

I'm editing it in a HD sequence 1920x1080 sq. pixels 25fps - it matches. It looks crisp at 100%

when scaling to 70% it get's jagged. i've done the exact same edit in SD and there is no pixelation

thanks

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Answer 4

Mar 20, 2009 4:19 AM in response to RedTruck

I had to do it this way in the end. Exported it from quicktime pro scaled 70% and brought it in to FC

thanks

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Answer 5

Mar 20, 2009 5:54 AM in response to friendlygiraffe

Does a colored bar (probably green) appear above the clip when it is scaled? This indicates that it needs to be rendered in order to display correctly.

Also make sure your Canvas window is set to 100% zoom.

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Answer 6

Mar 21, 2009 4:52 AM in response to Jon Chappell

No green bar - yes its' at 100%

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