Rolling credits flicker

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Level 4

1,601 points

Rolling credits flicker

I have a long list of credits that even at 90 seconds goes pretty fast. The text was done in Motion and animated with two keyframes.

After an NTSC-DV render and before even going to FCP, it has a horrible flicker. This is just a simple thing I was dropping in after the fact. I had no idea it would hold up the project.

I'm going to try slowing it down. Any other thoughts appreciated.

DLS

24"imac 2.33 3GB / 15"MbP 2.6 4GB / 20" Display / Dual 1.25 G4 MDD 2 GB, Mac OS X (10.5.6), Canon 5D, 20D and G7

Posted on Aug 25, 2009 6:45 AM

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Answer 1

el pumo

Level 1

5 points

Aug 25, 2009 7:50 AM in response to DLScreative

super compicated thing to pull off because of the interlacing. 59.94 refreshes, 29.97 of each field (ouch)... u have to make sure that the text does not move vertically faster than the refresh, otherwise u will get flicker...
in other words, the horizontal line of the z has to move up one pixel at the same rate as the refresh rate... it's a freakin nightmare and i would leave it to the experts because fonts can play a roll in it too...
it's a sure way to get a bad rep because it will take way longer than anyone non-technical can relate to. sorry for the bad news

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Answer 2

Aug 25, 2009 7:57 AM in response to DLScreative

"Flicker" is a meaninglessly subjective term but it is usually used in posts to indicate some level of dissatisfaction with text that is moving vertically in interlaced codecs. Your .motn project is probably set to Animation and your timeline is, as you say, DV. but you do not indicate whether you are using the .motn file on yor timeline or brining in the rendered movie output from Motion. Huge difference in how they get rendered in FCP. and you have not indicated whether or not you understand some of the fundamentals about text in video.

The two simple suggestions are to use a bit of motion blur in either Motion or FCP or to add a bit of vertical-only blur in FCP.
To make this easier, make a copy of your .motn project and trim the timeline to about 10 seconds. Add motion blur to the text object/layer in Motion.
Or bring it into FCP and apply a bit of motion blur there. The results arr remarkably different.

What you're trying to do is provide some fuzzy pixels in the field rendering to provide the illusion of clarity.

bogiesan

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Answer 3

DLScreative Author

Level 4

1,601 points

Aug 25, 2009 9:54 AM in response to DLScreative

ROTFL

I just did it in iMovie then exported it as a quicktime move and dropped it into the timeline. It looks fine.

This was a Aperture to FCP slideshow of images shot of a for charity variety show, and I thought would be a nice touch to give the cast and crew a pat on the back by rolling credits. No one is actually going to read them, and I had no idea that I was throwing up a wall.

Thanks for all your help.

DLS

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Answer 4

Aug 25, 2009 9:58 AM in response to DLScreative

I just did it in iMovie then exported it as a quicktime move and dropped it into the timeline. It looks fine.< </div>

This speaks volumes. You have no idea how much this reveals.

bogiesan.

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Answer 5

DLScreative Author

Level 4

1,601 points

Aug 25, 2009 1:13 PM in response to David Bogie Chq-1

It took 90 minutes to render in Motion and 8 minutes in iMovie- go figure.

DLS

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