Setting resolution for stills

Set the resolution at 1 dpi.

DPI means nothing in video.

So true. Video is not print. It's a really difficult concept for print people to grasp.

Your video format dictates the number of pixels in your image that are visible on the screen. The screen doesn't change size but you can scale the still image. Full HD is 1920x1080 pixels. If you drop a 3k image into that timeline, you'll only see about 1/4 of the native image unless you scale it way down to fit. IN that case, you've wasted all of those pixels from PS and you're causing FCP to process them on every frame. If your image out of PS is about 2000x 1100 pixels, you're not going to scale it.

We see this question about once a week so you can search for hundreds of similar threads.

bogiesan

Set the resolution at 1 dpi.

Davids!?

Either that, or 1 billion pixels per inch ... or whatever you want.

It simply doesn't matter. DPI is irrelevant to video.

It is trying to describe the speed of light using liters as the measure.

x

What's the DPI for 24P?
Is it different than the DPI for 60i?

Do not fall into the trap of thinking video is 72dpi. That is an anachronism left over from the early days of video displays.

bogiesan

David,
did you bring a 1 dpi still onto your timeline? Hope you get my point

It depends on the media. If the still is scanned at a high resolution, say for instance 300 or 600dpi, this is often done to ensure that the image is large enough, something that's be blown up because the original is too small. Sometimes however scans are made at high dpi but are not needed at a large frame resolution. Applications like Photoshop treat images for print, so changing the dpi of the image that's 300 or 600 down to 72 will reduce its frame resolution. Photoshop does this very well. Final Cut on the other hand is rather poor at scaling down a 4000x3000 pixel image to a video frame size. Usually 72 is chosen because it reduces the frame resolution while maintaining a reasonable quality in the print application. Sure you can make an image any dpi in Photoshop as long as the pixel dimensions are sufficient, but very many images are not made in Photoshop but generated by other sources that use dpi as a means of creating a great number of pixels for print purposes, far more than video might ever need.

The size of the image in pixels is all that matters on any video screen

http://www.scantips.com/no72dpi.html

Just did a test at 1 dpi and 300 dpi and images look exactly the same.

have you ever used a 1dpi image David?

Applications like Photoshop treat images for print, so changing the dpi of the image that's 300 or 600 down to 72 will reduce its frame resolution.

Not necessarily. You are leaving out a key concept.

If you have a 1200x900 pixel image that is 300 DPI, it will print (hard copy) as a 4"x3" image. if you change the DPI of that same 1200x900 pixel image to 75 DPI, it will now print as 16"x12".

Here's the thing - *simply changing DPI does nothing to the pixel count - you have to tell Photoshop to resample*

This whole thread just demonstrates how any discussion of DPI in video gets so convoluted it becomes ultimately pointless.

x

All the time.

It doesn't matter.

pixel size matters.

do a test then post back.

Two images:

1 dpi at 960x720 and 300 dpi at 960x720

DVCProHD sequence.

Looked identical

The writer is certainly verbose. I wonder if he or she has ever scanned something at 1dpi. I've never tried it. I wonder what it looks like.

I have this argument with my Photoshop wonks on every video project. I don't care what they do to my photographs to get them ready for video as long as they understand the consequences of handing me a 4k image for use in NTSC DV or 720. ("Hmmm, 720 is ten inches at 72dpi, right? So you want me to make this thing ten inches on the short side?")

I'm s-o-o out of this discussion.

bogiesan

Tom Wolsky wrote:
The writer is certainly verbose. I wonder if he or she has ever scanned something at 1dpi. I've never tried it. I wonder what it looks like.

The OP is not scanning at all:
+When preparing images for FCP in Photoshop, I am using the Crop tool and setting the width and height to set it at a size. What do I do about the resolution? Many of these images are 200 ppi? If I make it a smaller resolution the image gets too small sometimes to crop it at the size I need. Should I just not worry about resolution?+


Wait. I am s-o-o-o-o-o-o out of this discussion!

bogiesan

*Here's the thing - simply changing dpi does nothing - you have to tell Photoshop to resample*

Exactly right on.

My images start at 300 dpi, but I resample them at pixel size and dpi of 1 dpi for use in video.

They produce better images, and don't tax the system.

I don't scan or produce any originals at 1 dpi.