FCPX: 1080p in 720p project bad downsampling looks SOFT!

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Level 1

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FCPX: 1080p in 720p project bad downsampling looks SOFT!

Thank you for your time everyone!

Using 1080p footage looks REALLY soft in a 720p Multicam Clip and a 720p timeline in FCP X... I have changed the playback rendering and priority to High Quality and 422 HQ, and short of exporting the 1080p footage at 720p, I'm not sure what to do to keep the OUTPUT from compressor looking as soft!

On one hand, I can understand if the project was simply throwing away pixels why it would be soft - however, even after transforming a 1080 sized video into a 720 sized area, the image continues to be much softer than it is compared to viewing the footage in its normal size/resolution.

Am I simply denying that the 720 multicam clip and timeline will throw away pixels no matter what, and that I am better uprezzing my one 720 angle in a 1080p multicam clip and timeline and exporting at 720?

Final Cut Pro X, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Dec 28, 2012 12:31 PM

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Answer 1

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Dec 28, 2012 3:30 PM in response to gknfilm

What format are your clips and your project settings?

gknfilm wrote:

Am I simply denying that the 720 multicam clip and timeline will throw away pixels no matter what, and that I am better uprezzing my one 720 angle in a 1080p multicam clip and timeline and exporting at 720?

My experience with FCPX is that down converting from 1080 to 720 works well – certainly better than dropping 720 clips into a 1080 time line.

Do you have an orange bar above your clips?

Try exporting a short test section and open in Quick Time to see whether you still feel it's soft.

Russ

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