Why does my logo in Final Cut Express 4 HD look jagged or interlaced?

Question

Level 1

8 points

Why does my logo in Final Cut Express 4 HD look jagged or interlaced?

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to Final Cut and I'm having a little trouble with a logo I want to animate over a movie. I've brought it in as a PNG file and I'm able to make it change size and go from one side of the screen to other, however although it looks nice and clear when it's still, once it starts to move it looks all jagged and terribly interlaced. Since I am new to this, I imagine there is some setting or something I am missing.

I made the PNG file by copying and pasting a vector file from Illustrator into Photoshop at 5" x 5" and 300 dpi so I think the resolution is high enough - also the logo does look nice and crisp and clear until it moves across the screen.

If anyone can help me with this, it would be greatly appreciated! I've happily used iMovie for years and am looking forward to what I will do in the future with Final Cut!

William

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on Mar 27, 2013 8:13 AM

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Answer 1

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Mar 27, 2013 9:11 AM in response to WAV

It would be helpful to know your sequence settings. Some formats (like interlaced) are harder on graphics than others (progressive).

Russ

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Answer 2

WAV Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 27, 2013 9:18 AM in response to Russ H

Hi Russ,

Thanks for the response! Please forgive my ignorance,but I can't seem to find these settings. I've looked under Sequence ---> Settings and under System Settings, but can't seem to find options for interlaced or progressive.

William

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Answer 3

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Mar 27, 2013 9:26 AM in response to WAV

In your browser, control click on the sequence icon. As I recall, it's item properties you want. Post a screen shot it you can. Another question: what kind of video clips are you working with? (Same procedure as finding out the sequence properties – only selecting the clip.)

Russ

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Answer 4

WAV Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 27, 2013 9:56 AM in response to Russ H

Here's the screen captures:

Thanks again for your help!

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Answer 5

Meg The Dog

Level 6

13,561 points

Mar 27, 2013 9:57 AM in response to WAV

Have you rendered the clip on the timeline? Click on the clip of the logo to select it on the timeline, then type Command + R.

MtD

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Answer 6

WAV Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 27, 2013 10:05 AM in response to Meg The Dog

Thanks, MtD - I did do that.

William

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Answer 7

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Mar 27, 2013 11:13 AM in response to WAV

One issue is your video clips are MP4 (h.264), which all versions of Final Cut don't like.

I have two suggestions:

1) Transcode your video clips to AIC Quick Tme in MPEG Streamclip. It's a free downloadhere.

2) Create an AIC 720p sequence.

Take a small section of the video with your PNG, render and export (QT Movie, current settings.

Open in QT Player. I think your logo will look a lot better.

(And if MtD has other ideas, my additional suggestion would be to pay attention to them.)

Good luck. Let us know how it works out.

Russ

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Answer 8

WAV Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 27, 2013 1:02 PM in response to Russ H

Thanks, Russ! I'll try both your suggestions!

To create an AIC 720p sequence, is that 'Apple Intermediate Codec'? And is that option found under 'Easy Setup'?

I apologize, MtD if I appeared to not take your advice. That was not at all my intention and I'm sorry if it appeared that way. Given my complete beginner status, I appreciate and definitely will be paying attention to any advice! 🙂

William

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Answer 9

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Mar 27, 2013 2:06 PM in response to WAV

WAV wrote:

To create an AIC 720p sequence, is that 'Apple Intermediate Codec'? And is that option found under 'Easy Setup'?

Yes; I believe it's called HDV-Apple Intermediate Codec and it can be selected from the choices in Easy Setup.

Again, I suggest you do a short test and export to evaluate. Hopefully this 540 footage will stand up to the size as well as your logo.

Russ

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Answer 10

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Mar 27, 2013 2:13 PM in response to WAV

FCE 4 has the same kind of "Open TimeLine" behavior that Final Cut pro has. If that's the version you have, drag one of your clips to the timeline and when it asks whether you want the clip and suquence seettings to match, click Yes.

Russ

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Answer 11

WAV Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 28, 2013 11:01 AM in response to Russ H

Thanks al lot for all the advice! Creating the AIC sequence did it! Now my video is looking the way I want it to!

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