making training video with Snapz ProX, FCE and iDVD

Question

Level 1

75 points

making training video with Snapz ProX, FCE and iDVD

Hi all,
One of my clients is a book publishing comany and I'm in the process of remotely training a few of their graphic artist on using InDesign to assist me in laying out their books. Since they're spread out all over the country, I decided to make a few training videos to cut down on traveling, but I'm having a very difficult time getting adequate results. I'm using Snapz Pro X2, FCEHD, LiveType and iDVD6.

My work flow is, first I use SPX to capture the screen footage area (720x535 for square pixels) of me working in InDesign. I want to distribute the tutorials on dvd (authored in iDVD) and they're intended to be viewed on a computer monitor, not tv. Next, I save the footage using one of the compressed video formats (usually Sorenson 3 or mpeg4) that yield the clearest looking screen details. It's important to be able to clearly see InDesign's pallets and document.

I then import this footage into FCEHD where I add titles, transistions, soundtrack, chapter markers etc. I use the DV-NTSC 720x480 setting for this file. This is where my problems begin. My video files out of SPX look great even when viewed at Full Screen sizes (on my 19" crt monitor). All the text, menus and pallets are clear and readable when I view this footage, but once it's edited in FCE and the results are exported as a QT movie (self-contained with markers) the detail and clarity is so poor that everything is unreadable, making the tutorial useless. I've tried all different types of settings, combinations, export settings etc.

The only way I've been able to get "clear" footage out of FCE is by exporting using QT conversion and selecting "uncompressed video" output. Of course I then loose all of my chapter markers in addition to generating resulting video files that are HUGE and difficult for iDVD to manage (on my system).

I hear all the time about people using Snapz Pro for doing their own training videos, so I know it can be done. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong or point me to some step-by-step instructions to getting usuable results in this area. I just want video coming out that looks as good as the video going in, edited with chapter markers, ready for iDVD.

I'm a relative newbie in this area of video and have been going in circles for about two weeks trying different combinations and ideas without any success.

My client is waiting and I'm getting really desparate!! Help!!

G4/1.3Ghz DP AGP Mac OS X (10.4.3)

G4/1.3Ghz DP AGP, Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Jun 9, 2006 11:43 AM

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Answer 1

Moich

Level 2

480 points

Jun 10, 2006 12:10 AM in response to Subala

Hi,

I'm not familar with SPX but my guess is this:

you mention that after capture 'I save the footage using one of the compressed video formats (usually Sorenson 3 or mpeg4)' my hunch is your problem is there.

You are starting with compressed footage, editing it and then ultimately compressing it further. As with saving a jpeg as a jpeg you create a continuous degradation in quality. You screen resolution might be clear in this formats but its the base lack of detail that I would hint at.

Is it possible for you to save your SPX captures as uncompressed quicktime files or .dv? If you can - does it make a difference?

Hope this helps.

M.

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Answer 2

Subala Author

Level 1

75 points

Jun 10, 2006 10:18 PM in response to Moich

Hi M.,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I thought of this and have tried saving the initial clip from Snapsz Pro X as "none" (meaning no compression) and "uncompressed". The results are the same once it comes out of FCE. But, I did notice something different after reading a few other posts and looking closer.

After capturing my initial clip, I view it in QT and it looks great. Of course, if I don't use any compression, it looks better than when I do save with compression. Then I take the clip into FCE and it begins to look poor. I noticed that the "show as square pixel" box is checked in the canvan and viewer windows and once I deselect this box, they look fine in FCE.

So I do my editing and everything still looks great in FCE. Then I save as a QT movie, and view the results in QT and things look bad. It doesn't matter if I begin with uncompressed video or not. I'm not sure, but I always thought that if you saved as a QT movie (not Quick Time Conversion) that your video was saved in its original format. Is this true?

Anyway, what "I think" is happening is when I view my resulting footage in Quick Time, I'm running into the problem with the square pixels again. So what I was describing as "poor video quality" is actually distorted video due to the non-square vs square pixel thing.

I don't fully understand all of this or how to fix it. Like I mentioned before, I want these projects to play on computer monitors, thus I would think I'd be using square pixels and since I'm capturing video off of a computer monitor, I'd think that the video from SPX uses sq pixels.

Could this be my problem? Anyone have any experience with this? How can I set FCE to handle this video properly and output it in a way to work with a computer monitor?

Any help is appreciated.

Subala

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Answer 3

Moich

Level 2

480 points

Jun 11, 2006 12:46 AM in response to Subala

Actually they should be non square should they not? As its recorded as video and QT/FCE/SPX/ and iDVD will always assume you are outputting to video.

However I think the issue is framerate. SPX takes video at 10fps.

Here's what I found on their FAQ site ( http://www.ambrosiasw.com/support/faqs/faq.php?forum=75&title=Snapz%20Pro%20X&ve rsion=2.0.2&link=utilities/snapzprox/#122)

"We are not terribly familiar with Final Cut Pro, so this question would be better directed to the makers of Final Cut Pro, or forums dedicated to users of Final Cut Pro.

That said, you should be able to import any movie created by Snapz Pro X 2 just like any other .mov file.

The only hitch is the framerate. No matter what the movie was recorded at - and it should be very close to what is set in the Movie Settings in Snapz Pro X 2 - FCP will report the clip is only 10fps. We've gone back and forth with the folks at FCP about this, and we know what's going on. We hope to have it addressed in a future update to Snapz Pro X 2.

In the meantime this is what we've found in testing here with Final Cut Pro-

Set the aspect ratio of your movie to NTSC 4:3 - Invoke SP X, click on the Movie button, set the Selection Style popup to aspect ratio, and then set the width to 4 and the height to 3.

Record the movie. Click on the Settings button next to the Video track. Set the Compressor popup menu to Animation. Save the movie.

In Final Cut Pro, go to the File menu to Import -> Files. Select your movie.

Your movie is now in FCP, ready for editing.

If you need a higher framerate when editing in FCP, select your clip, then go to the File menu to Export -> QuickTime movie...Choose Custom in the Setting popup menu. Under the General tab in the Sequence Preset Editor, set the Editing Timebase to the framerate required for your movie - generally 29.97 in FCP.

Click OK, then Save. Your movie will be exported as a .mov file at 29.97 fps. Then reimport the movie using the File->Import option.

Your movie should now be good to go!"

The same definately applies for FCE

you could also look at:
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/support/faqs/faq.php?forum=75&title=Snapz%20Pro%20X&ve rsion=2.0.2&link=utilities/snapzprox/#120

Hope this helps!

M.

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Answer 4

Subala Author

Level 1

75 points

Jun 11, 2006 11:13 AM in response to Moich

Thanks again M.

It's funny. I read these FAQ before posting here and COMPLETELY overlooked this Q/A! Too many 2am work sessions trying to get this solved. The other funny thing is, I read this answer about six months back when I was having trouble with this same thing. I never finished that project, so I don't remember if this solved it. Anyway, I'll look this over and run a few test and let you know what happens. Thanks for all your help with this.

Subala

Oh, btw, I see you're using a 17" PB and a 20" cinema display. I've been ******* over a setup like this for my grahics work to replace my aging desktop multi-monitor system. When I'm done with this project, I'd love to hear your opinion on how your set-up works for you. Pros and cons etc. Thanks again.

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Answer 5

Subala Author

Level 1

75 points

Jun 12, 2006 7:28 PM in response to Subala

Ok. Problem solved. Basically there were a couple of simple things I needed to do and a few things I didn't realize. First in Snapz Pro, I needed to set the capture area to equal 720x480 using Fixed Size. Not "Aspect Ration" which yields a 640x480 size and things get a little funky in FCE. The clip would show clearly in the Viewer window, but appear fuzzy in the Canvas window.

Second in FCE I needed to deselect "show as sq pixels". Now here's is where the strange part begins. Regardless of the compression type used (btw, I found Sorenson video3 or Animation to yield the best results for what I was doing), if I exported the movie as a Quick Time movie (not a QT Conversion) and viewed it in the QT Player, the movie will appear fuzzy and of poor quality.

But when I took this same movie and burned a dvd in iDVD, the movie would appear fine on the dvd. So basically I was getting tripped up by not proceeding to burning the dvd or creating the disc image. I kept expecting the exported movie to appear correctly in the QT player.

So I've created a pdf document of step-by-step instructions for capturing clips in Snapz Pro X v2.02 and bringing them into FCE, then exporting them from FCE for burning in iDVD. It includes all my detailed settings and screen shots at each stage how the video appeared with both correct and incorrect settings.

Anyone wanting a copy is welcome to email me: ecreations@verizon.net. Please put SNAPZ PRO 2 FCE in the subject line so that I'll see it.

Thanks for all your help M.

Subala

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Answer 6

Moich

Level 2

480 points

Jun 13, 2006 11:37 AM in response to Subala

Delighted you got it sorted out. I always feel safer in static graphics. As soon as they start to move the permutations, logic and time involved seems to fuzzle the brain somewhat so Its great that you've found the solution. I shall shortly e-mail you for the PDF!

Its interesting that logic dicates digital outputs to digital while your solution is based around the assumption that each of the components are geared towards analogue. Hence the fuzzy intermediary step through QuickTime. I shall not dismay when I next hit it. There are too many reasons why it is always a good idea to have an NTSC/PAL monitor outputing as you edit.

Incidentally, the 17" PB and 20" Display work perfectly for me. I thought long and hard about the 23" but reading the forums, considering cost and my needs in design the 20" seemed the best solution and I've not for a second regretted the choice. I haven't got perfect calibration between the two monitors on screen as I seem to have a slight blue shift on the PB and a fair heap of spare brightness on the 20". But if I output from the PB using the PB profile or from the 20" using the 20" profile I have as accurate colour as I could hope for.

I can think of nothing to complain of and shall stick with my setup for a while more to come.

Good luck with the films.

M.

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Answer 7

Subala Author

Level 1

75 points

Jun 13, 2006 4:25 PM in response to Moich

Thanks for the info M. I too have spent my time in still graphics. My graphic arts business is based on print graphics and I've spent the past 15 years plugging away at it. It pays the bills.

But video interest me, so I've been branching out these past few years here as I've had the time, thus progress is slow. Although I enjoy it all when it works, I'm finding that it's truly frustrating when it doesn't. Like many other areas where the "desktop" revolution has enlightened, it's sometimes diffucult to find up-to-date info and solutions as the technology is moving too fast for just about everyone to keep up.

By the time we all get it down, it's changed again and if you're going to use the technology, you seem to get pulled into it the latest-and-greatest even if you don't want to be. So now we're digital, next year we'll be HD digital and trying to learn Blueray and HD-DVD technology. Some are doing it now. I'll wait, but eventually I'll want to do something that means I won't be able to wait any longer.

I'm not complaining, just stating my "observations". In the end, I must be honest with myself and confess that I'd wouldn't enjoy all of this near as much if the challenge weren't there.

As far as the PB is concerned, I've been seriously considering getting the 17" Mac Book Pro and a cinema display. That's more than enough for graphics work and my little video hobbiest activities. Thanks for your feedback on the monitor differnces. I hadn't considered that they'd be differnt but that only makes sense. I don't run a calibrated monitor system with my two crt monitors and I still get by fine in my work. I've just always been concerned about doing graphics work using lcd monitors anyway, but I'm hearing, that that's no longer a concern (general color accuracy). Is that your experience?

Thanks again.
Subala

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