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Highly degraded IQ when exporting from FCP

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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
Hey guys,

Lately I have been noticing that when exporting from FCP 7, the resolution of my shots look like shit when uploaded to Vimeo. They do look a bit better on the NS uploader though... Anyway, I have been following Vimeo's compression guidelines and such and nothing for the better has happened. When I turn HD off, there is no difference then when HD is on. The weird thing is that people say their image looks a little worse in the editor vs online. Which is the complete opposite from me.

Info: Shoot with Canon t3i at 720p and export in 720p


+K for help


Also, sorry for sounding like that bitch that only cares about the resolution of their footy. Its not a huge deal, Its just been annoying me a ton lately.


Apr 6 2012 12:37PM
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Sklar
Posts: 8864 - Karma: 31,612
Are you editing in the correct resolution, like are your sequence settings correct?
Apr 6 2012 1:14PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
Should be. In the editor, my image looks great, so i dont think its the sequence settings.
Apr 6 2012 7:30PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
what do you use to compress your video?
Apr 6 2012 8:04PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
Strait out of FCP to export but use MPEG streamclip to transcode to prores 422 lt
Apr 6 2012 10:24PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
are you transcoding to prores after you export? or before you start working on your project? because you should be exporting to a codec like h.264 and editing in something like prores 422 (lt)

also what ive been doing lately, seems to work well, is just export the file straight from fcp to compressor and use the "youtube sharing" template from the drop down. its settings are the same as vimeo's as far as the right codec and approximate size while still maintaining your image quality
Apr 7 2012 2:07AM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
^yep. Been editing in pro res 422 LT. And export in h.264. Gonna try using compressor with my next edit. Lets hope that does the trickl
Apr 7 2012 7:50AM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
Personally, I think compressor's presets are awful.

Export as a quicktime movie (no compression). Then open in QT Pro and compress it there at around 7000 kbps.
Apr 7 2012 1:32PM
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Mkvackay
Posts: 1903 - Karma: 5,465
vimeo compression says you should have no higher than 5000 kbps. i capped mine at 5000 as a test and it came out looking super pixilated
Apr 7 2012 2:48PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
Got it. I will try that when not on mobile. Thanks for the help.
Apr 7 2012 2:48PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
That's because they'd rather have you uploading smaller files, rather than take advantage of being able to upload large ones and take up more space on their servers.

7000 is the lowest I go. Sometimes I do 8500.
Apr 7 2012 3:01PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
yeah i always take the preset and then i usually keep my video in its source size, so if its 1080p i don't drop it to 720 and then i cap mine around 10500kbps or as high as i can until i get close to about a 400mb video. then just stick to uploading once a week and seems to work ok so far
Apr 7 2012 3:08PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
Landis I tried your method of exporting, and it seems to work a little bit better. But my image is still looking a little fuzzy when looking at the video on the vimeo page. Its different when its embedded though.

password: canon



Apr 7 2012 3:12PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
forgot to mention. this is also in 1080p and i dont see really much of a difference from this and 720p. exported from QT pro at 7000kps, h.264, 24p
Apr 7 2012 3:14PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
Motion looks weird...how are you slowing down the footage?

That's odd because many of my videos are 7500 - 8500 kbps and the compression looks much better. Also, you should be exporting in 23.98fps, not 24fps.
Apr 7 2012 3:24PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
that footage was shot in 30p and didnt slow it down at all. Anything else it could be? I have contacted vimeo about it and they are completely stumped.
Apr 7 2012 4:13PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
Wait, so you're shooting 30p in a 29.97 timeline, then exporting 24 fps? That will create a slew of ghosting problems...
Apr 7 2012 4:21PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
yeah if you shoot in 30fps you should export in 30fps. (29.97) thats probably why you are getting a little bit fuzzy image quality, the computer is trying to line up the video and will put things in or take little things out in order to compensate. then you get image quality problems
Apr 7 2012 4:24PM
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McFellon
Posts: 1841 - Karma: 2,005
I just went on in way more detail about by own problems with sequence settings, but double-check them before you do anything else. They can do terrible, terrible things to your video if you're not careful.
Apr 7 2012 10:09PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
just did re uploaded a new one to vimeo with a frame rate of 29.97 and it does not look any different unfortunately.

also, anything I should be looking out for in sequence settings? my video is completely fine inside the editor, so I dont think its that.
Apr 7 2012 11:39PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
hmm. went to my sequence settings and I was on HDTV 1080i 16:9 and when I change it to HD 1280x1080 i get this weird sized footage. weird. also should my pixel aspect ratio be square?

+K to everyone
Apr 7 2012 11:46PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
thats probably it. if your in final cut you should be able to start with an empty timeline and drop in your clips and it should ask if you want to match the sequence settings with the clip settings. that way you should have everything lined up. but i don't remember if you use FCP

and yes pixels should be square

Apr 7 2012 11:51PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
Haha bunk settings, man.

If you're shooting 30p, your sequence settings should be:

1920x1080
29.97fps
square pixels
Apr 8 2012 12:27AM
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JamesH
Posts: 328 - Karma: 58
Thread
Apr 8 2012 12:31AM
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mBall
Posts: 1690 - Karma: 2,827
Care to explain landis? Why wouldn't this work? Does it not just drop frames?
Apr 8 2012 2:35AM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
Should i be on HDTV 1080i or HD 1920x1080? Its progressive footage so i dont know why 1080i is the preset. Also, when i change it to HD 1920x1080 i get a nasty looking footage.
Apr 8 2012 8:47AM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
To be honest- i don't know. I just know that you're supposed to have matching settings so that everything "fits" so as to avoid what results in something only a nerd could concisely explain.
Apr 8 2012 12:52PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
1080i is the preset because FCP was made back when DV codecs were the standard. I don't know which version you're running, but when i used FCP 6 it always reverted to interlaced timelines. When you get nasty footage, are you copy/pasting it from the 1080i timeline into the 1080p timeline? Because a clip is optimized (not sure if that's the right word) once it's placed in a timeline. So if you are copying it over, you have a 30p clip conformed to 60i conformed to 30p. On a side note, digital progressive frame rates aren't integer-value, so 24p is acttually 23.98; 30p is 39.97.? Integrr-value framerates in post are only used if you're transferring to film. So, your sequence settings (assuming you want to output 30p, which I don't recommend), should be 1920x1080, 29.97 fps, square pixels. Make sure export with these identical settings, with the compression affecting bitrate rather than the aforementioned settings.
Apr 8 2012 1:03PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
Heres a screenshot. Look at the canvas. The only thing I had wrong in sequence settings was the resolution. When I switch it over to HD 1280x1080 (16:9) I get this image. Earlier, I was getting something like zoomed in and cropped.

Click for larger image

if embed didnt work. heres link. https://www.newschoolers.com/memberphoto/453930.0/For-thread-?s=126808&o=8



When I click and drag a clip into my new timeline, it asked me if I wanted to make my sequence settings match the clip, and if I said yes, it would end up putting me back at that stupid interlaced shit.


Apr 8 2012 8:03PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
and this would be the final product of that...


Apr 8 2012 8:11PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
thats really weird. was this shot on a dslr or a different camera?
Apr 8 2012 8:11PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
1280x1080 isn't 16:9....that would be 1920x1080
Apr 8 2012 8:19PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
Click for larger image
Apr 8 2012 8:48PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
canon t3i. FCP hates me. I have soo many problems with it
Apr 8 2012 8:49PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
hmm...well i just looked at my sequence settings of the vid i just did with my 60D and mine is actually 1080i... i am ok with the quality of the video after i exported it cuz i wasnt using the best lens. but makes me think that its how you exported and compressed your video and not your sequence settings. you gotta remember too that only viewing the clips in the canvas area and not on any bigger monitor while editing, everything will look better because its 1080 resolution but crammed down into that little box
Apr 8 2012 9:09PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
yeah im not sure if it is my sequence settings. im going wrong somewhere while exporting. Also, I know sometimes there is a little bit of quality loss when being compressed, but I cant tell a difference from HD and SD. The image looks a million times better in the editor, its not even a comparison. And to be fair, the screen on vimeo and the viewing screen on FCP arent TO different in size.
Apr 8 2012 9:32PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
true true. whats your workflow from start to finish?
Apr 8 2012 9:50PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
Workflow in FCP? Or in general? Once the shots are on my computer, i transcode them to pro res 422 LT. Then inport into FCP and basically just start editing away. Typically i just export directly from FCP using vimeos guidelines. A few weeks ago, i tried a ton of different ways to export, and still nothing better. Oh yeah and if it helps, once uploaded to vimeo, my shots get .25-.5 of a second off sync with the audio. Vimeo has no idea on that problem either...
Apr 8 2012 10:16PM
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Mkvackay
Posts: 1903 - Karma: 5,465
i didn't read anything so this might have already been answered, but 1280 by 1080 isn't hd?

1280 by 720 or 1920 by 1080 is hd
Apr 8 2012 10:22PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
hmm thats weird. ive never really had any problems with audio not syncing or anything like that. im kinda stumped too. what do you transcode with?
Apr 8 2012 10:27PM
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[J_Gasper]
Posts: 2983 - Karma: 1,594
Transcode with MPEG stream clip. And mike, thats what i thought to, but look at that screen shot above. Thats where it says 1280x1080
Apr 9 2012 8:22AM
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1337
Posts: 31054 - Karma: 29,240
derp, 1280x1080 is HD, just not 16:9 hd.
Apr 9 2012 8:25AM
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Mkvackay
Posts: 1903 - Karma: 5,465
guess i didn't realize hd existed in other forms besides anamorphic and 16:9
Apr 9 2012 9:13AM
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Trojan~Man
Posts: 1996 - Karma: 1,357
alrighttt this might have nothing to do with anything but i noticed your transcoding in MPEG to apple pro res 422 LT right? ... well try just "pro res 422" not LT. i've never used LT no idea what it is but ive also never had a problem exporting so maybe give that a go?
Apr 9 2012 9:56AM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
well i use prores422 LT for my dslr footage because you don't really need anything higher for it. i never have had problems with mine so far
Apr 9 2012 12:54PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
Dude, what I'm trying to tell you is that the label 1280x1080 HD (16:9) is WRONG. That is not 16:9 unless you're using some form of DVC codec that stretches an interlaced image to 16:9.

Forget those presets. Make a new sequence altogether. Go to custom, type in 1920x1080, 29.97, square pixels, field dominance: none, ProRes 422 LT. Take a virgin clip out of browser and drop it in.
Apr 9 2012 1:06PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
LT stands for "light." Anything higher than ProRes 422 LT will damage your footage by creating too much headroom in the color space, which makes your 8-bit footage more susceptible to banding.
Apr 9 2012 1:08PM
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Trojan~Man
Posts: 1996 - Karma: 1,357
soo what your saying is I should use LT instead of plain 422? (would this apply to gopro and DSLR?)
Apr 9 2012 1:11PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
Both are "thin" 8-bit codecs, so yes.
Apr 9 2012 1:19PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
correct
Apr 9 2012 1:19PM
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erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,328
when i shoot in 720/60p i always edit in a 23.97 timeline and export in 23.97 and it works fine for me. i am using premiere which might work differently but i have had no problems doing this.
Apr 9 2012 2:25PM
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