inject a graphic in FCP HDV timeline without jagging

[Abdessamad Idrissi]

Hi,
Hope someone knows how to resolve this strange issue with graphics imported inside FCP;
I have a high res graphic logo inside Photoshop when imported to FCP (v6.2) timeline it gets jagged and its quality lowers, here is the sequence setting I'm using:

frame size : 1440x1080
pixelo aspect ratio hd 1440x1080
editing timebase : 25
quiktime video setting, compressor : hdv 1080i50

so as you can notice I'm in PAL land (I shoot using canon XHA1s PAL version). I can't get the imported graphics to display normally without any quality loss or jagged edges, and this happens both inside the viewer and also after i export a quicktime movie with setting set to : current settings.

so far, i discovered that if I create a sequence with quiktime video setting, compressor set to: none, then the image displays well, but I'cant integrate it with my other sequences that are set to hdv 1080i50!! because then, FCP gets crazy and doesn't render well the entire sequence!

I searched for this so much and tried multiple combinations with no luck! I tried with psd, tiff, png.. always the same issue.

any help?

[Brian David Melnyk]

view the canvas at 100% with the play head on the graphic, change sequence field dominance to 'none' if it is not. any change?

[Abdessamad Idrissi]

thank you Brian,

I view the canvas at 100% indeed and the play head paused on the graphic, but, same problem.

I could get the graphic to display well using compression = none, but the problem with this approach is that i can't mix this sequence of graphic with other sequences of my HDV footage that are compressed! even if the graphic sequence setting is the same (except for quiktime video setting, compressor) as other sequences.

I think may mistake was to edit in HDV 1080i50, better if I used ProRes. what do you think?

how do you deal with this normally? do you just import a graphic (for example a logo png) directly to FCP HDV timeline?

[Brian David Melnyk]

i'm a little confused with your reply...
if you have an HDV sequence open in the timeline, go to the sequence settings. what is the field dominance? if it is 'upper', change it to 'none', and then view the graphic in the sequence at 100%.
i would also change your renders to pro res as it handles transitions etc. better than HDV.
if a high quality graphic is radically reduced in size, it can also get jaggy, so it is best to make the graphic around the same size as it will be in the video (unless you are panning and zooming-bigger is better, i think).
also, when you output the sequence, what is your final product? have you tried using Compressor?
i'm not sure what you mean that the HDV sequence is 'compressed' and you can't 'mix' sequences...
if the timeline must be constantly rendered, then there may be a problem of the footage not matching the sequence settings. if you create a new sequence and drag in a clip, does FCP ask to change sequence settings?
you could try creating a new sequence with:
frame size : 1440x1080
pixelo aspect ratio hd 1440x1080
field dominance: None
editing timebase : 25
quiktime video setting, compressor : hdv 1080i50
render: pro res
then cut and paste in the other HDV sequence and the graphic, render and see if this helps...

[David Chapman]

If you imported a PSD into the FCP timeline, make sure you open that PSD sequence and render it. PSDs are treated as nested sequences. I've seen this happen before, but it might not be the issue here.

[Abdessamad Idrissi]

thanx again guys for your help.

I already tried with filed dominance set to all of the three states (none, upper..).

what I mean by compression is the settings under quicktime video setting-->compressor as mentioned on this picture (video codec type):

http://help.shinywhitebox.com/files/...Settings-1.png

by mixing sequences I mean; i create an empty sequence called "graphic" and insert my psd file into it. then, I create an empty sequence called "video" and insert an hdv inside it (fcp changes the sequence setting to match HDV footage settings). Next I create a third empty sequence called "mix", I set its settings the same as in "video" sequence.
the problem I have is when I insert both the "graphic" and "video" sequences inside this "mix" sequence, and hit play button, video plays strange (jumps, green screen..)

[Chris Korrow]

Don't know if this is an option for you, but progressive or de-interlaceing seems to be the way to go for graphics, - and DVD's for that matter.