Optical Flow in Motion 3 at DVinfo.net

Gene Crucean · July 3rd, 2007, 01:27 PM

Has anyone had decent results using optical flow in Motion 3? There are no settings so you can't tweak anything.

If you want... test this.

- Here is a 720p60 clip. (http://www.genecrucean.com/misc/8203TS.mov 73mb DVCProHD)
- Use FRC to convert to 30p (29.97).
- Drop it into a 30p timeline.
- Adjust the speed to 50%
- Send to Motion
- Open the Inspector and at the bottom is Timing. Open that and change the frame blending to Optical Flow. Wait for it to calculate. Save.
- Back in FCP... render the new .motn clip.

This is MY result. http://www.genecrucean.com/misc/RC_3...pticalflow.mov 9.5mb H.264

Gene Crucean · July 3rd, 2007, 01:30 PM

Ehh... Motion 3.0.1 btw.

Glenn French · July 3rd, 2007, 03:58 PM

You have the fields reversed somehow...

Gene Crucean · July 3rd, 2007, 11:06 PM

Umm, It's all progressive 720p60 footage shot with an HVX. But... I'll look into that more tomorrow. Thanks for the comment Glenn.

Nathan Apffel · July 24th, 2007, 08:24 PM

Hi Guys,

This is kindof an old post but I was treversing through the posts and found it. I have the same problem! I have tried numerous times...all the same settings...30p, just super jagged. Hope someone has had better luck!

Gene Crucean · July 25th, 2007, 05:46 PM

Yeah this is still un-resolved with me too.

There are a few deal breakers for me personally with FCS2. I hope they release an update soon.

Ian Holb · July 25th, 2007, 05:54 PM

Let me take a stab at it, but what is FRC?

Emre Safak · July 25th, 2007, 07:57 PM

Frame Rate Converter, chief.

Ian Holb · July 26th, 2007, 04:06 AM

Ah, DVCPRO HD virgin here.

I downloaded the clip and followed the directions and I also got the same stuttery output. At this point, it could either be how frames are spit out of the FRC (I used non-self contained) or the way Motion is screwing up the analysis. My bet is on Motion. I must say, I very rarely use Motion, but it is extremely unrefined and buggy. It needs some serious QA fixes.

The good news is you can get the 120fps slowdown look using Compressor 3 with its frame rate control. I have been able to successfully slow the bike footage using this method.

The bad news is, even with optical flow, the slowdown exhibits some motion artifacts such as shimmering and waviness in interpolated frames. Even if you could get Motion/FCP to do a proper slow-down, the results will not look pretty.

July 3rd, 2007, 01:27 PM	#1
Gene Crucean Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 295	Optical Flow in Motion 3 Has anyone had decent results using optical flow in Motion 3? There are no settings so you can't tweak anything. If you want... test this. - Here is a 720p60 clip. (http://www.genecrucean.com/misc/8203TS.mov 73mb DVCProHD) - Use FRC to convert to 30p (29.97). - Drop it into a 30p timeline. - Adjust the speed to 50% - Send to Motion - Open the Inspector and at the bottom is Timing. Open that and change the frame blending to Optical Flow. Wait for it to calculate. Save. - Back in FCP... render the new .motn clip. This is MY result. http://www.genecrucean.com/misc/RC_3...pticalflow.mov 9.5mb H.264

July 24th, 2007, 08:24 PM	#5
Nathan Apffel New Boot Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: California Posts: 11	Same problem Hi Guys, This is kindof an old post but I was treversing through the posts and found it. I have the same problem! I have tried numerous times...all the same settings...30p, just super jagged. Hope someone has had better luck!

July 3rd, 2007, 01:30 PM	#2
Gene Crucean Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 295	Ehh... Motion 3.0.1 btw.

July 3rd, 2007, 03:58 PM	#3
Glenn French Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Arlington MA, USA Posts: 35	You have the fields reversed somehow...

July 3rd, 2007, 11:06 PM	#4
Gene Crucean Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 295	Umm, It's all progressive 720p60 footage shot with an HVX. But... I'll look into that more tomorrow. Thanks for the comment Glenn.

July 25th, 2007, 05:46 PM	#6
Gene Crucean Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 295	Yeah this is still un-resolved with me too. There are a few deal breakers for me personally with FCS2. I hope they release an update soon.

July 25th, 2007, 05:54 PM	#7
Ian Holb Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 127	Let me take a stab at it, but what is FRC?

July 25th, 2007, 07:57 PM	#8
Emre Safak Trustee Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brookline, MA Posts: 1,447	Frame Rate Converter, chief.

July 26th, 2007, 04:06 AM	#9
Ian Holb Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 127	Ah, DVCPRO HD virgin here. I downloaded the clip and followed the directions and I also got the same stuttery output. At this point, it could either be how frames are spit out of the FRC (I used non-self contained) or the way Motion is screwing up the analysis. My bet is on Motion. I must say, I very rarely use Motion, but it is extremely unrefined and buggy. It needs some serious QA fixes. The good news is you can get the 120fps slowdown look using Compressor 3 with its frame rate control. I have been able to successfully slow the bike footage using this method. The bad news is, even with optical flow, the slowdown exhibits some motion artifacts such as shimmering and waviness in interpolated frames. Even if you could get Motion/FCP to do a proper slow-down, the results will not look pretty.