Get Anime Studio Pro and Final Cut Express 4 to talk nicely

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:19 pm

Hi,

I really need some help.

I'd like to know what settings to make my exports from Anime Studio Pro 5.6 so that they get accepted with as little distortion as possible into FCE 4 HD, and what settings to make FCE 4 HD, and what settings to render out of.

I can get movies exported from AS cleanly with NO COMPRESSION, but when they get imported into Final Cut Express so I can splice things together, DV PAL seems to mangle the pixel ratio and make it look suckie.

Thus I'd like to know how to go about getting the best final result.

I'd like to end up with a PAL video, 720 x 576 @ 25 fps.

FCE 4 is giving me hassles.

Thanks,

Mike

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:38 pm

Also if someone could maybe clue me in about how to go about exporting from AS for HD and what settings to make in FCE 4.

Tanks for the help. I've never done HD, but it looks like it might make sense for me to do this.

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:13 pm

Ah, ok.

I figured out what was going on.

I was rendering out @ PAL presets, so it was making the pixels non-square or something so everything looked all bunched up.

However, when I set the pixels to CUSTOM size and just said 720 x 576, it rendered out nicely with square pixels.

Yay. I was about to have a fanny wobble and thought FCE was a waste of money.

Also figured out that HD might be a possibility for doing.

Thanks. Mike.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:37 pm

Mike, you need to render in 768 x 576 from AS because AS only does square pixels. FC imports this and will render a standard 720 x 576 PAL with rectangular pixels in the end.

The distortion in the image is barely visible, it's about 6% difference, but I like my artwork undistorted.

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:04 pm

Hi Slow,

Thanks for replying. Your knowledge is teh awesome.

So, I'll export from AS @ 768 x 576, then do I set my FCE project to DV PAL 48Khz or DV PAL 48Khz ANAMORPHIC? <- not sure what teh anamorphic is.

And then when it comes time to render, do I just choose the SD PAL option 720 x 576 (768 x 576)?

Also, thanks for the suggestion of FCE over After Effects. Saved me a whackload of dough and looks just as versatile for my needs.

Thanks again,

Mike

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:29 pm

No, the PAL anamorphotic settings are 16:9.

Just use the first option, DV-PAL (48 kHz). This configuration setting ist just there to establish an import link to a camera - which you don't have.

When you render, you will have more options, so by any means use rendering "with Quicktime conversion" so you have access to "Uncompressed 4:2:2" or any other high quality codec. Don't use DV unless you plan to output on DV.

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:18 pm

Ok cool I'll give this a shot.

Another thing - should I choose Uncompressed 4:2:2 10-bit or 8-bit?

Thanks,

m

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:27 pm

Ok awesome, the 768 x 576 thing works

BUT - if I render out uncompressed (not 4:2:2, jut uncompressed) the picture has jaggie tears a lot of places. Not with 4:2:2 though.

Strange

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 11:13 pm

"Uncompressed 4:2:2" is the option my post production facility asked for when we agreed upon the delivery format. Maybe you should check with your client as well. This was the codec I used to render from FC.

For intermediate files from AS to FC I'd stick to the PNG codec, highest quality, and millions (or millions+ in case I need alpha) colours. It's also the one I use for exchange between AS and TVP.

I think 10-bit is overkill since you don't use a 10-bit application ... nor do I. TVP as well as AS are both 8-bit, rendering into 10-bit would only create unnecessary large files.

One thing in FC to check: if you render with "Quicktime conversion", make sure to check the dimensions after you selected a codec. FC will sometimes switch to some very odd numbers by itself. You have to correct this by hand.

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 11:47 pm

Awesome. Thanks, I've learned a lot from this

Peace out,

Mike

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:39 am

Hi slow,

Another quezzie - if I want to render out 16:9 size, what size should I make the AS settings?

if PAL should be 768 x 576, then I wonder what I should make the widescreen settings.

Thanks

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:42 am

Tricky one. Usually you would choose a HD format for AS, like 1280 x 720. (Remember, source files always have square pixels.) On a strong machine this isn't a problem, however, if speed and file size is an issue for you, it's overkill for the desired target format (PAL 16:9).

In that case choose a convenient 1024 x 576. This goes into FC, which finally renders it as PAL 16:9 with 720 x 576 pixels (anamorphotic rectangles) and sets the marker in the video file so any other application understands it's 16:9.

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 12:03 pm

Thanks for the reply.

But hang on... it looks like FCE's settings for HD ARE 1280 x 720, which is the same as AS. So, seems like PAL needs to be different (768 x 576 to get 720 x 576) but 16:9 widescreen needs to stay the same (1280 x 720).

I'm not even going to bring the new PAL size; 788 x 576 into this. Too much.

Makes my head spin. Can't quite figure it out.

Also, if I wanted to render everything out 16:9, to cut a 4:3 version from that in FCE, would I just put everything in a sequence and scale it up so the borders stick out the sides of the 4:3 screen?

Thanks for your help.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 12:26 pm

I said it was going to be complicated ... *g*

OK. First, it's always possible to create a big project and work in it, and later render a much smaller video file from it. Working from big to small is always the right direction.

Second: if you need a PAL result, DON'T use the 1280 x 720 preset in FC because it only works with 30 fps.

Instead use the 1920 x 1080 preset which will give you the correct 25 fps you need for PAL output.

3.: FC claims that it can import video files of any dimensions into the same project. I haven't tested for this, so you're on your own. I'd suggest you create a 1280 x 720 and a 1024 x 768 file from AS, only one second long, but with very thin lines and stiuff, and try to import both into the same 1920 preset in FC. Then render it as PAL 16:9 and other sizes and check line quality. (I'd do the test myself but will be busy today and tomorrow.)

I'll come back to this subject later.

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 1:28 pm

Thanks.

What I did, if I remember this correctly, I may be wrong... I set up a 1920 x 1080 project in FCE. Then I imported some 1280 x 720, 25 fps footage. Then AFTER I had added this footage to the timeline, I changed the project's settings to 1280 x 720 preset, which then told me its changing everything besides the timeframe; 25 fps.

This was the only way I've figured out how to get a 1280 x 720 project working @ 25 fps. Geez.

Otherwise the larger project aspect ratio cuts off a bit of footage on the left and right.

It'd be nice to be able to set exactly the settings I want from the start. When automated selection things work, its great. When they don't, its not so great. Anyways, I've been very happy with the software otherwise.