Export is truncated? Tried to fix many times. Weird.

[Viddy]

Hi guys.

Thanks to those of you who gave me points on multiclip editing.

I have another problem now. It is very weird.

I've assembled my sequence, nothing special, and in fact no filters at all. Source is 1080i50 (PAL) and I was trying to export to HDV 720p30.

FCP does its thing but when I check out the exported QuickTime movie, it is truncated. I thought I did something wrong but after trying it a few times, I decided to export the movie in two parts, cutting the sequence in half. The second time, it exported a bit more of the movie but it was still truncated. The last clip or two is not included (and it's cut in the middle of the clips).

Anyone encounter this before?

 

[BenB]

First, I'd not use the Export Using QuickTime Conversion. I'd do "Send To..." Compressor for this type of work. You'll get much better quality. Why do you want to go HDV? It's not a very useful format, so I'm just wondering. But you want to do Compressor for this.

As for cutting off the end, not sure, never heard of that. But then, I've never heard of anyone downgrading from one HD format to another. HDV, Long GOP format, introduces tons of problems. Make sure there are on In or Out points in your Sequence when it's open in the Timeline window.

What version of the software are you using?
What is the codec of the original footage?

 

[Viddy]

Hi Ben, thanks for your reply.

The FCP is 5.1.4 and the original is HDV 1080i50 from a Sony HDR-HC1.

I was trying to get rid of the interlacing (motion artifacts) and so figured I'd downgrade it to 720p30.

 

[BenB]

Changing resoluion to progressive isn't alway the best way to deal with interlacing artifacts.

Can you detail where you are seeing these artifacts; is it in stills or in actual video content. Is it be viewed on your computer monitor, or on an external post-production monitor? I have a feeling there's an easier solution to this.

 

[Viddy]

Hi Ben,

Well, a big problem is that many clips were shot through a wire fence at subjects beyond the fencing. So all the wire fencing moves around and you can see all the terrible interlacing.

 

[Viddy]

The video is meant to be viewed either on computer LCD or on DVD. On the LCD it's quite obvious and looks horrible.

 

[BenB]

I'd have to see a sample of the "artifacts" you have. Problem is, LCD is progressive, DVD on a TV is interlaced, so you're going for two different platforms.

If you play the original tape in camera, do you see the artifacts? Also, what are you judging this on, as I asked before, computer screen or post-production monitor?

But at this point, you'd have to verify if the artifacts show up on the original tape or not. I assume this is due to movement. If you change resolution and it's still there, I highly suspect it was originally recorded like that. One of the "issues" with HDV. But verify the original tape first.

 

[Viddy]

Hi -- yes the artifacting is due to motion of the interlaced fields. Because there's a wire fence, all the wires show this, and it's quite obvious. It looks almost like the wires are barbed wires, with horizontal "tines."

My rudimentary understanding of this led to me trying the progressive format, and since there's no 1080p30 export, I tried the 720p30.

It actually works although as you noted, I am not sure there is a better way.

The 720p30 video has the wires blurred from motion, without the interlaced "tines."

I hadn't thought to just try sending the 1080i footage to DVD though, and wonder if the interlaced TV output would negate the visible artifacts that showed up on the LCD.

(?)

 

[BenB]

The question is, did it record the movement with those artifacts, or have they been introduced after. The type of movement you describe can in fact be recorded by the camera that way, even on progressive footage.

When editing, you can NOT every judge interlaced footage on a computer monitor, you have to use an external monitor that is interlaced.

I'd do the DVD (which is going to be interlaced, so going progressive won't help) and play it on a regular TV set and see how it looks before going any further. You may just be seeing artifacts created by the progressive computer screen and not anything that actually exists in the footage.