Upscaling an After Effects composition from SD to HD at DVinfo.net

Daniel Raebiger · September 24th, 2007, 02:31 PM

Hey Folks,

i've did an intro for a show a long time ago - obviously in PAL DV 720x576 for 16:9 output.

Now the Show moved to HD and i'd like to output a full-hd 1920x1080 tif sequence. I figured as the animation consists of 90% text animation it would be an easy thing to do as the fonts can be scaled to any size.

The problem is: ive created a new 1920x1080 sequence in the project, pasted everything in and tried to scale it by grabbing the edges but this totally destroys the entire composition.

Am i missing something?

Thanks for your help!
-Daniel

Daniel Ross · September 24th, 2007, 02:46 PM

Hard to say. Just upscaling it may cause it to pixelate.

The best way to do this would be to upscale everything manually. It doesn't sound like an extremely complex project, so you could just base a new composition on those settings without too much trouble, as well.

Alex Sprinkle · September 24th, 2007, 02:48 PM

are you making each file larger in the project, or an output file larger?

Daniel Raebiger · September 24th, 2007, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Sprinkle

are you making each file larger in the project, or an output file larger?

Well the project consists only of text layers with a few backdrops so there aren't any files to update for me. If i render the output in a larger resolution than the composition it only seems to upscale the 720x576 output instead of rerendering the vector (text) layers in it.

Quote:

The best way to do this would be to upscale everything manually.

Well i have about 50+ text layers with complex alignement so this seems like the worst option :(

Daniel Ross · September 24th, 2007, 04:46 PM

Well, it might be the most work, but it will give the best result.

Your options are to recreate it or to manually upscale every layer.

Start by changing the composition settings to full rez. Then see if any of the layers/settings match this. (I'm not sure exactly how everything would behave. Some things might change, such as percentage based values.)

Then just change each layer to match. If you're lucky, most of the FX/motion settings will change with the scaling. It's highly unlikely that it will be flawless, so you'll need to update some of these.

Good news is that you have it working and that's a great reference for what you need. Bad news is that you probably will have to change most of the settings by hand.

One option would be placing this layer in another composition and resizing it to the higher resolution. But in that case, it might pixelize it. There is a chance, though, that it would interpret things well. (Much better than just scaling the output, at least.)

I have embedded one composition in another and slowed it down and the keyframes were interpolated, so I got smooth motion throughout. This might apply in some cases with your project being scaled, too.

Daniel Raebiger · September 24th, 2007, 04:50 PM

thanks for your advice - seems like the only option. gonna try :)

Daniel Ross · September 24th, 2007, 04:58 PM

I just did a quick test.

100x100 composition.

Typed "TEST".

That was, obviously, completely crisp/clear.

I made a new composition, 500x500 and put that in there. Upsized to 500%. Very distorted. Didn't interpret it well. Just took the result of the last composition.

Then I tried upscaling the text in the first composition, and it did just fine. No artifacting.

So, that appears to be the answer. You must do it within the composition.

I think the time change I mentioned is probably an exception. If you slow the footage to 50% in another composition, then it probably just calls for the first comp to render twice as many frames, so this wouldn't apply to scale, unfortunately.

Daniel Raebiger · September 24th, 2007, 04:59 PM

the problems seems to be the 3D part of the composition. when i try to scale it it totally runs out of alignement and changes its entire form :(

Daniel Raebiger · September 25th, 2007, 12:02 PM

ok i've found a perfect solution:

#1 create an adjustmentlayer in your composition
#2 move your newly created layer to the top of your composition
#3 select all other layers
#4 align them to the adjustmentlayer
#4 resize the adjustmentlayer to 187,5% (if your source is PAL DV to 1920x1080 HD)

this keeps ALL alignements in place AND re-renders the vector based elements in the full resolution instead fo interpolating them

:)

Daniel Ross · September 25th, 2007, 04:19 PM

Ah, very nice. That's cool.

Martin Costa · September 28th, 2007, 10:50 AM

I don't know if you've tried this but add a null object to layers panel then parent all of the layers to be upscaled to the null. Then scale the null up to whatever size you want and all the other layers will do the same.

Aric Mannion · October 1st, 2007, 10:27 AM

did you try nesting the comp? Make a new comp with the size you want, drag your small comp into the larger comp. Adjust the scale of the small comp so it fills the larger screen.
If your animation was made in after effects it will not loose qaulity!

Daniel Ross · October 1st, 2007, 04:02 PM

In response to the last two posts....
http://www.dynamicdrive.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=24882

Martin, he did exactly that.
Aric, that was discussed earlier and it didn't work-- just pixelated the other comp.

Martin Costa · October 2nd, 2007, 05:40 AM

Ahh I see he used that adjustment layer as the parent. cool

September 24th, 2007, 04:50 PM	#6
Daniel Raebiger Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Landshut, Germany Posts: 143	thanks for your advice - seems like the only option. gonna try :) __________________ Important notice: There's still soup left!

September 24th, 2007, 04:59 PM	#8
Daniel Raebiger Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Landshut, Germany Posts: 143	the problems seems to be the 3D part of the composition. when i try to scale it it totally runs out of alignement and changes its entire form :( __________________ Important notice: There's still soup left!

September 25th, 2007, 12:02 PM	#9
Daniel Raebiger Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Landshut, Germany Posts: 143	ok i've found a perfect solution: #1 create an adjustmentlayer in your composition #2 move your newly created layer to the top of your composition #3 select all other layers #4 align them to the adjustmentlayer #4 resize the adjustmentlayer to 187,5% (if your source is PAL DV to 1920x1080 HD) this keeps ALL alignements in place AND re-renders the vector based elements in the full resolution instead fo interpolating them :) __________________ Important notice: There's still soup left!

September 24th, 2007, 02:31 PM	#1
Daniel Raebiger Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Landshut, Germany Posts: 143	Upscaling an After Effects composition from SD to HD Hey Folks, i've did an intro for a show a long time ago - obviously in PAL DV 720x576 for 16:9 output. Now the Show moved to HD and i'd like to output a full-hd 1920x1080 tif sequence. I figured as the animation consists of 90% text animation it would be an easy thing to do as the fonts can be scaled to any size. The problem is: ive created a new 1920x1080 sequence in the project, pasted everything in and tried to scale it by grabbing the edges but this totally destroys the entire composition. Am i missing something? Thanks for your help! -Daniel __________________ Important notice: There's still soup left!

September 24th, 2007, 02:46 PM	#2
Daniel Ross Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Marin & Davis, CA, USA Posts: 418	Hard to say. Just upscaling it may cause it to pixelate. The best way to do this would be to upscale everything manually. It doesn't sound like an extremely complex project, so you could just base a new composition on those settings without too much trouble, as well.

September 24th, 2007, 02:48 PM	#3
Alex Sprinkle Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Moore, Oklahoma Posts: 408	are you making each file larger in the project, or an output file larger?

September 24th, 2007, 04:46 PM	#5
Daniel Ross Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Marin & Davis, CA, USA Posts: 418	Well, it might be the most work, but it will give the best result. Your options are to recreate it or to manually upscale every layer. Start by changing the composition settings to full rez. Then see if any of the layers/settings match this. (I'm not sure exactly how everything would behave. Some things might change, such as percentage based values.) Then just change each layer to match. If you're lucky, most of the FX/motion settings will change with the scaling. It's highly unlikely that it will be flawless, so you'll need to update some of these. Good news is that you have it working and that's a great reference for what you need. Bad news is that you probably will have to change most of the settings by hand. One option would be placing this layer in another composition and resizing it to the higher resolution. But in that case, it might pixelize it. There is a chance, though, that it would interpret things well. (Much better than just scaling the output, at least.) I have embedded one composition in another and slowed it down and the keyframes were interpolated, so I got smooth motion throughout. This might apply in some cases with your project being scaled, too.

September 24th, 2007, 04:58 PM	#7
Daniel Ross Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Marin & Davis, CA, USA Posts: 418	I just did a quick test. 100x100 composition. Typed "TEST". That was, obviously, completely crisp/clear. I made a new composition, 500x500 and put that in there. Upsized to 500%. Very distorted. Didn't interpret it well. Just took the result of the last composition. Then I tried upscaling the text in the first composition, and it did just fine. No artifacting. So, that appears to be the answer. You must do it within the composition. I think the time change I mentioned is probably an exception. If you slow the footage to 50% in another composition, then it probably just calls for the first comp to render twice as many frames, so this wouldn't apply to scale, unfortunately.

September 25th, 2007, 04:19 PM	#10
Daniel Ross Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Marin & Davis, CA, USA Posts: 418	Ah, very nice. That's cool.

September 28th, 2007, 10:50 AM	#11
Martin Costa Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: London UK Posts: 76 Images: 2	I don't know if you've tried this but add a null object to layers panel then parent all of the layers to be upscaled to the null. Then scale the null up to whatever size you want and all the other layers will do the same.

October 1st, 2007, 10:27 AM	#12
Aric Mannion Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 616	did you try nesting the comp? Make a new comp with the size you want, drag your small comp into the larger comp. Adjust the scale of the small comp so it fills the larger screen. If your animation was made in after effects it will not loose qaulity!

October 1st, 2007, 04:02 PM	#13
Daniel Ross Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Marin & Davis, CA, USA Posts: 418	In response to the last two posts.... http://www.dynamicdrive.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=24882 Martin, he did exactly that. Aric, that was discussed earlier and it didn't work-- just pixelated the other comp.

October 2nd, 2007, 05:40 AM	#14
Martin Costa Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: London UK Posts: 76 Images: 2	Ahh I see he used that adjustment layer as the parent. cool