Output to QT help...
 

Ok I have made some music videos with my friends for fun on Final Cut Pro but when I output it to the final Quicktime file the video shows the vertical lines in the fields or if I have made a text file on After effects when I output it to the final product the text is fuzzy. Is there a compressor I should be using? The best one I have found is Pixlet at 30 frames per second, but it still shows the vertical lines of resolution.... HELP!!!

Wo wo wo... let's slow down a bit.

Not sure what you are saying here. What type of file are you trying to produce? There are many different ways to do Quicktime. You have Sorenson Quicktimes, DV Quicktimes, MPEGs, etc and they can all be at different sizes and frame rates. It sounds like you may be seeing the interlacing lines. Is this video for Web or TV?

That's because you are exporting/rendering from After Effects wrong. When you select "Make Movie" you need to make sure that The QUALITY is set to BEST, the RESOLUTION set to BEST and the EFFECTS set to ALL ON.

Again, is this for the web? The lines could be caused by not using a proper size or by not deinterlacing before compression. If you export to a file with the resolution of 320 x 240, the lines will go away. But if you do 400 x 300, you'll see some funky things. If you run a Deinterlace filter on EVERYTHING before you export, you can choose ANY resolution and not worry about those lines. If you want high compatibility across platforms, I usually recommend Sorenson 3. If you use MPEG 4 or Pixlet or whatever, anyone who attempts to watch it will HAVE to have Quicktime 6 or later.

Yes, I was talking about the interlacing lines... my brain wasn't working at the time.

No, I know after effects. When I export it from there it's clear as day. Couldn't be more perfect. It's the text that comes from it run through FCP that's fuzzed up.

Basically I am going to eventually burn it onto a DVD for TV.

Just leave it in the DV codec then. If you put the Quicktime on High Quality you will see the interlace lines, but it will be fluid when watched on a normal, non-proggressive scan TV. I'm not sure what you are talking about wih the fuzziness with After Effects. Why not just do the titles in FCP?

If I leave it in the DV codec won't the file be HUGE?

Also I plan on shooting everything on the XL1 in Frame mode, so won't this do away with any and all problems in the future? (regarding this of course) I have a regular 60fps JVC miniDV cam now.

Oh and they are not really titles, they are effects in general...more like text animation.

What format and size are you exporting to from After Effects? Try exporting to the Animation codec at 720x480 (your composition should also be that size) and make sure you use Millions of colors + so that the alpha channel remains intact.

DVD uses MPEG 2 for video. If you are using iDVD, I think it converts it for you to that format. If you use DVD Studio Pro, you must convert it yourself (which gives you more control). Also with DVDSP you can convert the sound files to AC3 which will make them smaller as well. But there is no need for an interim codec between DV and MPEG2. You'll only lose quality.

Yeah I use 720x480.

I am probably going to use Idvd for this one. I have never used DVDstudioPro before.

Thanks for all your help.

720x540 I think if you want to keep the correct aspect ratio, remember DV has non-square pixels so the 720x480 image gets vertically compressed a bit when displayed in NTSC.