Import From FCP Issues
by jeremey shelton
on
May 25, 2008 at 5:19:19 pm
I have some green screen footage that I have keyed in FCP and I have been trying to import the keyed footage with alpha into AE CS3. For some reason the footage is keying much better in FCP than in AE so I am hoping to do the key in FCP and comp in AE.
I have tried exporting a QT Animation movie with "millions of colors+". But when I get it into AE the alpha is not as clean as it is directly in FCP. So then I tried to export an image sequence and the alpha was better but for some reason the keyed subject is blurry/out of focus. I exported the image sequence as a PNG with "millions of colors+" as well. So I cannot figure out why the image sequence is showing up soft like that. It is not the alpha, it appears to be coming in fine, it is just the core of the image.
Re: Import From FCP Issues by Joey Foreman on May 25, 2008 at 11:55:27 pm
Don't key your footage in FCP. Use keylight in AE - you'll get much better results. But you have to read the manual first and maybe some tutorials. Keying is never a one button instant process - it takes skill regardless of how powerful the keyer. Your footage may look like it's keying better in FCP but it's not. You were probably seeing the results against a black background which is always deceptive. Don't even bring the footage to be keyed into FCP before keying it. After keying it, do your compositing in AE - these are what AE is made for. Then render using the Animation code at highest quality.
By the way, what was your greenscreen footage shot on? If it had 4:2:2 color space, you're throwing away valuable bit depth by exporting to PNG. TIFF is always better - it supports 32 bits per channel.
Joey Foreman
Editor/Animator
Nowhere Productions, Athens, GA
Re: Import From FCP Issues by jeremey shelton on May 26, 2008 at 12:05:40 am
Sadly enough, I am just flat out getting a better key in FCP using the Matte Pro plugin (which isn't made for AE or I would just use in there). I have tried Keylight (toiled for several hours) trying to make it work but it just couldn't get the results I needed. I tried the various tips from discussions on here (blurring green channel, overlaying and using track matte, etc.). The footage is shot on DVCPRO 25. So I am dealing with 4:1:1 (stinks I know, but I haven't been able to get a new camera as of yet). I will try to export a TIFF sequence and see what kind of results I can get that way too.
