last minute meltdown
by charlie hughes
on
Jun 18, 2008 at 2:22:00 pm
So I've built a fairly complicated comp at 720x480, turns out the client wants HD 1080 by 1920.
The comp is chock full of precomps (at 780) and half of it is 3D, half of it is composited elements that aren't 3D.
I don't need to warp it into widescreen, if that's a hassle, but i DO need to bump it up to 1080 (by 1620 or whatever).
Unfortunately, if i go to the master final comp, and just bump up the size... it's STRETCHING the contents, and the resolution is crap.
Is the only alternative, going through and making eeevery single element 3D, bumping up every single comp twice the size and then zooming in with a camera?
Please say it isn't so. At this point I don't think this is physically possible. The masks and shadows cast by elements in this thing are already temperamental. Several layered comps have to match to the very pixel.
Why can't i just export a higher res version? Why doesn't after effects draw more pixels from the original photoshop file in which allll the elements are over sized anyways?
Answer: all the precomps that comprise the full are set to 720. blast. HELP!
Re: last minute meltdown by Dave LaRonde on Jun 18, 2008 at 3:40:42 pm
[charlie hughes]"So I've built a fairly complicated comp at 720x480, turns out the client wants HD 1080 by 1920. "
Ouch. It's a straightforward process to make big things small in AE, but it's hell on earth to make small things big.
"if i go to the master final comp, and just bump up the size... it's STRETCHING the contents, and the resolution is crap. "
Try putting the master final comp into a square-pixel, 1440x1080 (a 4x3 screen aspect ratio) comp, then scaling it to fit. You just might luck out. If you get lucky, you could then nest the 1440x1080 comp inside a 1920x1080 comp and render.
This may or may not work, considering you have 3D precomps, and you may already be using the Continuously Rasterize / Collapse Transformations switch (the icon that looks like an asterisk or a sun). I'm unsure of the behavior of that switch when you have 3D precomps that are layers inside other 3D precomps, which are then 2D layers in a main comp. But you can turn it on in the 1440x1080 comp and see what happens.
Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA
Re: last minute meltdown by david bogie on Jun 18, 2008 at 4:18:48 pm
> [charlie hughes] "So I've built a fairly complicated comp at 720x480, turns out the client wants HD 1080 by 1920. "
Off topic and of no particular use except to future readers: Careful documentation of project parameters and deliverables and the expectations of the client must be part of the contract negotiations. Such a change in deliverable is someone's direct fault and that individual has to be held accountable somehow. Changing a complex After Effects project from SD to any of the more interesting HD formats could be completely impossible under the original, agreed upon schedule and budget.
bogiesan
This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: "For crying out loud, read the freakin' manual."
Re: last minute meltdown by Chris Wright on Jun 18, 2008 at 5:42:13 pm
red giant software hd upscale plugin hd instant fx will do sd to hd. it uses advanced antialiasing and smart scaling to make sd go to any hd preset. I've tried it and it looks pretty good.
Re: last minute meltdown by Darby Edelen on Jun 18, 2008 at 6:29:50 pm
No guarantees that this will work... but try putting your 720x480 comp into a 1920x1080 comp and using Layer > Fit To Comp Height. Then enable collapse transformations on the 720x480 comp, go into the 720x480 comp and collapse transformations on any pre-comps in there as well.
This will destroy any 3D camera moves, and may affect your lighting, but should up-res things as best as is possible. You will have to recreate any camera moves in the final 1920x1080 comp.
Normally in AE if you scale a PSD down to 50% in a pre-comp, then place that pre-comp in another composition and scale it up to 200% you will lose resolution. If you collapse transformations on the pre-comp, however, the 50% and 200% scalings are concatenated and you end up with 100% scale without any loss of resolution.
This only works if things were scaled down in their pre-comps, or if you are using vector images that are being continuously rasterized.
Darby Edelen Lead Designer Left Coast Digital Santa Cruz, CA
Re: last minute meltdown by Joey Burnham on Jun 18, 2008 at 9:17:03 pm
Getting a complicated project from SD to HD is NOT and easy task, unless you cheat and get a plugin, but if you choose to go that route you will definitely encounter a degradation in picture quality.
The solution?
Start from square one. You have half the work already done (keyframes, efx, etc). Just size up your main comp to 1920 x 1080 and get crackin!
No easy way out, but at least you get to bill the client for it.
Re: last minute meltdown by Dave LaRonde on Jun 18, 2008 at 10:05:33 pm
[Joey Burnham]"The solution? Start from square one. You have half the work already done (keyframes, efx, etc). Just size up your main comp to 1920 x 1080 and get crackin! "
Even though I suggested trying to scale up your SD comp, this is the ONLY surefire method to make your upscaling project look right. Unless the client has low standards.
Considering the client waffled on HD-SD, looking good may not be very important, and you might just dodge a bullet by doing it the easy way. Are you willing to gamble with that possibility?
Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA
