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garek007
garek007
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Workflow question starting big, then small, then big, it goes on

Sep 10, 2010 9:37 AM

Hi,

 

I have a project. I have several comps, let's call one of them Comp A.

 

Comp A is 1920x1080 pixels in size. I am hoping my company will make the switch to blu-ray sooner or later, but it hasn't happend yet, so I was working large.

 

I need to output to standard DVD size, 864x486

 

So I place Comp A inside of a new comp, let's call it SizerComp. SizerComp is 864x486 pixels in size, and this is the comp that gets rendered, and finally, authored to DVD.

 

I notice that the DVD that results from this output, the text is somewhat blurry. Is this because of the workflow I have used? Or maybe I need to scale my text up larger? It's not small text, but definitely on the smaller side.

 

 

Ok onward.

So I am also rendering videos from 3DS Max. I don't want to render at 1920x1080 because it takes FOREVER. Am I safe to render at the final size my DVD will be? So can I render 864x486, place this file into Comp A, and then scale it up to fill the comp? It would pretty much double the size of the 3D frames that were outputted, but then upon final render, the whole Comp A would get sized back down to 864x486 again, the original size of the 3D frames.

 

So for the second scenario, am I looking at a quality loss on my 3D output?

535 Views   9 Replies   Latest reply: Todd_Kopriva, Sep 10, 2010 1:28 PM
 
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  • Todd_Kopriva
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    1. Todd_Kopriva,
    Sep 10, 2010 10:02 AM   in reply to garek007
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    If the point of working large is that you think that there may be a need for a large version later, then I would suggest doing your 3D renders at the large size, even if it takes a long time. Scaling of raster images is always going to cause a quality loss.

     
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  • garek007
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    2. garek007,
    Sep 10, 2010 10:20 AM   in reply to Todd_Kopriva
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    Thanks Todd,

     

    That is a good point. I may resize to 720p instead of 1080p. Still High Res, but not as large.

     

    So Todd, even scaling from large to small is going to cause quality loss? Or do you simply mean that when you scale UP there is a loss? I know the answer for one still image in Photoshop, but I'm not sure how AE handles it.

     

    Would it be best to just work at my final output size? 864x486?

     
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  • Todd_Kopriva
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    3. Todd_Kopriva,
    Sep 10, 2010 10:25 AM   in reply to garek007
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    The quality loss when scaling down is typically less than the quality loss when scaling up, but it does occur.

     

    Yes, I would recommend working at your output size in most cases.

     

    You had a good thought, which is to work large if you think that you will be required to output at a large size later---but there are tradeoffs. And, if you're really not likely to have to output large later, then you've made those tradeoffs of quality and time for nothing.

     

    I made similar points here.

     
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  • garek007
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    4. garek007,
    Sep 10, 2010 10:48 AM   in reply to Todd_Kopriva
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    Thanks Todd, I will rescale my project and test as you suggestd in your link. Thanks again.

     
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  • garek007
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    5. garek007,
    Sep 10, 2010 11:35 AM   in reply to garek007
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    ok Todd, maybe you can help with this now. I need to resize my entire project. How the hell do I do that without going into every single comp?

     

    I know I'll need to do minor tweaks, but hoping I can resize everything quickly and then just tweak here and there.

     
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  • Todd_Kopriva
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    6. Todd_Kopriva,
    Sep 10, 2010 12:14 PM   in reply to garek007
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    http://forums.adobe.com/thread/633633

     
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  • garek007
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    7. garek007,
    Sep 10, 2010 12:29 PM   in reply to Todd_Kopriva
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    sweet thanks Todd


     
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  • garek007
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    8. garek007,
    Sep 10, 2010 1:24 PM   in reply to garek007
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    Hey Todd,

    Ok, I did a test and I did not notice a whole lot of difference.

     

    I do feel that when I build large comps, then place them into standard resolution comps for rendering, it softens my video a bit. Would you agreet with this statement? All of my text seems a tad on the soft side.

     

    BUT, when I redo the comp at 720x480 and output, my text seems a bit jagged.

     

    Is this normal?

     

    Is it true that I should use larger text? Could the result of the jaggies be that my words are too small?

     
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  • Todd_Kopriva
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    9. Todd_Kopriva,
    Sep 10, 2010 1:28 PM   in reply to garek007
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    Sorry, but I'm not going to be able to respond much more on this thread today. Very busy.

     

    Regarding text, though, see this.

     
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