2009

Compatible Media Formats for Animation and Effects
The format you choose depends on whether or not you need to preserve regions of
transparency in the media file. For example, if you’re creating a lower third graphic, you
need to preserve the transparent background so that you can superimpose the actual
title graphic over the video image in your edited sequence. On the other hand, if you’re
creating a graphic or effect that’s designed to fill the entire screen, preserving the alpha
channel isn’t important, and you can choose from a wider variety of codecs. (However,
it’s still smart to pick the highest-quality codec that’s compatible with your workflow to
preserve the maximum image quality in your graphics.)
• Codecs that support alpha channels: Apple ProRes 4444 (a newer, lightly compressed,
10-bit, variable bit rate codec) and Animation (an older, lossless, compressed, 8-bit
codec) are both RGB, 4:4:4:4 codecs that are capable of preserving alpha channel data
that’s written to the file.
• High-quality codecs with no alpha channel support: Apple ProRes 422 (a 10-bit, variable
bit rate, compressed codec suitable for standard definition mastering), Apple ProRes 422
(HQ) (a 10-bit, variable bit rate, compressed codec suitable for high definition mastering),
and 8- and 10-bit Uncompressed (suitable for either standard or high definition) are
all Y′C
B
C
R
, 4:2:2 codecs that are suitable for media exchange between applications.
If the application in which you’re creating your media cannot write to these QuickTime
formats directly, you can probably use one of the available third-party QuickTime
components or utilities, in conjunction with Compressor or another media-processing
application, to convert the exported media as necessary for use with Final Cut Studio.
Tips for Designing Graphics in Third-Party Applications
When you design still images or motion graphics clips to use in a film or video project,
you need to consider the sequence into which they’ll be edited.
• Resolution and pixel aspect ratio: If you’re creating a motion graphics or animation clip,
the resolution (width by height, in pixels) and pixel aspect ratio (square versus
non-square) should match those of the destination sequence to maximize real-time
performance once the clip is edited into the program. If you’re importing graphics, this
is not strictly necessary. In fact, graphics are often brought in at a larger size than the
sequence size in order to create animated pan and scan effects using the Final Cut Pro
Motion tab settings.
• Action and title safe: For both still images and motion graphics clips, keep in mind the
action and title safe guidelines to prevent important text or images from being cut off
around the edges of the frame. Many image editing and animation applications provide
overlays to indicate the outer portions of the frame you should avoid. If you’re working
on graphics for a film, inquire what the recommended aperture is for the film format
being printed to.
56 Chapter 3 Integration During Editorial Development