Tutorial: image quality & moving paths

[Terry Stetler]

I've seen quite a few complaints about image quality when importing images into MSPro of most species. Just to make sure everyone is on the same page these are the basics;

1. if the project is interlaced (destined for TV) the image should have its media source options set to "FRAME" and have the "flicker reduction" box checked.

Frame is always a good idea, but flicker reduction isn't necessary when the project itself is frame (is non-interlaced), as when the output is to be displayed on a computer.

2. if a moving path is applied you should check the "keep aspect ratio" box in that dialog.

3. in most cases the "interpolate frame size with algorithm" box should also be checked. This option improves quality when the image is being zoomed.

This setting is particularly important for very large photo images and when doing manual "Ken Burns" effects instead of using Pan & Zoom. It is less important if an image has already been resized to its onscreen display dimensions in a graphics tool; PIP images, bugs, lower thirds etc.

There's a bit more, but this covers the basics.