Need Export File Type Advice 'n more (4 my big-headed plans)

[Dismal_Bliss]

I’ve been playing around with Moho A LOT, and even purchased my copy. My ultimate goal (and I will achieve it) is to create quality cartoons, some even feature length, for distribution on DVD and VHS over the next 10 to 20 years.

I know almost nothing about going from the near-finished product, exporting the animation, and putting it all together for final release. The problems I have been running into are these (and I will be using a 10-second clip of mine for the file-size figures):

What is the best format to export? When I do so in QuickTime (Sorenson3), I get a small file size (1.8mb). The quality is decent except for some blobby ghost-images that appear in the background, which I absolutely can‘t stand. When I export in DivX, the file size is smallest (900kb), but smudge marks appear where the lines of the character were prior to moving, so it ultimately just looks dirty. I rendered in .AVI with no compression, and wound up with a staggering 275mb file, and the 10 second clip takes about 20 seconds to actually play back. The Huffyyuv codec gave me decent quality, and mediocre file size (89mb).

I need to know what is the best for exporting simply for preview purposes, and then ultimately and most importantly, exporting with a view to professionally distributing on DVD and VHS.

Before I forget, I’ve heard that my project settings should be 720x540 at 24fps for the type of work I’m trying to accomplish. Is this true?

Also, I need a little explanation of what the following options do for exporting your animation.

1. Antialiased edges - Huh?

I did some searching through the forum and got a general idea, but I would like to have it specifically explained.

2. Apply shape effects (This one is obvious)
3. Apply layer effects (I get this one too)

4. Render at half dimensions - I’ll guess…

I assume a 720x540 project would be reduced to 360x270

5. Render at half frame rate - I’ll guess…

I assume a 24fps project would be reduced to 12fps

6. Reduced Particles - Seems obvious, but…

… a brief explanation wouldn’t hurt.

7. Extra-Smooth Edges - Huh?

I definitely want to know what this does, and if this is beneficial or not.

8. Use NTSC-safe colors - Huh? Who’s he?

9. Do not pre-multiply alpha channel - Huh?


Any information on the following would also be helpful:

AVI Options such as Cinepak Codec, Intel, Intel Indeo, Intel IYUV, MS RLE, MS Video 1, MS H.263, MS H.261, DivX, HuffyYUV, Full Frames (uncompressed) - What are they, and what do they mean for me?

Quicktime options such as Sorenson, Sorenson3, Intel Indeo, Cinepak, DV, MPEG4 (and there are so many to choose from) - What are they, and what do they mean for me?

SWF - I know absolutely nothing about this option.


All your help is appreciated. Please please thank you thank you!

- Bob

[cribble]

Sorry if i'm only answering a few of your many questions.

To get good quality and small file export, use Quicktime's Animation export at million+ and full quality. this way you'll still get great output, small sizes and alpha channels.

Before I forget, I’ve heard that my project settings should be 720x540 at 24fps for the type of work I’m trying to accomplish. Is this true?

There was a huge discussion ages ago on the other, older board which brings up this question. My point is to always work above 640x480 and above 24fps for film. If you're doing DVD I recommend you take advantage of the digital qualities and use a higher frame rate (like 25-30 would be sensible), but go nuts. Though i'm not entirely sure at what dimension you should be working at, but work above 24fps if your doing TV stuff.

SWF output is a very popular output nowadays. SWF is an output for web. It takes your vector animation, optimizes it and exports with a very, very small file size. The main daddy that started this was Macromedia. So SWF is for ultra small fie output, but limited by special effects (so you can't use blur).

[Lost Marble]

The issues of which format to use and what the differences are between video codecs are very long and complex.

cribble recommends the Animation codec at full quality because it's a lossless codec (only if you choose full quality). A lossless codec does not throw out any data, so your video should look perfect. However, the file size will be pretty large. You would never deliver such a video over the web.

The other kind of codec is called lossy. Most video codecs are lossy, and can give you a smaller file by throwing out some of the data. This can lead to blurriness or ghost imagesand other artifacts. DVDs, digital video cameras, streaming web video are all encoded in some lossy format. Lossless formats are just too big to be practical in most cases.

I've found that the Sorenson3 codec works pretty well with Moho animation (when you consider both quality and file size). Try increasing the quality setting a little bit to see if the ghosting goes away.

Codecs, by the way, are the choices you see when exporting either QuickTime or AVI. QuickTime or AVI is the file format, and the codec is the compression method (Animation, Sorenson, Cinepak, DV, etc.).

Here's a little more information about video codecs. Or, you might try searching for books about QuickTime. I think there used to be a good one a long time ago about what the different codec choices were for (different ones are optimized for different purposes) and how to choose one.

http://fr.techsmith.com/products/studio ... cintro.asp

1. Antialiased edges - Huh?

When this option is turned on, the edges of vector shapes are drawn smoothly. If you turn this off, the edges will appear blocky and pixelated. This feature was requested by people using Moho to create game characters. Normally, you would never want to turn it off.

4. Render at half dimensions - I’ll guess…

I assume a 720x540 project would be reduced to 360x270

5. Render at half frame rate - I’ll guess…

I assume a 24fps project would be reduced to 12fps

You guessed right on both of these. These options can be used to speed up rendering if you just want a quick, lower-quality preview of the entire animation.

6. Reduced Particles - Seems obvious, but…

… a brief explanation wouldn’t hurt.

In the settings for particle layers, you can set the number of particles and the number of preview particles. The number of preview particles is used to display the effect in the editing view, and the full number is used when rendering. If this option is on, then the number of preview particles is used when rendering.

Complex particle effects can sometimes take a long time to render. Turning this option on can speed things up if you're just doing a preview and not the final render.

7. Extra-Smooth Edges - Huh?

I definitely want to know what this does, and if this is beneficial or not.

This actually reads "Extra-smooth images". When turned on, Moho spends more time rendering image layers. This makes a difference especially if you're using a lot of bone warping on an image layer, but it takes longer so it's optional.

8. Use NTSC-safe colors - Huh? Who’s he?

NTSC is the broadcast TV format in the US. Unlike a computer monitor, a television is incapable of displaying so many colors. For example, full-on bright red on a computer monitor just looks really red, but on a regular TV set it "bleeds" and creates ugly haloes.

If you turn this option on, Moho restricts color output to the theoretical limits of an NTSC TV screen. This can be useful if your final output is to be viewed on TV. However, it's still important to test things on an actual TV screen if that matters to you.

9. Do not pre-multiply alpha channel - Huh?

This is useful for compositing video sequences on top of each other, either in Moho itself or in a program like After Effects. Compositing is another complex subject that I'm not going to go into. Basically, if you turn this option on, your video will probably look strange if you just play it back. However, if the video is meant to be composited on top of other layers of video in a post-production program like After Effects, you'll get a better result if you don't pre-multiply the alpha channel.