JPG Fidelity Loss in Video

SP
Posted By
Steve_Pateuk
Mar 13, 2007
Views
168
Replies
3
Status
Closed
I just put together a complex slideshow, with video and animation from After Effects. I started with high-res JPG stills and manipultaeed them in Photoshop, ported them to AE for animation then exported the file in AVI format. I did this with several scenes, which I then edited and compiled within PE3 (importing the AVI files and various mp3 files for the sound track). I then rendered the complete movide/slideshow in both AVI format and direct to DVD.

I understand that JPG’s loss fidelity with each save – is there a rule of thumb on the number of times it takes for it to become noticable? Is there a better workflow for me to follow, that will result in less degredation?

Thanks

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DP
Daryl_Pritchard
Mar 13, 2007
Steve,

Once you’ve begun working on an image in JPG format, all subsequent saves of that image should be done in a lossless format that is cross-compatible with AE. I’m guessing TIFs or BMPs would be appropriate, yet hopefully as an Adobe product AE would also support PSD files. That way, when you render your first AVI from AE, that will be the first time any images were again subjected to compression and the image quality should remain high.

Regards,

Daryl
JO
Jim_Oblak
Mar 14, 2007
Are we recognizing that DVD is MPEG2 compression? I suspect you are going to use some sort of compression for the AVI as well. Whatever source image format you use is going to be compressed. You don’t need to be an uncompressed purist with your assets. If the source material is of high enough quality that you cannot visibly see compression artifacts, there is no crime in using JPG.

There is a situation where I avoid JPG. When scanning line art for cartoon coloring, I want really crisp lines that can be autofilled with color. Higher JPG compression makes these lines fuzzy and selecting/filling becomes messy.
DP
Daryl_Pritchard
Mar 14, 2007
Good point Jim. I agree that key factor is the quality of the source material.

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

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