Exporting AS on Mac

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cb24p
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Exporting AS on Mac

Post by cb24p »

Greetings. Need tips/tricks on exporting. Have read many posts over the last 7 days but haven't found an answer that works in this case

Anime Studio
MacPro running 10.5.6 (have followed link on another post for bug fix, but it may only be for ASP - Page wouldn't show up on my version.)

:30 animation with voice on soundtrack
Have cleaned up all layers (checked keyframes, settings, etc)

On Export, AS only offers the options of Qiucktime or Flash. I chose QT, Compression set at "animation" and "Best/High" with "Millions colors".

The audio track doesn't survive the full 30 sec export, but it will make it thru 90 frames so far.

My thought was to export in bits and then reassemble in Final Cut, but when I put it in FC, the image quality suffers.

Suggestions? Laughter? Another cup of joe?
Thanks to all!
cb24p
AS (not Pro yet) on MacPro 10.5.6
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heyvern
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Re: Exporting AS on Mac

Post by heyvern »

cb24p wrote: My thought was to export in bits and then reassemble in Final Cut, but when I put it in FC, the image quality suffers.
What does that mean exactly "image quality suffers"? FCP is a very high end video application and should have no problems or issues with any type of video and without any loss of quality. You list some of the export settings from AS but not the pixel dimensions. Make sure your AS pixel dimensions match the project settings in FCP or visa versa.

I wish I had FCP for doing final editing of renders out of AS. I can't afford it and it probably wouldn't even run on my old mac. ;)

-vern
cb24p
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Post by cb24p »

Thanks for your quick response. Pixels are the same, and am continuing to look at situation. More importantly, is it normal for AS to omit the audio? Is there an AS fix? Just tried another export of 100 frames and it's silent.

CB
AS (not Pro yet) on MacPro 10.5.6
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synthsin75
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Post by synthsin75 »

Anime Studio:
http://www.lostmarble.com/downloads/AS_ ... bugfix.zip
Anime Studio Pro:
http://www.lostmarble.com/downloads/ASP ... bugfix.zip

Here's the bug fixes, but these are mainly for AS crashing on export on Mac. Too bad AS doesn't have batch export like ASP. I did find a pretty old post that mentions exporting from frame zero instead of starting with frame one. Might try that.

The audio file isn't insanely large is it?
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slowtiger
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Post by slowtiger »

OK. First, I wouldn't export the sound with the image since it's easy to add it again in Finalcut, plus I have much better means to control the sound in there.

Please tell us the dimensions of your project in AS, and the dimensions of the project in Finalcut. I have a suspicion here, let's see if I'm right. FC has certain default project settings to choose from, which one did you try?

Which Finalcut version is it, and is it Pro or Express?
cb24p
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Post by cb24p »

Hi again and thank you to all. I'm a non-animator who's trying to help a high school kid with a project that is due Saturday. I can cut DX,FX and pix but AS is kicking my bottom.

First let me reply to Synthsin75, (and any Mac users reading this). Has anyone been successful with using the bugfix links? AS crashes on export like crazy today. I think lostmarble has purged said links them from the site, but something downloaded here and appears to have exacerbated things. When I click on the downloaded file, I get one of those "AS quit unexpectedly" windows. :oops:

The audio file is merely the teen speaking. nothing else.

I have created new AS projects and have been attempting to separate things into units that can come together in FCP. Slowtiger: its FCP-5.1, part of FCStudio. NTSC 720x480 and AS has the same 720x480. My situation has deteriorated so badly with export crashes that I can't even experiment with a conform in FCP.

Your collective help is soothing my discouragement at (not) meeting the deadline.

Thank you all.
AS (not Pro yet) on MacPro 10.5.6
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synthsin75
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Post by synthsin75 »

I'm not on Mac, just trying to be helpful.
These are only for Mac (no export crash on Windows), and are not full installers. If you unzip the package, you'll see just the main application file. Simply replace the existing "Anime Studio.app" or "Anime Studio Pro.app" file in the application folder.
From this thread where the bug fixes were originally posted. viewtopic.php?t=10914&postdays=0&postor ... x&start=15
cb24p
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Post by cb24p »

I absolutely appreciate the helpfulness intended and given. Everyone here is great. I'm still investigating what the heck I'm doing. Maybe I'll have something worthwhile to offer up by tomorrow .

cb
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heyvern
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Post by heyvern »

I have the Mac version and all the bug fixes worked for me. I have no trouble exporting from AS with sound in any video format (I have QT Pro). I use either iMovie or an old copy of AE to do compositing or video editing of QT clips or image sequences (need AS pro for image sequences).

The "constant crashing on export" just isn't enough information to go on. There is no way to know for certain what is causing this. It could be the sound file is corrupted, your system is "broken" or whatever. I don't know. Plus there are new updates to Mac OS that could change things or break things.

I would suggest starting from "scratch". Uninstall/remove AS and reinstall it and then add the updates.

p.s. I did have a problem exporting animations using the h.264 QT codec. That was a problem with how that codec compresses files so I just used a different codec. It didn't crash but I didn't get a final rendered movie file. It was "empty" or something like that. Can't remember exactly.

-vern
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slowtiger
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Post by slowtiger »

Vern: H.264 is useless in all my animation applications. I suppose that's because it's a codec which uses future frames to define the actual ones, and the future frame just isn't rendered at that moment.

cb24p: The settings seem OK to me. I haven't experienced crashes during export any more since AS version 5.6.

You have 3 separate problems. Let's try to solve them one by one.

1. Sound. There's an option in AS "animation" menu "remove soundtrack". Do this and try to export again. Any better? Then a corrupt sound file was the culprit.

2. Could you create a test file, just some 3 seconds long, and export this? If this goes without trouble, your original file may be corrupted.

3. Does export from FC crash as well? If so, it's likely to be a faulty Quicktime installation.

In worst case, I think one of us could render the file for you - 30 sec of NTSC are not too big to put on someone's web space.
cb24p
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Post by cb24p »

[quote=
In worst case, I think one of us could render the file for you - 30 sec of NTSC are not too big to put on someone's web space.[/quote]

Thank you all. The major problem with bug fixes not working MIGHT be because, even though I replaced old app with new in the AS folder, the AS folder isn't living in the "Applications" folder. I haven't time to rearrange the furniture now - rushing to get this stuff out. Will do some cleanup later.

Slowtiger-- Thank you for your offer of exporting it for me - as it turns out, Mike at Lost Marble did that and sent it to me. Boy, it looks great.

1)I did in fact remove the soundtrack, but still think the bugfix was key.
2) can't even open up AS anymore so can't test the test idea
3)FCP does not crash.

Not sure what ideas you had in prev. posts re: the Final Cut settings, but I went into the project and found the sequence was set to DV NTSC. When I changed settings to Animation and opened a new sequence, the picture quality jumped way up.

Thanks again to all!
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heyvern
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Post by heyvern »

Is there more than one user on you Mac? When you installed AS did you install it for all users? If you "fiddle" around with how or where applications are installed I think you might be able to mess up how the Mac OS accesses them.

I would suggest installing AS in the default Applications Folder. Make absolutely sure you have the right update. There are TWO updates one for STANDARD and one for PRO. Don't use both.

-vern
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Mikdog
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Post by Mikdog »

Make sure when you export you state that it should export from frame 1 to whatever, not frame 0. If you say frame 0, it omits the audio. I know - weird. If I remember correctly.
Debo
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Post by Debo »

As far as FCP goes, the problem I think is that it may mainly want you to use either DV files or the Apple Intermediate Codec. Maybe you could mess around with an app like MPEG Streamclip, convert your stuff, and see if there's anything FCP catches.

My experience is based on using FCE, however. I could be mistaken -- so just for what it's worth.

Also, the bug fix worked for me too. Strangely, I never had any problems with my PowerBook, but recently, on my new iMac, ASP started crashing suddenly during exports so I looked around for any solutions. Found one here, of course.
dpolcino
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Post by dpolcino »

A couple little things for you. If you're doing an NTSC project you should work in AS at 720x540 (square pixel resolution) then make your project non-square tv ratio in FCP (720x480 or 720x486).

Render out of AS with Anim Codec set to 90% or high with same frame rate as your project.

In FCP, if you have a newer version, I recommend starting with a new sequence, then drag the AS-rendered file into the sequence timeline. FCP will ask if you want to match your video's settings and say YES.

Then go to sequence properties and set it to ProRes and change the pixel aspect. You can work in Animation Codec as well but won't get realtime feedback. Your settings should be something like: ProRes, CCIR, 23.98df progressive.

Then drag your audio clip in and lock it to the video clip (if you need to move it around)
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