[This article was first published in the December, 2007, issue of
Larry's Final Cut Pro Newsletter. Click here to subscribe.]

Lee Berger sent in the following comment on down-converting images in Compressor:

I would add that Compressor is an excellent software alternative. I'm very disappointed in FCP's ability to downscale in a sequence (placing HDV clips in a SD timeline). I've found that no matter what sequence or render codec I choose the aliasing is unacceptable (even after rendering).

My workaround is to use Compressor to downscale clips or a sequence (via a self contained QuickTime movie in native format). I have created a setting for HDV to SD with letterbox. You can clearly see the difference in quality between the two workflows (look at the brim of his hat).

Oh yeah, I also tried field dominance and field shift with no change in the result

Larry replies: Lee, thanks for sending these in. The images above are scaled-down JPEGs of the PNGs you sent in. If you want to see the original PNGs, side-by-side, click here.

Larry Jordan is a post-production consultant and an Apple-Certified Trainer in Digital Media with over 25 years experience as producer, director and editor with network, local and corporate credits. Based in Los Angeles, he's a member of both the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America.

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