User Guide

CHAPTER 2
86
Preparing and Importing Footage
To separate video fields in imported footage:
1 Select the footage item in the Project window.
2 Choose File > Interpret Footage > Main.
3 Select an option from the Separate Fields pop-up menu.
4 Click Motion Detect to increase image quality in nonmoving areas when the image is
rendered at Best quality. Then click OK.
Interpreting field order
Interlaced video has a field order defining the order in which the two video fields (upper
and lower) are displayed. A system that draws the upper lines before the lower lines is
called upper-field first; one that draws the lower lines before the upper lines is called lower-
field first. The order in which the fields are displayed is important, especially when the
fields contain motion. If you separate video fields using the wrong field order, motion will
not appear smooth.
Some programs, including After Effects and current versions of Media 100, label the field
order when rendering interlaced video files. When you import a labeled video file, After
Effects honors the field order label automatically. You can override the field order using
the Interpretation Rules file. For more information about field order, see “Specifying
interpretation rules” on page 67.
If a file does not contain a field order label, you can match the original field order of your
footage. If you are not sure which field order was used to interlace a footage item, use the
procedure below to find out.
To determine the original field order:
1 Select the item in the Project window.
2 Choose File > Interpret Footage > Main.
3 In the Interpret Footage dialog box, select Upper Field First from the Separate Fields
pop-up menu, and then click OK.
4 In the Project window, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you double-click
the footage to open it in a Footage window.
5 If the Time Controls palette is not visible, choose Window > Show Time Controls.
6 In the Footage window, find a segment that contains one or more moving areas.
UG.book Page 86 Wednesday, February 21, 2001 12:05 PM