Variations For Testing; Processing Still Images - Autodesk 64006-051108-9001 - Discreet Cleaner - Mac User Manual

194 Chapter 8: Encoding

Variations for Testing

When testing movies, it is helpful to make several different versions with slightly different
parameters, then compare these versions to determine what you like best. The easiest way to
do this is to apply the same setting to all of your files and then use the Settings Modifiers feature
to make adjustments to the individual files. For more details, see "Settings Modifiers" on page
56.
When doing variations on a movie, limit the number of parameters you change at once. If you
change many options at the same time, it is more difficult to determine which change is the
controlling factor in producing better or worse results.
For example, if you are trying to determine how to make the best-looking low-bandwidth
version of a difficult movie, first, make some versions that are different sizes at the same frame
and data rates. If you change the size, frame rate and data rate all at once, it may be hard to
figure out what parameter is making the video look good or bad.
To make different variations:
Add the same source file multiple times to a batch and assign the same base setting to all
1.
versions. See "Assigning a Setting to Multiple Projects" on page 55.
Apply different settings modifiers to the projects in the Batch window to experiment with
2.
different parameters. See "Settings Modifiers" on page 56.
Specify custom names for the variations so you can later determine which final file was
3.
made with which modifier. See "File Naming" on page 24.
Process the batch and proceed as follows:
4.
When the batch is done processing, open the final output movies with the appropriate player
5.
(QuickTime Player, RealPlayer or Windows Media Player) using the Helpers menu.
When you find the file you like best, make a new setting that incorporates the changes you
6.
made with the Settings Modifiers.

Processing Still Images

Cleaner supports various still image formats and enables you to perform common still image
tasks such as cropping, scaling, filtering and color depth reduction. You can create a still image
from a movie and can produce enhanced still images by averaging multiple video frames
together.
You can also import a series of still images as if it were a movie and then process these stills to
produce a final movie for delivery. This is particularly useful if you are using a rendering
program that creates sequential still images instead of movie files.