image quality poor

The file I'm using is a high res image, in final cut it shows up really bad. It's not proxy. And it doesn't change when I export. Any ideas? Attached refs.

File format of the image?
What is the frame size and DPI of the original?
What is the frame size of your Project in FCP?
Is this during playback only, or when the playhead is parked?

Thanks Ben.

The storyboard artist says – 300dpi

They are pdf's

Frame size of project says 612x792 - I'm guessing it automatically scaled there after dragging and dropping pdf's

This is with playhead parked, playhead playing, and final export of video

Here is the image dimensions im seeing in the upper right

That is a small image.
If your project is 1080 it is normal that it will be pixalized.

DPI is irrelevant. It is the pixel size of the image that counts.

HD video is 1920x1080 at 72 DPI. DPI doesn't matter once inside of an NLE, pixels are pixels, but inside of a graphics program DPI effects image size. Resize that image to fit in your video frame size. I use Pixelmator Pro to resize images as I find it is the best at it around.

Right Ben.
Your image is not a Hi-res imagine as far as I'm concerned.
My HiRes images are 4000 X 3500 or more.
Get that same image at least 1920 X 1080. Bigger is better if you can get it.

tstiefler wrote: They are pdf's

Frame size of project says 612x792 - I'm guessing it automatically scaled there after dragging and dropping pdf's..

If the project itself is 612x792, that's a problem. By default an "automatic" project will assume the characteristics of the first item added to the timeline. You can click on the project icon to select it, then in the Inspector click Modify and change resolution to the proper values. You might want to first make a snapshot of the project to save the current state.

If there's any chance the project is interlaced, the image may appear rough unless View>Show in Viewer>Both Fields is selected.

In general I wouldn't use a complex document type like PDF in an FCP timeline.  I'd make a screen cap and use a JPG or PNG. There is less to go wrong that way. A PDF can contain vector fonts, images, etc. There are many internal versions of PDFs. There is no guarantee FCP will handle that perfectly.

I missed the frame size of the project!
I don't use PDF in FC so i assumed it wasn,t the original document.
Joema post cleared that out of the way! Thanks.

FYI, Preview that comes with your Mac does a good job of exporting a PDF as a graphic file.

And a Project at such a small frame size is going to be blown up at least 200+% in the Viewer and look horrible.