Quality of my film decreases after I export it in Final Cut Pro 7!

I edited a film on FCP7 that I shot on a DSLR. The film will go on Youtube, so I watched a tutorial on how to export in fcp7 for youtube, and followed what it told me to do. Here are all of my export settings:

Compression Type: H.264
Frame Rate: 30fps
Key Frames: All
Data Rate: Restrict to 8000 kbits/sec
Optimized for download

Dimensions: HD 1920 x 1080 16:9

"Prepare for internet streaming" is checked.


Here's the problem, when I watch the finished film after I've exported it, the quality seems to have reduced, and so has the color a bit (this is compared to the original footage that I shot). I do not know what I'm doing wrong at all, and I hope someone could help me fix this problem.

Here's a screenshot from the original footage:


And here's a screenshot from the exported footage:


Another example:
Before:
After:

Thank you in advance.

Are you using Proxies while editing?
Be sure you switch-back to 'Original/Optimized' BEFORE export...

if not … :
8mbps isn't that much for a high-quality 1080 export....

==edit==
oops, just noticed: your Q relates to FC/p7 - sorry, me wrong, no idea!!! :silly:

Do you also have Compressor ?

Yes, I do have compressor.

OK, in that case you can use a workflow that many of us use:

* Export a Master file of your film in original quality (ProRes 422, HD)
* Check that the quality of that file is same as original
* Compress that version into an H264 in Compressor

Let us know what the result is. If it doesn't work, something is wrong with your H264 settings, but we'll find the issue for sure.

(FYI, among other reasons, one good reason to save a Master in High Quality is that H264 is a low quality format and you want to always keep an High Quality version with you. In the future, when H265 comes for example, you can re-export from your Master to H265)

Hi, I did what you said and exported it as ProRes 422 HD. The quality was perfect but now I need help with the compressing part. I haven't used compressor in a long time and I just need a bit help on how to compress it to h264 and which settings I should use. Thank you

OK, I suppose you are using Compressor 3.

I don't remember it by heart, so she first thing you can see is if there is a Preset to export in H264.

° Go to the finder and find your Master file
° Do right click, Open with... Compressor
° From there, watch this video, it says more than what I can say with words (you can start at 1:41)



Let us know if it works out!

PS: you probably know this already but FCP7 and Compressor 3 are very old, with FCPX and/or Compressor 4 there are pre-made settings for Youtube