<p>There isn't a right or wrong answer here I don't think.  Both approaches have advantages.  Keying at 1080p will give you clearer detail when trying to find edges, but also will have more noise that could throw off a key.  Additionally, the downscale after the key will apply a slight blur to the image further disguising the edges to make the keying less obvious without having to do an additional blending on the 720p version.  That said, it will take additional processing effort as the image is larger and there is more area to process.</p>

<p>On the flip side, keying at 720p will reduce the amount of processing needed, but will not blend as well and will potentially have softer edges that don't key quite as easily.  The noise is reduced as mentioned before though, which makes the fill areas easier.  It also matches the native resolution of your final output so it may save some quality on the content being keyed in depending on what the source resolution of that content is.</p>

<p>If both source and key are 1080p, I might consider doing it at 1080p and then downscaling the result, but if one of them is 720p to start with, I'd probably key at 720p and soften the edge a bit unless I ran in to problems.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-04T08:47:28.807Z
Interesting, I hadn't thought about the extra noise at full resolution. But what I'm trying to find out is what FCPX does behind the scenes. What you said made sense, but I don't know if FCPX is taking the full 1080p clip, keying it, and then resizing it for my project, or if it's resizing first, then keying it afterwards. I'm also working with proxy media, so I'm not sure if that affects the quality of the key either, but I would imagine that FCPX is smart enough take the original media when rendering. Hope that makes sense?
17xande
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-05T00:37:25.157Z
Final cut is taking the full size clip, keying it, and then resizing it.  Whenever it applies any kind of effect, it performs the calculation on the original media, even if you're working with proxy media.
Jason Conrad
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-03T16:54:01.853Z
2014-09-03T16:54:01.853Z
AJ Henderson
<p>In <strong>FCPX</strong>:<br>
If I have <strong>1080p</strong> footage in a <strong>720p</strong> project, will the keyer effect (chromakey) lose quality?<br>
To ask the question a different way:<br>
Should I have a project with the same dimensions/resolution as the original footage when I key it, and then export it at my desired resolution later? Or is FCPX doing that in the background anyway?</p>

<final-cut-pro-x><chromakey>
Does the project resolution affect the quality of a chromakey?
17xande
# Does the project resolution affect the quality of a chromakey?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-03)

In **FCPX**:  
If I have **1080p** footage in a **720p** project, will the keyer effect (chromakey) lose quality?  
To ask the question a different way:  
Should I have a project with the same dimensions/resolution as the original footage when I key it, and then export it at my desired resolution later? Or is FCPX doing that in the background anyway?

**Tags:** final-cut-pro-x, chromakey


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-09-03. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

There isn't a right or wrong answer here I don't think. Both approaches have advantages. Keying at 1080p will give you clearer detail when trying to find edges, but also will have more noise that could throw off a key. Additionally, the downscale after the key will apply a slight blur to the image further disguising the edges to make the keying less obvious without having to do an additional blending on the 720p version. That said, it will take additional processing effort as the image is larger and there is more area to process.

On the flip side, keying at 720p will reduce the amount of processing needed, but will not blend as well and will potentially have softer edges that don't key quite as easily. The noise is reduced as mentioned before though, which makes the fill areas easier. It also matches the native resolution of your final output so it may save some quality on the content being keyed in depending on what the source resolution of that content is.

If both source and key are 1080p, I might consider doing it at 1080p and then downscaling the result, but if one of them is 720p to start with, I'd probably key at 720p and soften the edge a bit unless I ran in to problems.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Interesting, I hadn't thought about the extra noise at full resolution. But what I'm trying to find out is what FCPX does behind the scenes. What you said made sense, but I don't know if FCPX is taking the full 1080p clip, keying it, and then resizing it for my project, or if it's resizing first, then keying it afterwards. I'm also working with proxy media, so I'm not sure if that affects the quality of the key either, but I would imagine that FCPX is smart enough take the original media when rendering. Hope that makes sense?  
> **username_2**: Final cut is taking the full size clip, keying it, and then resizing it.  Whenever it applies any kind of effect, it performs the calculation on the original media, even if you're working with proxy media.  

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