v19.1.4 Super Scale corrupts other layers using that asset

Hope I can clearly describe this. I have repeated this three times now, to replicate.

First time using Super Scale. Maybe this issue is due to not understanding it.

TLDR; Using Super Scale on a .png in one video track, corrupts a copy of that same .png asset within a Fusion comp on the video track underneath it.

This is hard to pin down. Sometimes, I apply Superscale to the .png, no issue visible in the timeline viewer. Only after Delivery is it visible.

Other times, I immediately see the corrupted .png size (in the fusion comp track), when I turn on Super Scale for the .png above it.

See attached screen shots of timeline and delivered frames. Super Scale is applied to the yellow box on the top right of frame.

Timeline frame not corrupted png.png

Delivered frame w corrupted png.png

Only that specific .png file inside the fusion clip is affected, although other .png assets are in there too.


And, when replicating this just now, on the timeline... I turned Super Scale on, and the fusion comp became corrupted. Turned off Super Scale, and the fusion comp stayed corrupted. Only after I 'jiggled' the transform setting in the Inspector, did the comp revert to normal (with Super Scale still off above it).

For now, I have stopped using Super Scale.

I bealive super scale is one of very few adjustments that affect fusion work, but not always. I'll explain later. Because the order of processing.

All image processing by the Fusion page takes place before effects that are applied by the Edit page, with the sole exception of the Lens Correction effect. When it comes to sizing and image resolution, whether or not the Fusion page affects resolution depends on how you use it.

Fusion Effects Inherit the Source Resolution of a Clip

When you open a clip on the Timeline in the Fusion page, the Fusion page is set to the full source resolution of that clip, regardless of the Timeline resolution. This can be seen if you look at the resolution that’s listed above the upper right-hand corner of the Viewer. This means that if you don’t apply any operations that reduces the image resolution (described later), subsequent sizing adjustments in other pages will refer to the same resolution as the source clip.

Fusion Clips Inherit the Timeline Resolution

If you combine multiple clips on the Timeline into a Fusion clip, the Fusion page is set to the timeline resolution, regardless of the source resolution of the clip. The image is then output to the Edit page at this timeline resolution, and all subsequent sizing adjustments are performed relative to the timeline resolution, with no reference to the original resolution in the source clip.

When you open a clip in fusion it will be referenced from timeline in the edit page, but actual file will be opened from media pool, at source resolution etc. The only excretion is lens correction and few of the settings that can be set in the clip attributes, which also can include super scale. So when you change super scale either in clip attributes or in the edit page, you will effect fusion content that relies on the clip. Unless you apply super scale in the output tab of the timeline settings.

Neither of these options should hinder your work if you apply appropriate workflow. if you want to work with files that are super scaled as it work, than apply super scale either in the edit page or in the clip attributes. If you want to only get super scale in the output for the clip, apply it in the output tab of the timeline settings. With the appropriate resolution in the deliver page, depending on how you want to use super scale. Because you can keep the 1080p format on deliver, but have super scale give you 4K files so you can zoom in or make the appear sharper, or you can also export at 4K. it depends on what you are doing.

For more information on Super Scale, see reference manual, available from help menu as pdf.

Chapter 11, “Image Sizing and Resolution Independence.”

also look into...

Setup and Workflows | Chapter 6 Project Settings

... to understand better how input and output sizing works.

sshot-1064.jpg (100.36 KiB) Viewed 198 times

Ideally you would use fusion tools for your scaling inside fusion and you woudl be working with source resolution set in the media pool. If you need to or want to use super scale, you can either apply it before you put together your composition so it all matches or after fusion for output superscaling using output tab of the timeline settings.

If you change super scale in edit page or in the clip attributes as you are done with the composition, than things won't match anymore since super scale unlike some other methods, actually changes the source resolution of the clip. You can still compensate for this in fusion if you wanted to , but its better to prevent it than to try to cure it later. So I would suggest more efficient method of simply applying correct workflow steps instead of trying to fix it later.

Thanks for those references, quite helpful. I went back to look at all 62 places where Super Scale is mentioned in the manual, including Ch 11.

Ch 30 has this statement, which is essentially the reason I'm looking for (and which you described at the bottom of your post). I had read that before and not realized what it meant regarding the media pool clip itself (Clip attributes).

"Using Super Scale in the Inspector is functionally equivalent to setting the same controls for the media
clip in the Clip Attributes. This means that changing this setting affects all of the additional edits
referencing the selected media as well."

"...referencing the selected media...", to me meant the clip selected on the timeline, but it actually means the attributes of the original clip in the media pool are being changed.

So, flipping that toggle switch in the Inspector can seriously jank anywhere else you've used that clip in the whole project!

That is unobvious, to say the least. Unless you've digested the manual, I suppose.

I applied Super Scale in the timeline, then checked Clip Attributes in the media pool. The Super Scale attribute does indeed change to match the timeline Super Scale selection.

The usefulness of a toggle switch for Super Scale in the Inspector is diminished if it means I have to hunt down all other places where that clip might have been used and make sure they didn't get corrupted.

I'm used to the other Inspector toggles only affecting the version of the clip on the timeline.

Workflow-wise, I won't plan to use Super Scale as a spur-of-the moment choice in the timeline. I would have to make that choice when I intake a low-resolution clip. Change the Clip Attributes or bake it in some other way then.

I'm constantly fiddling with the other Inspector tools as I work, and this one was within easy reach...had no idea it came with consequences across the whole project.

I used it here trying to improve a tiny .png. But at this stage, I don't have time to chase the numerous other uses and fix them within the project.