New 16:9 squeeze vs. 4:3 question (hopefully not a re-hash)

Question

first of all, i did numerous searches to find the answer to this...couldn't find it. if this has BEEN answered before, please either answer again or direct me to the proper thread. please be kind. flaming is not necessary.
i work at a broadcast station. i am tasked to do a project that will be viewable in both 4:3 and 16:9. (we won't go into why. that's just the way it is.)
i'm shooting with a dvx100a.
from what i understand:
the only way to have one project do both of these is to shoot in 16:9 and export to dvd and the dvd player will know whether i have a 4:3 TV or a 16:9 TV and out put accordingly.
i don't have that option - it will be broacast, so as i understand it, i will have to create two projects, one 4:3 and one 16:9.
i have two questions but i guess the second is dependent on the answer to the first.
with 4:3 footage, importing to a 16:9 timeline, i zoom the footage to fill in the empty vertical space. the image is now distorted on a 4:3 set, but fine on a 16:9 set, as it should be. correct so far?
so, first question: if i import 16:9 footage into a 4:3 timeline, then zoom to fill in the empty horizontal space, will the image be fine on a 4:3 set and distorted on a 16:9 set?
second question:
for 16:9, from all that i've read, it's better to shoot 4:3, where you won't loose resolution, import to 16:9 timeline and zoom (where some resolution will now be lost.
for 4:3, no problem, no resolution lost BUT: if i'm shooting only once, for both 4:3 and 16:9 viewing, then i have to frame the 4:3 for 16:9 while shooting. so when converted to 16:9 fine, good picture with framing. but with 4:3, more head room and bottom than i want. so the question is if i shoot in 4:3, framing for 16:9, but import to a 4:3 timeline for the 4:3 project, i will still have to zoom in to loose the excesive headroom, ergo, loss of resolution again.
so in this case, would it matter whether i shoot 4:3 or 16:9? the only problem i see shooting 16:9 for 4:3 is that first, i loose resolution shooting 16:9 to start with and then when i import the 16:9 to the 4:3 timeline and zoom in to fill the aspect ratio, i'm loosing even more resolution. does this sound right?
anything i missed?
thanks very much in advance
carl

Answer 1

HI Tom,
Thank you for your quick response. I did not think there was a way to modify geometry at ingest to fcp, but thought i would ask.
Actually, I would like to preserve HD resolution, but I need a 4:3 versus 16:9 aspect ratio - silent film look. Also, it will be important during editing to see the 4:3 image.
Output will be internet or projection at film festivals, etc.
Given that would you recommend simply trimming (cropping) pixels in fcp and then do the final transcode to my output format after edit or doing another ProRes 422 transcode to get to 4:3 right off the bat?
Also, any opinion regarding the perceivable quality differences from capturing in ProRes 422 versus 422 LT? There is a lot I want to do in post using subtle effects to get the look of an old film - gamma, motion, grain, etc.
Capture time tonight after final day of shooting. If I save the original AVCHD files to a directory my understanding is that I could always recapture the original clips at a different ProRes setting? Whatever in and out points I used in log and transfer would apply to a "re-ingest"?
First time using a file versus tape work flow.
Thanks,
Wayne