Aspect ratio question

Hello all,
this footage Im using imported into FCP as 720 x 480 regular ntsc footage. In final cut the video displayes with a letterbox. Unfortunately I went ahead and edited everything before asking questions about this letterbox. So now im running into problems, I know Im doing this after the fact, but I cannot recapture and re-edit (although my suspicion is that the black bars were generated in the camera and thus were captured as part of the footage). Im am trying to build a dvd with this edited sequence in DVDSP.
I figured out that the actual footage (not including the black bars) is 720 x 360, which is very weird, I know. So to have my movie display correctly on a wide-screen and 4:3 tv, it would have to be at a 16:9 aspect ratio.
OK, Ive tried so many things, but I cant get it right.
1st, I made a new sequence in FCP changed this sequence to anamorphic. Then I copied my regualr sequence and pasted into new sequence, then I right click and choose remove all attributes/distort. It removes the letterbox but it sqeezes the footage vertically since my footage is 720 x 360, not 720 x 404... So this wont work...
Then I exported from FCP directly into compressor and I chose a 16:9 NTSC preset and crop 38 of top and 38 of bottom. The footage is now not sqeezed in any way and only a small letterbox remains (which I can live with) but the problem is, no matter what setting I use: DVD 90 minute best quality or increase bit rate, change gop, the footage looks aweful. Any time there is just a slight movement it has horizontal bars through it. Now, Its not the cropping, because it does it without cropping as well.
My questions are:
Is compressor just not that good? because when I ue a reference quicktime and let DVDSP do the encoding it looks great.
If I cant use compressot to crop how can I get a final m2v file that has a aspect ratio of 16:9 and doesnt get sqeezed...
Im sorry for this long post, just wanted to be clear on everything, please help!
Thank you! Danielle
Im using FCP 5.1, compressor 2 and DVDSP 4, footage came from regular dv camera (obviously set to some weird widesreen format) and I captured it directly into FCP

Thank you for your reply!
It worked! thank you so much, ive been struggling with this for a while now! I defenitely have a loss of quality, I will have to watch it on my big plasma at home to make sure it is still ok.
Can I ask you another question?
When I export using compressor I get horizontal lines in the video, no matter the settings, Ive tried: dvd best quality 90 minutes 16:9 preset and customized a dvd 16:9 one with very high bit rates, and different GOP settings.
when I export with quicktime reference and import into DVDSP, it looks much better with their build in encoder.. since I have this loss of quality now, any suggestions on my compressor settings?
Ive already resigned to 2 DVD's with the main movie on one and the extras on the other, so we can go pretty high with bit rates.
Thanks again!
Danielle

Similar Messages

Export Self-Contained / Sequence / Aspect Ratio Question

Hello all,
I have source clips, that look like this, with a command+I in quicktime:
Format: 24-bit Integer (Little Endian), Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz
DVCPRO HD 1080i60, 1280 x 1080 (1888 x 1062), Millions
FPS: 23.98
Normal Size: 1888 x 1062 pixels
Current Size: 1888 x 1062 pixels (Actual)
Now, in FCP, I have to chop this source up into smaller clips, so as I set in and out points, I drag to my sequence, and let FCP adjust the sequence settings to match the clip. It auto-adjusts to:
Frame Size: 1280x1080
Aspect Ratio: HD (1280x1080) (16:9)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: HD (1280x1080)
Compressor: DVCPRO HD 1080i60
Audio: 48khz, 24-bit, Channel Grouped
When I export my clip, I want little/no processing of the source file, and want the aspect ratio to be locked at the highest quality possible, with no funky pixel aspects ratios, etc. So, I export a Quicktime Movie (no Quicktime conversion) with "Current Settings", and I make the clip self contained.
The output ends up as follows:
Format: DVCPRO HD 1080i60, 1280 x 1080 (1888 x 1062), Millions
24-bit Integer (Little Endian), Stereo, 48.000 kHz
FPS: 23.98
Normal Size: 1920 x 1080 pixels
Current Size: 1920 x 1080 pixels (Actual)
So, obviously the pixel aspect ratio has done something in the export, as the original size was 1888 x 1062 and is now 1920 x 1080.
Is there a way to process these clips on export from FCP, where the pixel is a normal 1:1 conversion, be it at 1280x1080, 1888x1062 or 1920x1080 with DVCPRO HD 1080i60, in FCP? Or is this something I have to achieve in Compressor? I'm looking for the Quicktime info on the resulting clip to return the same size for: Format, Normal Size, Current Size.
Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

I have read this post over and over and there are some strange things going on with analyzing media now. I am absolutely sure that my HD footage (from a Z1U) used to be read by QT at 1440x1080 (1920x1080). Actual pixels were 1440x1080, a 4x3 aspect ratio, but displayed at 1920x1080. Used to be, like I said. I recently upgraded to OS 10.6.4, and QT 10 is quite a bit different. (In fact, other that the new skin, I haven't found any new features I like. Beside the point.) Now I get a QT readout like yours: 1440x1080 (1888x1062). A 4x3 capture aspect ratio and a 16x9 display aspect ratio, but not the same numbers. This can't be right--by law one of them has to be incorrect. I suspect the new version of QT. The same clip in FCP is read as as 1440x1080 with the HDV pixel aspect ratio (Edit --> Item Properties --> Format.) Furthermore, the readout from MediInfo Mac (endorsed by Apple) is even stranger: 1416x1062, a 4x3 aspect ratio, betraying yet another suspect data output. May be MediaInfo is correct, maybe not. I suspect no--my gut says FCP is correct, since it was once matched by QT. So, three analyzations and three results. The only conclusion is one or more of the analyzers is incorrect.
I suspect that the data readout in QT 10 is questionable. According to the Z1U manual, the camera records at 1440x1080, QT and FCP have this correct, but MediaInfo Mac does not. But the display raster information, as read by QT 10, has changed from 1920x1080 to 1888x1062.
So, I did a test. I followed the same procedure you did, including letting FCP set the Sequence Settings (it was correct). The QT 10 data readout from the exported movie was, like yours, 1440 x 1080 (1888 x 1062). Same results when I forced the Sequence Settings to HDV 1060i first. [FCP 6.0.6, QT 10.0 (114) ]. This was consistent with the QT 10 readout for the original, raw media.
My conclusion? Your movie is fine, there was no Pixel Aspect Ratio manipulation. The data readout in QT 10 is wrong. Sounds like a bug to me. I'd say MediaInfo Mac also has a problem--maybe they are both "drinking from the same poisoned well" somewhere deep inside the code.
Last resort: if you have access to an older version of QT, try getting the readout from that. I'm going to. If you'd like to know the results, let me know.
One thing you must do: check the Pixel Aspect Ratio in your edited sequence:
[Sequence --> Settings --> General --> Pixel Aspect Ratio]
Make sure yours is set to HD (1280x1080). Actually, check your camera manual to determine what it should be and make sure FCP is matching it. If not, force it.

Changing Aspect Ratio Question?

I have just unwrapped and installed my new apple TV. Setup was the usual Apple synch
However I've found someting tat is rather iritating and wanted to ask if someone can help me.
When looking at the apple TV menue's etc the aspect ratio looks perfect on my 55" wide screen TV. and on my normal TV the current aspect ratio setting of the TV seems to work OK. I think I have it set to 16:9
However when I either play a netflix movie or play a movie from my itunes library the picture doesnt fit and loks more like a 4:3 with black bars down the sides. I can stretch it out and it loks OK, but its very inconveniant to keep reseting the aspect ratio of my TV setup every time I use apple TV.
BTW.. When I use the Wii to stream netflix it fits perfectly.
I dont see a menu setting in apple TV to change aspect raitio..
Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Steve

There isn't one. Its output is designed purely for 16:9 widescreen TVs. Any adjustments thereafter must be made on the TV.
If videos display incorrectly either the TV aspect ratio is wrong, TV is not widescreen, the stream (Netflix) is wrong or the local video file is wrongly encoded. Of course if it's a 4:3 film or TV show then it will display as intended with black bars on sides on a widescreen TV.
When you say normal TV you presumably mean a non-widescreen TV? AppleTV is not designed to output to 4:3 sets hence no onboard adjustments.
AC

An odd aspect ratio question

Hi All,
Here's a new one for me. I have a client who wants a finished movie to be 786x280; a very strange aspect ratio, no?
Anyway. I'm getting footage which will be HDV, 4:3, SD and graphics. If I make my sequence that very odd number I'm not going be able to edit very efficiently, right? I'll have to render video all the time...
I had a thought of making a sequence of 920x720 and placing a photoshop image of the same size with a mask of 786x280 and working all the video inside that...then cropping the finished movie afterwards...
any suggestions?
thanks.
g

Yes, that is exactly what I would do. Create a graphic in Photoshop that is standard video size with a 786x280 hole in it. Bring that into FCP and place it on top of everything else. Then you can lower its opacity a bit to see what is being cut off. Then when you bring the finished video into Compressor or Squeeze or whatever you are using, crop it there to 786x280. You will be able to see where to crop.

Quick aspect ratio question...

I read this somewhere on this forum but I the search didn't seem to find it.
Some of the videos I rip show up fullscreen while other show up with black bars on the sides (not the top but the sides). I have a feeling it's because I've ripped the videos for iPod viewing.
My handbrake picture settings are as follow:
640x480
with a constant bit rate of around 2100
If I ripped at 720x480 would that do the trick? But then it wouldn't play on my iPod; I don't believe. Any help would be great! By the way the ATV is working wonderfully besides this little bump, which is of course user error.

"..except that image quality from iMovie 08 is absolutely horrible, regardless of source and regardless of aspect ratio.."
(..Here we go again..!)
If you've upgraded to QuickTime Pro, open your finished movie in QuickTime, then press ⌘J, choose Video Track and 'Visual Settings'. You'll see something like this (..click on the picture to get a big, easy-to-read, high resolution version of it..)
(..In the bigger version of that little thumbnail, if you click on it to enlarge it, notice the poor 'jagged' quality of the writing on the sleeve of the mini-disc in the picture at the lower-left, and the word "David's" on the battery meter at middle-left..)
With that window open in QT Pro, tick the 'High Quality' box at lower-right (..the topmost of the three little check-boxes):
Click on the pic, above, for a bigger, sharper version.. Note that in the bigger, clearer version the handwriting on the mini-disc sleeve has jumped in clarity, as has the writing on the battery meter. The resolution of the video has been doubled, and is now much clearer and sharper.
Try that.

Aspect Ratios question

Hi everyone. I'm having an issue encoding a DVD. I've got some footage at the original DVD standard of 720x480 resolution, but iDVD keeps pushing it up 100 pixels in height, forcing it to 4:3 ratio. I was wondering if there was a way to shut this off. I didn't have this issue in version 5, and I'm wondering if downgrading to version 5 would be a fix for this. Thanks much!

I think the problem is I have the choice between just 4:3 (720x580 pixels) or 16:9 aspect ratios. Most of the videos that I've been doing are in the older standard of 720x480 resolution. I've imported them from imovie, which they look just fine. The issue is that when I knock it out as a DVD it letterboxes my videos and craps out the resolution on them. I was wondering if there was a way I could go around the aspect ratio choices and just set my own. Or am I stuck with that setting? I didn't have this problem with version 5 of iDVD.
Thanks!

16:9 Aspect Ratio Questions

I am designing a Keynote presentation for use on a Akai plasma TV with a native resolution of 1024x1024 (16:9 aspect ratio). I set my presentation to 1024x576 in Keynote; I am assuming the TV will display my presentation correctly, and the 576 pixels designated in Keynote will simply be spread out over the 1024 horizontal pixels on the TV, correct?
Secondly, when I do change the Slide Size in Keynote, the main editing area correctly reshapes to 16:9, but the slide masters and slide previews on the left seem to resize, but remain trapped in a 4:3 box with two black lines above and below. This seems to be hard-coded into the Keynote application, or I can't figure out how to adjust this. Should I worry about this little detail?

I started by creating a presentation based on the "White" theme. I did not see a "Black" theme, however.
The black bars ONLY appear on the left Navigator section... the main slideshow work area and the end presentation on the TV show up correctly, with no black bars to be seen. So really, I am happy with the end results; I am simply worried about the way Keynote is displaying the slide thumbnails in the Navigator and if that means something important (it could be that the Keynote developers simply made the thumbnail 4:3 and any other aspect ratio gets scaled down).

Wrong aspect ratio question

I completed a 12 minute movie, but I forgot to set the format at the start. It ended up dv-ntsc (default setting I believe) when what I wanted was HD 1080i. Is there anyway to fix this short of re-doing the whole thing. I tried exporting in Quicktime as 1080i aic but that gives me 16:9 but with heavy black line top and bottom.
Thanks for any help

No, all your footage has lost its High Definition when it was imported.
You have to start over.
Sorry!

Noobie aspect ratio question

hello-
i'm a total novice FCP user and i'm just trying to do a simple edit, but i'm having a weird issue with my footage.
i did not capture this picture within FCP, i captured it in imovie. the format is 720 x 480 (640 x 480). i have my Video Settings at DV NTSC 48. however, when i load a clip in the viewer it's too big (scroll bars appear on the sides of the viewer). when i export, everything looks squashed.
can anyone tell me what i'm doing wrong?
much appreciated!!
morgan

when i load a clip in the viewer it's too big (scroll bars appear on the sides of the viewer)
In the Viewr window options, select Fit to windows. You have some zoom applied !
can anyone tell me what i'm doing wrong?
Probably not the answer you expect but . . . take the time to learn how and recapture your video using FCP Log&Capture. If you don't do that, the next problem you'll find is you must render all your with iMovie capture footage.
The best is close the project, select the NTSC DV Easy Setup (A Guide To Setting Up Your Project In Final Cut 5 ) and go to Log&Capture.
Hope it helps !
Alberto

Question about aspect ratio...

hey all,
Just got my Apple TV last night and I'm loving it so far.
My question is about aspect ratios and "filling up the screen". When I watched some documentaries and some episodes of "The Office" (from iTunes Store) - the rntire TV's screen was used and looked beautiful.
However, when I watched the latest episode of "LOST" from iTunes, it was having big black areas to the left and right of the 4:3 content in the middle, and I was unable to choose any "stretching" or "panorama" effects using the TV's remote as I do with normal non-HD TV signal usually.
a) Am I doing something wrong? and/or b) are the iTunes TV show sizes and aspect ratios different from different shows?
Any help appreciated...
/// martin

HDMI and DVI do have signal length limitations. it is digital, so should result in a perfect reception of any transmitted signals... if it works at all, including error checking / dropped packets. i generally choose component over HDMI / DVI for medium to long runs, just because it is the only real option without using very expensive cabling or active repeaters / transcoders. usually we are running lots of component video sources anyways, so just go with component all the way around. HDMI / DVI is used for local sources, right adjacent to the TV, only if it is very convenient.
Here is my beef with HDMI:
1) the HDMI consortium took a perfectly good format, DVI, and ruined it with DRM controls... it takes from 15 seconds or more for the handshake to arbitrate, leaving users with a black screen as they switch sources.
2) unprofessional connector that easily falls out... up there with the people who designed the S-Video connector - acually worse.
3) incomplete initial specs and now various emerging specifications and lackluster adherence to the specifications by different manufacturers...
4) completely random and unexplicable incompatibilities between different sources, displays, cables, and switchers.
5) the licensing arrangement that the HDMI consortium has for manufacturers to pay money for the right to use.... a revenue generating function that has sort of took over the reason for the consortiums existence versus advancements in consumer electronics technologies.
i think that DVI/HDMI is better, but that has to be qualified. the current output thaty ou see on set top boxes and Apple TV is highly compressed. in the case of the ITMS, most of it is not even "DVD quality" yet, let alone "close to DVD quality". this is a limitation in the content, or ITMS selection of content, more so than the architecture of the store.
asking whether HDMI/DVI is better than component with respect to Apple TV is like asking if it is better to use an Apogee Digital DAC versus a Radio Shack DAC when listening to MP3s at 64kbps. in other words, don't think about it too much.
the 10% of people that are having problems with HDMI can probably eliminate most all problems by switching over to component and don't need to fret over image quality.

What aspect ratio to use for slideshow dvd? (earlier question rephrased)

Slideshow created in iDVD, the ultimate product (DVDs) to be given as keepsakes to the surviving family members of a friend who passed away; also to be played at a celebration of life for my late friend.
Photos are old and many - span 83 years - and are all different sizes & shapes.
All I need to decide is what aspect ratio to use - this slideshow may be viewed on computer, TV (regular or H) - I have no idea what people will use.
What's my best choice? Thanks!

iDVD uses the 4:3 aspect ratio. Most digital cameras create images with this ratio. However, scanned photo can be a variety of ratios and will have to be cropped to the 4:3 ratio in iPhoto before sending on to iDVD.
You can use the photos in their original size if you'd like. That will cause the image to have black bars at the left and right and not fill the screen completely.
FWIW I find I get the best final image quality when I create the slideshow in iDVD from still photos in iPhoto. The downside to that is the Ken Burns effect is not available and you can have only one transition.
If you can crop the photos to the 4:3 ratio before using I think you'll have a better looking slideshow. If you use the KB effect don't over do it. Using it on every slide can be distracting making it difficult to concentrate on the actual content of the photo. (You probably can tell I'm not a big fan of KB. )
If you do create the slideshow in iPhoto be aware that users have had problem with using multiple audio tracks in the export process. Many have found that each track seems to fade out way to soon leaving dead air between tracks. You can add multiple tracks in iDVD and that problem is not present.
When you're ready to burn the iDVD project first save it as a disk image (File->Save as Disk Image) and check it with DVD Player. This separates out the encoding process from the burn process. If it plays as you expect with DVD Player it's ready to burn. Burn to disc with Disk Utility at the slowest speed available to assure the best burn quality. Always use top quality media: Verbatium, Maxell or Taiyo Yuden DVD-R are the most recommended in these forums.
Don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions.

Aspect ratio and some other questions...

I haven't purchased an Apple TV yet (emphasizing YET) but I'm very interested and may make the leap tomorrow. I've been reading a lot on the discussion boards but still had a few questions. I have a widescreen 46" Samsung LCD TV that I'm planning to use as my primary TV. The wife and I have rented a few movies from the iTunes store and noticed the aspect ratio leaves the picture fairly small. I wasn't expecting a full screen picture, but something a little more than barely half the screen. Will the Apple TV improve the picture size or is this what I'm going to expect going forward? Any pictures would be great!
Second, as far as I've read, you cannot connect an external hard drive to the Apple TV itself, but if I hook it to my PowerBook and use my external HDD as my iTunes Library source, will everything work fairly seamlessly? I have an Airport Extreme base station so I'm hoping things work pretty well.
Next, between the 40GB and 160GB Apple TV's -- is there an overwhelming reason to get one or another?
And last (I think), I've started ripping some of my old movies using Handbrake and was curious how the picture comes out on an Apple TV after extracting from DVD's. I've been using the standard "Apple TV" settings within Handbrake.
Thanks in advance for the help, I appreciate it! BTW, definitely a BIG fan of the iTunes rentals!
Brad

I don't know what monitor you have but there is a fair chance it has a resolution of at least 1600 x 1000 which is why your 640 x 480 rental doesn't fill it although itunes does have an option tto show movies full screen.
Tv's typically have much lower resolutions than monitors and the output from the tv is matched to such resolutions. In short your rentals will fill the screen on your tv when played on the tv.
Many of us here use external drives attached to either a desktop or a laptop to hold out libraries, yes they work flawlessly.
We can't actually discuss methods for ripping commercial DVD's but needless to say handbrake does give good quality exports, I've used it on a few non commercial discs and found the results to be more or less the same quality as the original. In addition to the  preset I always enable 2 pass encoding.

A Little question about Pixel Aspect Ratio

This doubt has been bugging me since I started edit HD formats.It's about pixel aspect ratio.
Let's supose I have received some material in HD format,for instance.But I will deliver this material in another format, DV NTSC,for instance.
The Pixel aspect ratio format of the material what I received and the way how I will deliver are different.What can I do to avoid this problem? Do I need to apply some plugin to solve this problem or when I export the final sequence Final Cut does this automatically?
thank you

The software takes care of it for you.
As long as your conversion maintains the overall aspect ratio (ie 16:9), it is irrelevant what the individual pixels are doing.
For example, if I convert DVCProHD 720p to ProRes 720p, it will look fine even though the DVCProHD started out with 960 pixels in the x dimension and the ProRes will have 1280.
x

Aspect Ratio/compression question

I have tried exporting an H.264 file out of FCP using both QT conversion and compressor. The native sequence is DVCPRO HD 720P (16:9 aspect ratio). Each time the file is exported no matter what I set the geometry settings to, it comes out as a 4:3 aspect ratio file. What am I doing wrong?

Hey Casey,
what is the file resolution of your compressed file?
your final file resolution should be 1280x720.
is your image being distorted?
what settings are you using for the export.
a little more information would be greatly appreciated and there are compression gurus that would gladly help you out.
Mikey M.

Question about aspect ratio/resizing images

hi. i am currently working on a video project for a class, creating a presentation with iMovie and iPhoto. I simply need to display a logo, however, when i import it into iMovie from iPhoto, the picture is wide and pixelated, of low quality. when i change the aspect ratio to 16:9, the image is too large to fit. however, i cannot resize it via iPhoto to fit within the 16:9 ratio. i'm simply trying to get an individual photo from iPhoto to fit within a frame in iMovie. is there a quick way of converting it to fit or resizing it within iMovie?

hi. i am currently working on a video project for a class, creating a presentation with iMovie and iPhoto. I simply need to display a logo, however, when i import it into iMovie from iPhoto, the picture is wide and pixelated, of low quality. when i change the aspect ratio to 16:9, the image is too large to fit. however, i cannot resize it via iPhoto to fit within the 16:9 ratio. i'm simply trying to get an individual photo from iPhoto to fit within a frame in iMovie. is there a quick way of converting it to fit or resizing it within iMovie?

Aspect ratio question

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