Aspect ratio, quicktime reference movie

Hi, I'm trying to compress my movie edited in 1080i HDV to the h.264 Sequence iPod video 640x480.
I've done this many many times exporting directly from FCP to compressor and it usually works.. But I have read (here and other places) that it is better to
1. make a quicktime reference movie
2. open that in compressor..
3. render (compress) into the correct format
When I do that it messes up the aspect ratio (making it even wider) any suggestions?
J

When converting like you did in the past, (where it changed the aspect of your image) did you go into the geometry controls of compressor and also select the proper aspect, found in the Frame Size controls.
If you fail to do this, you would end up with the wrong aspect being applied. You may also have to pad your video, using the "Output Image Inset (Padding) controls as well to maintain your 16x9 aspect on a 4x3 aspect.

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16x9 aspect ratio quicktime movie switches to 4x3 in idvd

I have a quicktime movie that has a 16x9 aspect ratio. In Info the dimensions show up as 720x480 (853x480) and when opened in Quicktime it is opening in the correct aspect ratio it was created. After bringing the Quicktime movie into an idvd project that was set up for 16x9, when I click on the movie, it shows up as a 4x3 movie, and the images are noticeably distorted. Any ideas on how to resolve this? Thanks.

A solution is to use something called Anamorphizer that sets the file's widescreen flag so that it is recognized as anamorphically squeezed widescreen.
Get Anamorphizer at http://homepage.mac.com/sith33/FileSharing34.html
Make sure Quicktime 7 is open before you try Anamorphizer. (NOTE: You MUST use Quicktime 7 and NOT Quicktime X)
Place a copy of your movie clip in a new folder and drag that clip over the Anamorphizer icon. This should create a second file in that folder that start with Anamorphic- This is the reference movie you drag-and-drop into iDVD. Note that your clip in that folder (which is the movie the reference movie points to, must not be moved or deleted).

Aspect ratio on DivX movies

I'm having a few issues with the correct aspect ratio not being reproduced in Quicktime when watchting a DivX. When viewing in VLC Player everything is correct. For example I have a movie with a size of 852x368 but in Quicktime it's 720x368. The funny thing is when I view the information for the film in both VLC and QT it does actually say it's 720x368.
It's not a biggy because I'll happily watch it in VLC but I'm a little confused as to why it's happening.

But why does it show correctly in VLC but not QT?
Both sets of dimensions are "correct" (whether or not the aspect is correct is something else). QT keeps track of three sets of dimensions (4 with certain types of content) --
1) the "Format" line -- e.g., an NTSC SD DV encoded file 720x480 (640x480)
where 720x480 is the encoded rectangular matrix dimensions and 640x480 is the square pixel dimensions.
2) the "Normal Size" -- e.g., the same file as above would be 640x480 representing the dimensions as displayed/output for the current device which is a square pixel monitor.
3) the "Current Size" -- e.g., the same file as above would read whatever size I am currently scaling the display window to be. Command-0 would be 320x240, Command-1 would be 640x480, Command-2 would be 1280x960, Command-F would be whatever size would fit in the monitor display, etc.
However, if I should re-compress the file in QuickTime to a different compression format that doesn't differentiate between rectangular and square pixels using a "scaled size" either in the original aspect ratio or one that changes the aspect ratio, then the new file would have all three values reset to the scaled dimensions in effect when the file was re-compressed. This means that you can both distort and correct distortion (e.g., fix a file that has "lost" its aspect flag) and that the term "correct" can be both arbitrary and relative when discussing clip dimensions.
Confused enough yet?

Aspect Ratio Problems Importing mov files

I am creating an imovie project that combines slideshow and video. The slideshows were produced in iPhoto06 as 16:9 and exported via iDVD into .mov format. They are 16:9 and play fine as widescreens in Quicktime. However, when imported into iMovieHD6, they are compacted into a squished 4:3. The iMovie project is set as widescreen (I've tried both widescreen NTSC and 720p) but this makes no difference when importing the widescreen clips. The 4:3 videos can appear with boxes on ether side, but I want the widescreen slideshows to be widescreen.

@MRogovin - I wish I knew more about this exact issue so I could give you a solid answer. All I know is that I encountered a very similar issue recently.
For reasons I won't explain, I was exporting a slideshow from iMovie '08. It would play just fine in 16:9. But every time I tried to import into iMovie HD 6, it would get squashed and there would be black pillarboxes on the left and right sides.
Research revealed that the exported video "lost its 16:9 flag." I was hoping there would be a way to simply tick a box and restore the flag. And people suggested that MPEG Streamclip would do the trick. But every time I tried to restore the flag, it would go through another round of compression, and degrade the **** out of the video (despite my experimentation with 20 different settings) -- maybe there is a way to ONLY restore the flag.
So, in the end, I had to export out of iMovie 08 without any compression. Only then did the importation process maintain the 16:9 aspect ratio. Of course, the un-compressed video slideshow was huge (8.5GB for 20 pictures).
Since you're using iPhoto, you probably can't do as I did, since iPhoto slideshows cannot be exported un-compressed. Hopefully someone can chime in and explain how to maintain/restore a 16:9 anamorphic flag.

Aspect ratio issue when movie burnt to DVD

I've filmed some holiday footed on my iPhone 4 and created an iMovie, exported it to iDVD and burnt a PAL 16:9 DVD. However the aspect ratio is too wide on my TV and I'm missing a lot of the picture and text which is off screen, especially in the menus and end titles. I've played about with the TV's aspect with no result. Where am I going wrong? The only thing I've noticed is that my iMovie project is in 30fps NTSC. The PAL option is greyed out in iMovie project prefs so I've set it to PAL in iDVD (which then re-rendered then movie)
Any help appreciated.

PS I do have a new Panasonic Viera 42" widescreen plasma, so it's not an old 4:3 TV or anything!

DV-PAL pixel aspect ratio & Quicktime confusion...

Hi all,
Hoping someone can clarify some things for me! Here's the situation...
I'm extracting some clips from a DVD, for another editor to put together a showreel. The clips are all off the telly in 4:3. I extracted the clips using MPEG Streamclip, the Quicktime Export option and the Apple DV PAL codec 720 by 576.
First question - it offers me an 'unscaled' output option of 768 by 520. Why 768? Is this something to do with Quicktime only using square pixels and DV PAL video using rectangular?
Second question - Assuming the other editor will be using Final Cut to put the showreel together, which is the most convenient picture & pixel aspect ratio to provide the clips in? I know I can change the pixel a.r. if I drop the clips into a Final Cut timeline and fiddle with the sequence settings. Is that necessary or helpful?
I'm pretty sure the DV codec is the best to use for this exercise, but any thoughts welcome...
Cheers,
Ilan

It can be very confusing. Here's a great place to start....
http://documentation.apple.com/en/finalcutpro/usermanual/index.html#chapter=70%2 6section=13

QuickTime Reference Movies of Fully-Rendered Timeline Taking Forever

Sometimes when I attempt to export a fully-rendered timeline as a reference QuickTime (NOT self-contained), the "Writing Audio and Video" bar takes over an hour (for an 8-minute project) and results in files sizes of many GBs. Has anyone else experienced this?
Thanks,
Zap

If your Sequence isn't fully rendered before you export, the reference movie will have to perform the render ... taking extra time and it includes those renders as part of the reference file (hence the larger than expected file size).
To avoid this, make sure the Sequence is fully rendered PRIOR to exporting.
-DH

Quicktime reference movies?

has FCP stopped making QT ref movies??? I am running FCP 6.0.3 and there is no tab in there to make a reference movie. Does this mean I need to stop working in FCP while compressor does it's thing now?

Export/QuickTime/Current Settings/Audio and Video/No Recompression
Then uncheck "make self contained."

IMovie 6 Changes aspect ratio of QT movies

Using FotoMagico I compiled a movie in 4:3 format (640x480) using stills from iPhoto, exporting the movie as a Quicktime (.mov) file. The QT 7.1.3 player plays it in 4:3 format, and Get Info confirms it is Apple Intermediate Codec, 640x480.
Then, using iMovie 6.0.3, I start a new project as a DV (not widescreen) format and import the 4:3 QT movie into iMovie's timeline. It shows up in widescreen, stretched laterally! The same thing occurs if I start the new iMovie project as an MPEG-4. I have disabled third party plugins from Gee 3 and Flip for Mac, repaired permissions, and verified my drive.
Please help!
Bill
G5Dual2.5 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Canon SLR, Maxtor and Iomega ext drives, Canon Lide 500F, i960
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Hello William,
I had a similar problem importing files I had converted from PAL to NTSC with JES Deinterlacer. When importing the NTSC files "back" into iMovie they got streched laterally. This happened using iMovie 5 - reverting to iMovie 4 solved the problem!
As an aside: the big drawback here is, that I have to clip the movie into bits that iMovie 4 can digest…
I had hoped that iMovie 6 might have solved this issue, but apparently - no joy?
Regards,
Jörg

QT Pro movie aspect ratio and masking

Hello,
This might be beyond the scope of Quicktime Pro. But I'm looking for a way to place a jpg/png with an alpha channel (cut out) into quicktime. Then be able to add a quicktime to be seen through the image. But the kicker is to change the aspect ratio of the movie instead of the still image.
In Pro, I can add a masked image into the movie, but can't control the ratio of the movie and image separately.
I can do this in Final Cut & Final Cut Express but would like to find a way for others to do this with a less expensive or free software.
Any ideas how to change the movie's aspect ratio in QTPro while keeping the mask's ratio the same?
Or is there another open-source software to do this?
Thanks ahead of time,
Adam

A "mask" is just a black and white image file sized to the dimensions of the video.
Adding a PNG (JPEG doesn't support alpha channels) file to the entire video would allow you to adjust both track dimensions independently via the Movie Properties window.

Play movie in different aspect ratio

When I play a HD Movie on my iPad, it plays at a 16:9 aspect ratio. Is there a setting or app that will allow me to change the aspect ratio so the movie fills the entire iPad 4 screen?

yes, I think so. Basically, there are multiple seperate movie
clips playing in the main timeline. When the last frame is reached
and the entire movie will repeat, except one of these movie clips
will play on it's 10th frame and not it's first and continue. While
the other movie clips will always loop back to their first frame.
Make sense??

IOS - Detect Movie Aspect Ratio

I need to detect the aspect ratio of a movie (whether 4:3 or 16:9) in order to change the size of the UIImageView within which I display a movieController. I'm using the code below. However, i'm getting 'nan' returned from an NSLog call that displays the value of the variable 'ratio'. So, it seems 'ratio' is not in the format I need it to be. I can't work out what i'm doing wrong here.
CGSize size = moviePlayerController.naturalSize;
float width = size.width;
float height = size.height;
float ratio = width / height;
if (ratio == 1.33) {
//do stuff here if aspect is 4:3
} else {
//else it's 16:9 and do different stuff
}

Ok, I figured it out...
First, you need to register for the MPMovieNaturalSizeAvailableNotification. I put this in viewDidLoad.
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:@selector(movieNaturalSizeAvailable:)
name:MPMovieNaturalSizeAvailableNotification
object:moviePlayerController];
Then, you create the @selector function:
- (void) movieNaturalSizeAvailable:(NSNotification *)movieNSNotification {
NSLog(@"MovieNaturalSizeAvaiable");
NSLog(@"Movie width is %f and movie height is %f", moviePlayerController.naturalSize.width, moviePlayerController.naturalSize.height);
//calculate the aspect ratio
float width = moviePlayerController.naturalSize.width;
float height = moviePlayerController.naturalSize.height;
float ratio = width / height;
NSLog(@"ratio is %f", ratio);
//if ratio < 1.4 then it must be 4:3 aspect ratio, else it is 16:9
if (ratio < 1.4) {
moviePlayerController.view.frame = CGRectMake(66, 29, 347, 260);
imageView.frame = CGRectMake(66, 29, 347, 260);
} else {
moviePlayerController.view.frame = imageFrame;
imageView.frame = CGRectMake(9, 29, 462, 260);
moviePlayerController = [movieNSNotification object];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self
name:MPMovieNaturalSizeAvailableNotification
object:moviePlayerController];
Message was edited by: Grant Abt1

Aspect Ratio - Anamorphicizer

i have troubles with burning my fcp (version 6.0.6) project.
my workflow is this: i make my movie in fcp, export it as a quicktime reference movie, drag it onto anamorphicizer, import it into idvd and save as image file. worked perfectly well a hundred times.
since i updated on snow leopard it is not possible to use anamorphicizer, i get error messages. it is also not possible to play the reference movie in quicktime with the correct aspect ratio - in qt 7 there was the possibility in the "window-menu - command-j - adjust blend - clear" to correct this (sorry for explaining quite complicate, my english, you know ...).
anyone an idea what i could do to correct the aspect ratio so that idvd can handle the project correct? switching to dvd studio may be fine, but it will take me a few weeks to learn and i need the project on dvd soon ...
thanks in advance
wolfgang

I'd say just use Quicktime to change your display ratio instead of Anamorphicizer. I use NTSC DV Anamorphic, so if you're using another format you'll have to calculate your own numbers. Open your exported video in QT.
In Quicktime 7.x pick Window -> Show Movie Properties from the menu bar. go to the video track. Go to the Visual Settings tab. Uncheck the "Preserve Aspect Ratio" box. Change the first box in the Scaled Size field to the correct width for your anamorphic video. If you're using NTSC DV this is 853. Press enter and your video size should change. Recheck the box, press save, and you're done. iDVD will see this.
If you're not using NTSC DV you are using a 16x9 ratio, so divide your Y number by 9, then multiply that by 16 to get your X number. Sample calculation with a 720x480 is something like this.
480/9=53.3333
53.3333x16=853.3333 so use 853 for your stretched X value.
Hope this solves your problem. It's a really easy fix after you do it a few times, and it beats having to use another program.

Aspect Ratio Scaling

in my quicktime movie properties in my "visual settings" i can correct the aspect ratio of my movie.
the original movie is 1440x1080px but quicktime recognizes it as 1920x1080px and corrects the AR automaticaly.
also in my "visual settings" under "normal size" it says 1920x1080px
i now correct the AR back to 1:1 (1440x1080px) with "scaled size" function.
will quicktime perform an automatic up and downscale process internaly when the movie is opened?
or will it ignore al the scaling cause there is none needed?

in my quicktime movie properties in my "visual settings" i can correct the aspect ratio of my movie.
This setting only controls the display dimensions in applications that use the "Current Size" setting (e.g., QT 7 or GarageBand)— not applications that rely on an anamorphic PAR (Pixel Aspect Ratio) value (e.g., QT X or iMovie '08/'09/'11).
the original movie is 1440x1080px but quicktime recognizes it as 1920x1080px and corrects the AR automaticaly.
also in my "visual settings" under "normal size" it says 1920x1080px
This sounds correct if the original movie was anamorphic.
i now correct the AR back to 1:1 (1440x1080px) with "scaled size" function.
The question is, "Should you be doing this?" If the original recording is anamorphic (i.e., a 16:9 1920x1080 movie stored in a 4:3 1440x1080 storage matrix for viewing at the original 16:9 aspect ratio), then you will distort (make the people and objects look tall and skinny in) the final display when watching the file in media players like QT 7 or GarageBand which use the "Current Size" for their display but not distort the playback in media players like QT X or iMovie '08/'09/'11 which ignore the "Current Size" settings and use the PAR value to display the file at its original encoded aspect ratio. In other words, if your file was anamorphic, then your movie is now playing correctly in all media players and you sould not change the settings. On the other hand, if the people and objects currently look short and fat, then the original 4:3 aspect movie was incorrectly encoded as an anamorphic 16:9 widescreen movie and both the scaled "Current Size" and "PAR" settings should be corrected so that the file plays correctly in all media players.
will quicktime perform an automatic up and downscale process internaly when the movie is opened?
or will it ignore al the scaling cause there is none needed?
As previously indicated, using QT 7 Pro to re-scale the "Current Size" settings stored in the file will correct how the file opens in any media player that uses the "Current Size" setting for playback but it will have no effect any media players that use the encoded "PAR" value for playback. (I.e., "old" technology media players will see the change you make but "new" technology media players will not.)
Once again, take a good look at the display of the file as it currently plays to see if the people and objects are distorted. If they are not, then your file is playing correctly as it is. If you don't like using anamorphic files, then turn off the anamorphic setting when converting/exporting your content and manually set the correct dimensions so that the encoding matrix is the same size as the viwing matrix but be advised that in the case of HD 16:9 content, your file size may increase dramatically.

Exporting 16:9 and retaining aspect ratio

Hi all.
I have a 16:9 Pal project and want to export it for iPod (I have checked the iPod forum to no avail).
When I export the project the picture is squished and is 4:3. I have tried many things but cannot get the desired result - a wide screen iPod movie with black bars top and bottom. Although I know it can be done because I have downloaded iPod movies that appear to be 16:9.
I will give 10 points to the person who can help me.
Cheers, Steve

Open your exported movie in Quicktime Pro.
Select Window->Show Movie Properties or <command>J.
In the list at top of the Properties window, select the Video Track.
Click the Visual Settings tab.
Uncheck the "Preserve Aspect Ratio" checkbox.
In Scaled size you see the Horizontal x Vertical size in pixels. Multiply the Vertical number by 16 and divide by 9. Enter the result in the Horizontal box and hit return. Example: original scaled size = 720 x 486. New values are 864 x 486 (720 x 16/9 = 864).
You'll immediately see the aspect ratio of the movie change. Save the file.
You're done.

Aspect ratio, quicktime reference movie

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