Editing 16:9 anamorphic dv pal without having to render

Question

hi
i have some quicktime files which i believe to be dv pal 16:9 anamorphic.
quicktime info window says this:
DV, 720 x 576 (1024 x 576), Millions
i would like to edit this footage natively in final cut (ie. not having to render stuff)
if i drop a file onto the final cut timeline it asks me if i would like to set the sequence settings appropriately. if i say yes then it places the video on the timeline with a red bar indicating i need to render.
if i set the sequence settings how i think they should be (dv pal anamorphic etc) than i can place video on the timeline without it asking me to render green bars) BUT in this case the video does not look correct. the frame looks cropped.

Answer 1

Andy Mees wrote:
James
Your settings are so messed up its not funny, as is your terminology. You keep mentioning cropping whereas it sounds like there is no cropping going on at all, letterboxing yes, but cropping no.
I'm sorry if my terminology is messed up.
If I watch the footage in quicktime everything is ok. If I refer to the picture not looking correct, i mean that the footage in the final cut canvas window does not look the same as when viewed in quicktime. By cropped I mean that parts of the picture are missing, so if i looked at a picture of a man standing in quicktime and i could see his feet, i would not be able to see his feet in the final cut canvas. This could be in addition to the aspect ratio looking wrong (fat or skinny people). As far as I'm concerned, the aspect ratio being wrong or right can be entirely separated from whether or not the picture has been cropped.
That your clips are apparently upper field DV suggests that the person who supplied them to you did not have a clue.
Yes I would tend to agree. However, they did leave me a nice little note explaining this.
That your clips when displayed Anamorphic 16:9 are "too fat" suggests that they are not 16:9 at all but in fact they are normal 4:3. (Which again suggests that the person who supplied them to you did not have a clue.)
If i look at the pictures in quicktime they look correct. ie. people do not look too fat or thin, a square is square etc. if i take the quicktime window width and divide it by the window height, the ratio is the same as dividing 16 by 9, hence me thinking that the pictures are 16:9.
None of this helps you in the muddle you're in though. Drop me an email off list and/or drop me one of your source clips in my iDisk public folder (member name: andymees) and I'll see if I can help you figure this out.
Best
Andy
This is much appreciated as i am fed up of shouting at my computer!