Experts Only:  Difficult Pixel Aspect Ratio Problem

I am having trouble with the PAR (and Screen Aspect Ratio) from one particular camera that belongs to the client. It's a Sony SR-100 SD camera that records some form of MPEG-2 directly to a HDD. Normally I don't have trouble sussing out aspect ratios, but this one has me stumped. My guess is that QT and/or FCP are not handling it correctly.
The native footage is read as muxed MPEG-2 @ 640x480 with square pixels in QT Player (Movie Properties) and FCP (Item Properties). This doesn't fit the SD frame. More later. A handy tool called MediaInfo Mac tells me the same clip is Primary Stream MPEG-2--not muxed--with AC3 audio at 720x480. MediaInfo Mac doesn't compute the PAR, but it does say the display aspect ratio is 4x3, so I am assuming some distortion is taking place. My client claims the specs from the camera documentation match the MediaInfo Mac data--not the QT data--and I believe him.
None of this matters, of course, if the footage plays fine in FCP. It is too small--it displays 112.5% scale up at -12.5% PAR. Odd for 720x480 native video, but that's not what QT and FCP are reading. I ran the same clip through Squared 5's Streamclip to convert to DV (as suggested by this site: http://www.aulich-adamski.de/en/perm/how-to-edit-mpeg-2-in-final-cut-pro). This is where it gets really weird. The resulting clip, when imported to FCP, is read as 810 x 480 with square pixels. 810x480. That is not a typo. On the other hand QT Player reads (and plays) the DV converted clip at 720x480 from 640x480 (DV PAR), and MediaInfo Mac reads the same. See? Weird.
The bottom line is I can use the footage scaled and squished. I don't think the client will mind, if he notices. We aren't using much of his material. The issue is I thought I understood this. Either I don't, which is fine and maybe you can 'splain it to me. Or I do and QT and/or FCP are not reading this material correctly. Any thoughts?
I posted this on the FCP discussion as well.

Then I'm thinking you want to use an anamorphic widescreen format in FCP that you can then set up in DVDSP and presumably project or display on a widescreen TV...
Patrick

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    Export as 1024x576 with 1.0 PAR and that is the square-pixel equivalent of PAL DV widescreen.
    For NTSC users, I've seen it two ways, either 864x480 or 854x480.
    Merry Christmas
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  • Exporting 1080i, Pixel Aspect Ratio Problems

    Hello everyone,
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    Message was edited by: Haberdasher

    Sorry to bump, but any ideas?

  • Pixel/Aspect Ratio Problem

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  • Difficult Pixal Aspect Ratio problem

    I am having trouble with the PAR (and Screen Aspect Ratio) from one particular camera that belongs to the client. It's a Sony SR-100 SD camera that records some form of MPEG-2 directly to a HDD. Normally I don't have trouble sussing out aspect ratios, but this one has me stumped. My guess is that QT and/or FCP are not handling it correctly.
    The native footage is read as muxed MPEG-2 @ 640x480 with square pixels in QT Player (Movie Properties) and FCP (Item Properties). This doesn't fit the SD frame. More later. A handy tool called MediaInfo Mac tells me the same clip is Primary Stream MPEG-2--not muxed--with AC3 audio at 720x480. MediaInfo Mac doesn't compute the PAR, but it does say the display aspect ratio is 4x3, so I am assuming some distortion is taking place. My client claims the specs from the camera documentation match the MediaInfo Mac data--not the QT data--and I believe him.
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    Thanks. I also tried to find some specs on this camera, but was only able to find information on where/how to purchase. I don't know, definitely, how he shot this footage. It is definitely not 16x9. So that means I'm more confused, since you are suggesting the material should be 640x480, not 720x480--what QT alone is saying.
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    And... my profile says I'm in "Flyover Country" (US). I'm actually in Micronesia for a couple years. Thanks, uh, neighbor.

  • Problem with pixel aspect ratio

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  • Aspect ratio problem with consumer camera and Premiere Elements 11

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    Steve
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    and
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    If you ever need the Adobe Premiere Elements Forum, maybe bookmark this link
    Premiere Elements
    You should expect to have this issue with any .mod widescreen file that you obtain from your Canon FS200 camera.
    ATR
    Add On...If you are depending on the program to set the correct project preset, you may want to check into what it is setting based on the properties the first file you drag to the Timeline. A manual setting of the project preset may be in order. Please see
    ATR Premiere Elements Troubleshooting: PE11: Accuracy of Automatic Project Preset (New Project Dialog) Setting

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    Message was edited by: bladerunner1712

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    When choosing Export -> QuickTime Movie, you get a self-contained QuickTime-file of your sequence. The default video format is the same as your current sequence settings, which means you will get the exact same frame size an pixel aspect ratio in your QuickTime-file.
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  • Custom Pixel Aspect Ratio (After Effects CC 2014)

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    Tina,
    Lets see if we can get kitty onto YouTube.
    There are four issues, that you will need to overcome:
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