Quicktime and PAL m2v Pixel Aspect Ratios

When I open any .m2v or MPEG2 video file I've created for PAL DVDs QuickTime Player Movie Inspector (or Show Movie Properties) indicates that the image size is 720 x 404 pixels instead of being 720 x 576.
This is regardless of the source encoder and I have used Sony Vegas on a Windows PC as well as Compressor on my Mac OSX system to create the files.
When I look at the same files in Windows they report the correct 720 x 576 pixels.
The DVDs play correctly and don't show any anomalies it seems that only QuickTime is reporting an incorrect image size
What is going on with QuickTime?
New Hope Media

Forgot to add that the source files for these were either completely PAL Anamorphic DV at 720 x 576 pixels or AVCHD at 1920 x 1080 which I down converted to SD PAL .m2v using Compressor and the PAL DVD preset which indicates the output file should be 720 x 576.
I can only assume that QuickTime isn't reporting the correct pixel sizes as the files properties show up as 720 x 576 in Windows
New Hope Media

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Exporting Custom Resolution Quicktime Movie with Custom Pixel Aspect Ratio

I want to export some 16x9 sequences (and others) at different resolutions with different pixel aspect ratios.
I have tried exporting as a Quicktime movie, but I get a codec error (with my required H.264 & AAC audio).
I have tried exporting using Quicktime conversion, but there is nowhere to enter a custom pixel aspect ratio (if they added that as an option in “preserve aspect ratio”, that would be nice).
I have tried exporting using Compressor, but it doesn't seem to accept my setting of pixel aspect ratio (HDV 1080i 16:9)—at least when I play back the video it is not using wide pixels.
Thanks for any suggestions.
G5

I would like to have arbitrary control of the pixel frame size on export as well as arbitrary control of the pixel aspect ratio. However, in this case I specificially want to export some video in a 4:3 pixel arrangement (such as 360x270) but have its display be 16:9 via non-square (i.e. 4:3) pixel aspect ratio.
In that sense, yes, I want to have something play back at 16:9, but at least some of my attempts to export video are squished at 4:3.
While it may be possible to adjust the display in the Quicktime Player, the AVC video syntax as specified by ISO and MPEG standards bodies allow the specification of the pixel aspect ratio (actually sample aspect ratio in the standard) within the bitstream, and when it is there, the latest versions of Quicktime will (from my experience) render the video with the correct aspect ratio.

Changed H264 for Bly Ray settings to PAL, but "pixel aspect ratio" remains NTSC

I changed H264 for Bly Ray settings to PAL, but I can't change the "pixel aspect ratio" which remains NTSC. It remains grey and I can't find the way to unlock this.
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It's a very strange behaviour. When I saw the template it was this way
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Same of yours. I don't know why this happened... but I'm happy is the right way...

HD frame sizes and pixel aspect ratios

I have 1920 x 1080 HD footage shot on the Canon 5D Mark II and trying to add some filters to it in AE and then render as a 1280 x 720 file. None of the DVC PRO HD presets seem to get me to this frame size and when I've rendered to that frame size the renders come out distorted, indicating to me that the pixel aspect ratio is off. The DVC PRO HD preset renders a 960 x720 movie. I've been told that these will play at 1280 x 720 but am nervous about this as the work is for an event and I don't want anything to go wrong. I can't figure out how to render a movie that has the right dimensions and the right pixel aspect ratio.
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Still image pixel aspect ratio wrong in exported video (but correct in Premiere renders)

I've saved a targa still image from my footage and added it to the bin. It's properties show as follows:
Image Size: 1440 x 1080
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.3333
This correctly matches my sequence settings as I'm working with 1080p widescreen footage.
The image appears as expected in the Program window both before and after rendering previews. However, once I export my sequence as a video file, the still image is squashed (displaying incorrectly):
A work around would be to stretch out the still to a width of 1920 in Premiere so that the export displays it back at its normal aspect ratio - which works - but I don't understand why I should have to do this.
The other solution I found was to go to the bin and 'Modify > Interpret Footage' and although "Use Pixel Aspect Ratio from File" already shows the correct settings, to actively reset it (to the same pixel aspect ratio) with the 'Conform to' option:
This works too.
Surely a bug?
(using Premiere Pro CC)

Thanks for the quick reply. But then why does the still's properties (in my bin) show the pixel aspect ratio as 1.3333 (not square pixels, 1.0) and should it not appear incorrectly in both the preview renders and the exported video ? This seems inconsitent to me.

Export Frame - Pixel Aspect Ratio

The video in my timeline is 720 by 480 (1.2121). When I clip on "Export Frame" in the program window it exports a jpg that is 720 by 480 (0.9091)
I know I can right click on it and "modify - Interpret footage" and correct the pixel aspect ratio.
My question is "Why is it doing this and how can I correct it"?
Is their a setting I'm missing? Why does it change the pixel aspect ratio?

The jpeg is not square. The pixel aspect ratio would be 1 and not .9091, if it were.
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The other machine changes the pixel aspect ratio from 1.2121 to .9091.
I can't find any differences in my settings.

Pixel aspect ratio incorrectly identified in Properties

Premiere Pro/CS4 Mac
I created an animation using CInema 4D and rendered it out using 1:1/square pixels. If I open the file in QT Player, it shows up as 720 x 480 and fills the enire screen... all is well. But when I import it into PPro and look at the file in Properties, it reports it as .909 pixel aspect ratio, which is not square.
This is a problem as I want to put this onto a DVD. If I render an MPG2 file out of PPRo and set the pixel aspect ratio option to Square, the resulting file
does not fill a 720 x 480 screen; there is black on both sides.
If I use .909/standard pixel ratio, it fills the screen when I view it in QT PLayer, but I am worried that Pro is messing with the image...
I can import the same original file in AE and use the Interpret footage option to force square pixels, but that is not an option for this work. Any idea why Pro misindentifies the aspect ratio and is there any way to fix that? Or is this a total non-issue as far as any potential degradation to the file itself along the way through the workflow?
thanks for any assistance.
Dennis

You wrote:
Can you set up a Sequence/Project Preset as Desktop and choose Square Pixels? You can then Export to what you need.
Do you mean create a new project? This project is essentially finished - a few weeks of work creating it, so I can;t redo all from scratch with a new project template. I don;t think you can change a Project Preset once a project is created, correct? And PAR is not one of the settings that I can change in the project settings at this point.
I can export using SQUARE pixels, but the resulting file looks wrong when I view it in QT Player. I guess the only question now is how much damage/degradation will be done having created the original animations that make up this project using square, then bringing them all into Pro (I guess having used the wrong PAR in my preset) and rendering them out in .909.
Any thoughts?
best.d

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

The (new) Premiere pixel aspect ratio is wrong for my PAL DV cam footage

I've had a Sony TRV-950E DV-cam since 2003. I've been shooting DV PAL in widescreen.
I just bought Elements 12 to edit my footage, and discovered that the pixel aspect ratio for D1/DV PAL Widescreen has been updated to 1.46 (old value 1.42).
The theory behind this change is that video recorded on 720x576 is slightly wider than 16:9 and that the 16:9 portion is 704x576.
Unfortunately this is not correct for my footage! I've captured the video from my DV-cam (by firewire) and opened it in Premere and it is streched to be shown as 1050x576.
So I did a test:
I filmed a steady shot of a perfect circle and captured the video from the camera and opened it in Premiere. The pixel ascpect ratio 1.46 makes the display 1050x576.
The question is: Am I seeing this displayed as a perfect circle now?
This can be tested:
I make a picture of a perfect circle in Photoshop (square pixels) with size 1024x576. I imported this picture into the Premiere project, and match the two circles: The filmed one, and the Photoshop one.
They DO NOT match! The one on the video is slightly stretched in width.
So then I stretch the Photoshop picture in width to become 1050x576. I then import this picture into the project. And now I have a perfect match between the circles!
This means that my DV camera actually records a 100% 16:9 picture on all the pixels 720x576 - and not a slightly wider picture with the 16:9 part being in 704x576 (which is the reason for the change in pixel aspect ratio from 1.42 to 1.46).
I have some HD scenes that I want to import (and downscale) into my SD project also, and I also have a lot of still pictures.
Unless I can change the setup i Elements to the correct ratio 1.42, these stills and sqare-pixel-video (HD) should ideally be streched from 1024x576 to 1050x576 to match (become equally stretched as) all the SD footage.
How do I solve this?
I just bought Elements 12 three days ago.
(I just tried opening the captured video in Windows Movie Maker - and that program must use pixel aspect ratio 1.42 since the video is diplayed correctly as 1024x576 with a perfect circle)
Regards,
Tom from Norway

Tom
After much thought and exploration and experimentation, I have come to the conclusion that there is no practical purpose for doing anything other than importing your media into the project and editing/exporting. I find no distortion in doing so, be it in the video samples that you posted or in still models that I created for the pixel aspect ratio 1.422 vs 1.4587 for D1/DV PAL Widescreen.
If you have not already, please read the following about the Adobe DV Widescreen Pixel Aspect Ratio change from 1.422 to 1.456.
Please start in the first link which gives some get subsequent links in it
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/673877
http://www.mikeafford.com/blog/2009/03/pal-d1-dv-widescreen-square-pixel-settings-in-after -effects-cs4-vs-cs3/
Also, you may find the following article on square and non square pixels of interest. It uses the PAL DV Widescreen 1.422 pixel aspect ratio in its discussion.
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/gerard_rick/pixel_madness.php
Aside from the explanation for the rights and wrongs of the matter, this is what I actually observed taking your PAL DV AVI Widescreen and PAL MPEG2.mpg Widescreen into the same Premiere Elements 12 Windows PAL DV Widescreen project. Along with your video files were still images that I created in Photoshop Elements 11 Full Editor:
1024 x 576 document with a red circle on Layer 2 of the Layers Palette
1050 x 576 document with a red circle on Layer 1 of the Layers Palette.
The red circles were superimposed in creation. The difference in the pixel dimensions between the two are evidenced by Layer 1 content peaking through on the left and right.
The gpsot readout for pixel aspect ratio for each of the videos was
a. Your PAL DV AVI 720 x 576 Widescreen = 1.422
b. Your PAL MPEG2.mpg 720 x 576 Widescreen = 1.422
Each of the Photoshop Elements documents (circles) saved as .psd files 1050 x 576 pixels.
When all were taken into Premiere Elements 12 project manually set for PAL DV Widescreen, they looked like the following, no display of distortion.......
PAL DV AVI Widescreen 720 x 576 (now the pixel aspect ratio in Premiere Elements Properties was shown as 1.4587, not the 1.422 seen in gspot before import)
PAL MPEG2.mpg Widescreen 720 x 576 (now the pixel aspect ratio in Premiere Elements 12 Properties was shown as 1.4587, not the 1.422 seen in gspot before import)
Edit Menu/Preferences/General with check mark next to "Default Scale to Frame Size" was in effect.
As for the red circles stills (1050 x 576 to equate to the square pixel version of 720 x 576 widescreen) did not distort when brought into the Premiere Elements 12 Edit area monitor which is established by the PAL DV Widescreen project preset with the pixel aspect ratio = 1.4587.
The jpg version of the Photoshop Elements document (.psd) 1050 x 576 pixels (square pixels) looked like:
And, when this Timeline was exported Publish+Share/Computer/AVI with the DV PAL Widescreen preset, there was no distortion in the export. It looked undistorted as it did before export.
So, unless I am overlooking a key point here, I cannot see a reason why you cannot use the video sources that you presented for sampling as weil as stills with the 1050 x 576 pixel dimensions.
The only time I see any distortion possibilities is if you use a player that does not recognize the 16:9 flag that stretches the 720 x 576 to 1050 x 576 for display after encoding.
Trying to convert Premiere Elements 12 which uses the 1.4587 pixel aspect ratio for PAL DV Widescreen into a Premiere Elements 7 which uses the 1.422 pixel aspect ratio for PAL DV Widescreen is up hill in spite of creative thinking on your side.
Please review and let me know if you are seeing another different from what I am reporting with the samples that you posted.
Thank you.
ATR

Pixel Aspect Ratio and ciphering type of footage-CS6

CS6- updated 12\18\13 V-11.03
Hi All,
A few questions about:
Pixel Aspect Ratio and ciphering type of footage. Bare with me as I touch on two different aspects of what I feel are related:
1. Setting up a Comp-
Having AE decide on the correct footage being used- Via >Import footage,.(to Folder) then drag it on, or into the 'make comp icon' where AE is supposed to do a 'best guess' for the comp settings. Be it square pix or otherwise. What are the second value in brackets ? See pic
2. Interpolation-
When using two diff footage sources- If using two different source footages in a comp. Is this where I should interplolate my footage to match the existing footage and the comp settings (If I have choosen NOT to pre-comp that secondary footage?)
3. Seperating fields-
How come footage that a camera manufacturer claims to be shooting in Progressive 30 or 24p is showing up as interlaced in my comp's CP? The manual to the cam says 30p or 24p or 60i The footage was shot at 30p (for sure)
Here is a screen grab of AE's 'best guess' of that footage, showing it with an UPPER field render; indicative of HD Interlaced footage and then in the inerpolate settings - 'kinda confirming it.
Now for the way out- Render:
4. If that is in fact Interlaced and I then want to reduce the size of that 1920 footage to 66% size... Do I need to do anything in particular at this point?
For some reason I am getting an error on my end when trying to export as an AVI and reducing size to 1280
5. Is this from the Field render of interlaced challenge?
I ended up with a couple of errors and then aborted the whole file and re-imported to start over with this error. Which happend again after a redoux
So I sent it over to Prem Pro to export those MTS Files as a movie and noted AGAIN the reference to Interlaced video. "upper and lower" Prem Pro was able to use the same MTS files and export a working movie. (so those files were not corrupt BTW) Yet Note PP's output reference to that footage again as Interlaced would be...
Thanks for any clarity on those "5" questions... NC

Thanks for the details Rick.
Thanks for the insight on #1
Ref #2, You should never change the interpretation of Pixel aspect ratio on footage unless you know for a certainty that it is wrong. For example, open Photoshop or Illustrator and create a new document that is 720 X 480 pixels and AE will always interpret the image as rectangular pixels because that is a standard rectangular pixel frame size.
Unless you specifically created the image in Photoshop with rectangular pixels it is square pixels so the interpretation must be changed to avoid distortion.
--Did you mean to write:
Unless you specifically created the image in Photoshop with SQUARE pixels using a rectangle layout? I am not trying to bust your blz here, I am trying to understand the unknown. (for me)
So it may very well be AE mis-guessing the footage and the Upper first is a mistake on AE's part and I need to test it to find out? On that note...
Ref#3, Separating fields must be done right. Some 1080P footage is interpreted as having fields. This may be incorrect and if there is a question you MUST test the footage. Test the footage by making sure that the fields are being separated
How do I make sure the fields are being seperated? Does the window as in pic two from the top of my post confirm that or is there another test?
Then I do the following:
then selecting the footage in the project panel and choosing Create Composition from Selection, then opening the Composition settings, doubling the frame rate and stepping through the footage a frame at a time. If the footage is really interlaced then each of the frames will be different. (IE: 29.94 to 59.94fps) OK
If the field order is reversed then motion will be in the right direction then reverse, then go back to the right direction. ---I did not understand? Are you referring to Upper and Lower reverse? Direction, as in fwd and back in Time line? Sorry unlclear on my end...
Oh and HFR footage? HFR? High frame rate??
One last thing, Do all cameras shoot anamorphic, or could they as AE is showing my MTS files; are Square? (1.00) Pic #1
@Dave- You -
At 1080, a lot of footage is interlaced, and evidently your camera made interlaced footage
Me- How do you know? because of the 2nd pic and upper field first indication?
You-Even if you know for a fact that it was shot 30p, the camera captures the entire frame... but it records it as two fields. They give it a fancy name: Progressive Segmented Frame.
Me- Is this typical false advertisement of the sales divison of brands like not telling you what CMOS or CCD is in a cam just slapping HD 1080p on the side of the box?
You-AE will treat it as an entire frame if you interpret it as having a field order of None.
Me- Won't that be a problem mis leading AE on an interpret?
Thanks Gents for the precise details.
Best
NC

Confused about pixel aspect ratio and video size

Hello,
I have edited a whole dvd full of video and exported it as MPEG-2 NTSC DV Wide - it says 720 x 480, 29.97 fps. I have brought these into Encore and am trying to make a menu but can't seem to get the menu size right. Since I chose the wide format when making the video, which aspect ratio should I use in Encore? It gives me a choice in the properties menu, but when I go to Project settings it says Codec: MPEG-2 Dimensions 720 x 480. Whenever I bring in a menu background from photoshop, it doesn't fit, and is further complicated by the pixel aspect ratio thing. I have no idea what my background size should be to make it fit properly - the templates seem to all be the 4:3 size. What size should I be using in Photoshop and which pixel aspect ratio?
Is my video codec going to cause me a problem in Encore? I assumed that most tvs nowadays are widescreen (at least not square), so I should do the video wide as well.
Thanks for any help! I am thoroughly confused.

Use a template menu from Encore's library. Then modify as you need. That way you know that it will be the right pixel size and par. You cannot made an incorrectly sized/par'd menu work by setting it to 16:9 or 4:3 in the menu properties. It must be correct, and if so, Encore will usually pick the correct setting.
The Encore project settings for DVD really have no choices: it has to be 720x480 for NTSC. There is no project setting for par. You have to create the menu correctly - just let Encore do that for you by using a template.
Was your video source widescreen? If so, then you'll be fine on your video. If not, you may need to sort that out also.

Aspect Ratio and Pixel Aspect Ratio

I am importing P2 footage and wondering what my sequence settings should be? As in Aspect Ratio and Pixel Aspect Ratio would need to be? Do I need to ask the DOP what settings on the P2 have been used when filming?

If you have FCP 6 then when you drop a clip into the timeline it will ask you if you want to configure the sequence to match...just click YES.
But you should know what format they shot. Find that out then choose the Easy Setup that matches, and make a new sequence. Or let FCP 6 and 7 do that for you, like I mentioned.
Shane

Pixel aspect ratio cofusion

HI, I have a heap of digibeta footage digitised using black magic.
It is widescreen 16x9, 720x576 PAL. however on inspection of the properties, the .mov file has pixel aspect ratio is shown as 1.0940.
In after effects, if the footage was interpreted to be widescreen pixels (1.4587) it would then appear in its orgnal propotions on screen.
However, in Premiere when the pixel aspect ratio is interpreted as widescreen two vertical black bars are added to the sides of the footage, which retains its squashed appearence
Obviously I'm missing something, but ive been searching now for 2 hours and cant seem to find any clues?

That is so odd.
My only assumption is that because it is mov that it uses the QuickTime importer vs the native ones.
I know that QuickTime relies/chooses on the mov information over that of the stream information. So if the mov container says its 4:3 (1.0940:1) and the stream says it is 16:9 then Premiere will interpret it as 4:3 and box it in a 16:9 sequence.
AE on the other hand might not take this code path and thus gets it right.
That's just a guess though
What does MediaInfo (PC) or Media Inspector (Mac) say?
Having said that there really isn't a good way to fix the problem other than stretching it in the clip scaling width/height settings if the interpret is wrong.

Pixel Aspect Ratio Issues-FCP HELPP!!!

Okay folks, so currently I am putting together my reel in FCP, however I am encountering a few issues. So my source formats are different in pixel aspect ratio, some was shot on the 7D, some on the Alexa, and some on super 16mm, and a few after effects animations. However all of it is HD, and in ProresHQ 422. My problem here is when I import all of my media into FCP if the timeline is set to square pixels, the HD(1440x1080) footage looks squished, and if I set the timeline to HD(1440x1080) the square pixel footage looks blocky, pixelated and super square.
That said, some of the footage from the 7D is labelled as square and some is labelled as HD(1440x1080), and all the after effects stuff is square.
Right now i am dealing with it and just leaving my timeline as green-preview render, so everything looks mostly normal. However whichever format is not that of the timeline, the footage is degraded a tiny bit, so that when I pause the footage it looks great, but in preview it is slightly blurry.
My question is, is there a way to format everything as either square or HD(1440x1080), so it looks normal, or is there a way to use mixed media formats and not have the preview blur. I'm going crazy over here, as I just graduated and am in dire need of a reel so I can begin to apply for jobs, etc....Or is there a way to formate my prores setting to transform everything to square pixels?
Thanks guys!

You can use compressor to convert everything to square pixels, however there's no need to worry about how it looks in fcp when it's playing but not fully rendered. Try exporting a short section (mark an in and out around the section - and going file: export: quicktime Not quicktime conversion) with current settings. If you render the material, it should look fine when you play it within fcp. Unfortunately, the render settings in the sequence menu are not particularly intuitive, but do a little playing around with them if you've got the time.
I prefer to convert all my sources to my intended pixel dimensions, frame rate and codec before I edit in fcp, but it may not be necessary in your case.

Pixel Aspect Ratio bug in Media Encoder export

Having a weird bug in media encoder exports that I can't seem to figure out. I have a 1080p sequence with a mix of 1080p footage and PAL DV assets. The PAL assets have a pixel aspect ratio of 1.0940. When I format them in my Premiere sequence, I am able to scale them correctly and they look fine. When I export them directly from premiere to broadcast standards it's also fine.
However, when I try to export these sequences in Media Encoder via File->Export->Media-> Queue using the same exact settings (I'm using a preset), Media Encoder formats the PAL assets as if they have square pixels. Thus, half of the footage in my sequences gets horizontally "squished." Note that this does not happen for footage that natively has square pixels, such as my 1080p camera footage.
Has anyone encountered this bug? It seems strange to me that Media Encoder would treat items in a sequence differently that Premiere during export, I was under the impression they were using the same rendering engine... It's really a problem as I'm going to have to crank out multiple versions of this 48-minute film and not being able to queue those exports is going to be a huge headache.
Using latest version of CC 2014.1 (8.1.0).

Screenshot of Premiere Export (fills screen):
Screenshot of Media Encoder export: (notice the pillar-boxing)

Quicktime and PAL m2v Pixel Aspect Ratios

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