Squeeze Mode - Aspect Ratio

This is what I am doing...
I have multiple video signals coming into a mix board. The mix board goes into my computer. I am recording the signal into FCP. All the my cameras are shooting in squeeze mode to fake the 16:9 aspect ratio.
This is what I want...
I want FCP to automatically adjust the aspect ratio so I don't have to render the video after the session is over.
Is this possible?
What do I need to do?
To answer these questions do you need more details?

That's right. Anamorphic is squeezed video. This is standard in standard definition. Depending on the format it goes to, there is a setting that lets that program/player/whatever know that it is widescreen and should be stretched out. With HD it is true widescreen. However, if you want to go to the Internet or something where it's displayed on a computer, it should be set to it the equivalent in square pixels, which is 853:480 (sometimes 854 is used when a program can't read an odd number). Quicktime will also recognize it as 720:480 widescreen if you output it correctly for the same reason stated above, it's marked that the program has to stretch it when displayed.

Similar Messages

Display Modes and Aspect Ratio

I have a project that contains 4:3 and 16:9 footage. It is being prepared for 4:3 VHS release as well as 16:9 DVD release. For the DVD, I have exported all footage out of FCP from a 16:9 timeline. The VHS master is being sent to get captioned and the subtitle files for the DVD will be generated from this same master.
I originally thought I could just drop the video in its entirety onto two tracks in DVDSP, set the display mode of track 1 as 16:9 letterbox and the display mode of track 2 as 16:9 pan-scan. Then I could use chapter markers and stories to navigate as needed depending upon the aspect ratio of the original footage. The problem is this doubles the size of my DVD. I didn't think using the same footage on two tracks should increase the size as it is simply referencing the same file, but alas it does.
So, if instead I put only the true 16:9 footage on track 1 and only the pillarboxed (originally 4:3) footage on track 2, this solves the DVD size problem but screws up my subtitle timings, which I can certainly shift as needed but there are a LOT of small pieces in this project and it jumps between aspect ratios a lot so it will necessitate a lot of subtitle shifting.
Is there another better way to approach this? Hope my description was clear enough.
Thanks in advance.
P.S. Public thanks again to hanumang, whose responses to a previous related thread helped get me this far...

Hi Steve, thanks for your reply. I did not explain well. I am not planning to put both 16:9 and 4:3 versions on the DVD. What I am doing is using only 16:9 encoded video on the DVD. This is achieved by placing all footage (16:9 and 4:3) on a 16:9 timeline in FCP and encodeing to widescreen using Compressor. When I do this, the footage originally shot in 16:9 comes through unaltered while the footage originally shot in 4:3 comes through with pillarboxing.
Ultimately, I need widescreen footage to appear unaltered on 16:9 monitors and letterboxed on 4:3 monitors and I need the footage that was originally shot in 4:3 to appear pillarboxed on 16:9 monitors but unaltered on 4:3 monitors.
Based on the way I am exporting my footage from FCP, if I use a single track in DVDSP and place all the footage on that track and set it to 16:9 letterbox, I believe the footage that was originally shot in 4:3 will get postage-stamped, since the pillarboxing was created by FCP when 4:3 footage was placed in the 16:9 timeline.
The way I have been ensuring things appear correctly is to place ONLY the footage shot in 16:9 on one tack in DVDSP (set to letterbox) and ONLY the footage shot in 4:3 on a second track in DVDSP (set to pan-scan). They have to be on different tracks to allow for different displlay modes but that is necessary to insure things appear properly on all viewing possibilities.
Perhaps there is another way to set things up in FCP and export differently? Please let me know if you see another solution.
Thanks much!

How to crop without changing aspect ratio/Crop mode

Is there a way to crop in Lightroom without changing the aspect ratio? That is my first question.
My second question, is it better to use APS-C crop mode on my full frame Sony A7R if I know at the focal length I'm gonna crop, or just take it full frame and crop in the software? Are there disadvantages to this when it comes to uses flash's etch?
Third, Currently I do not have a portrait lens as the Sony A7R is new and does not have many lenses out yet. Until the 90mm lens comes out I was thinking I could use the Zeiss 55mm 1.8 in Crop mode for a portrait lens. That would make it around 88mm would it compress the background nicely the way an 85mm lens normally does for portraits?

This is what I usually do, now I know for sure my aspect ratio has been locked. As far as shooting in crop mode though, what I meant about that is this; For portraits, if you take a 55mm and shoot a portrait with it, the background doesn't look that compressed, which I like. Even if it's at a good F stop. It'll be out of focus, but not "compressed" And seems to show more flaws in the person. This is why with my Canon I always used my 85mm or my 100mm. I know some who will only use a 200mm due to this type of compression that happens at longer focal lengths.
If I was to shoot in crop mode, making it 88mm, would it give me that affect? The compressed look I get from a 85mm? Or would it simply just crop it like I do in post and not really make a difference.
Sony has yet to come out with a portrait lens and I need one bad, I've been offered little jobs here and there and can't take them because I don't want to disappoint them. I'm waiting for their 90mm, because that is close the 100mm and 85mm I shot with on the 5D for portraits.
Not to same the subject here but, 'Benjamin Root Photography,' has been a great help to me on this forum. I also torn between getting the 16-35mm F/4, or the new 24mm F1.4 prime, for wide landscape shots, because landscape and hiking is where I do most of my photography.
I don't plan on actually shooting a landscape at 1.4, but if it's 1.4 that means if I stop it down to F 8 on a landscape it'll be tact sharp. But it is not a Zeiss and is only going to cost 500. On the other hand, there is the 16-35mm, still I'd shoot around F 8 or even higher for landscape, the problem is, if it's F/4 won't that mean it'll have to stop down much further than the 24mm to get a sharper picture?
I don't guess I can go telephoto, like anything over 100mm because I have the A7R. People say over 100 mm it has shutter vibration, so at 200 or 300 I wouldn't buy until the A7R ii comes out. I'm not willing to get the regular A7 ii because I really like the advantage of having all those megapixels for cropping purposes, and it just plain looks better. Which is why I took my Sony A7 back for the A7R. Everyone was saying the photo's were more impressive than the 5D Mark iii's with the Zeiss 55 1.8 vs 5D with 50 1.4L. That wasn't really the case with the A7, but when I got the A7R I seen a HUGE difference in dynamic range.
I've heard the A7 is better at focusing than the A7R, but since I switched to the A7R I have noticed literally no difference. But I don't shoot fast moving subjects.
With both cameras I notice the face detection and EYE AF is hard to get to work properly. If I let it auto focus fully It'll focus on the wrong thing a lot of times even though the green boxes say the right thing.
So, I have been putting it on a single point, keeping it at the center, focusing on the eye, and then recomposing. That's mostly how I did with the 5D anyway. I never allowed it to choose focus points for me either.

Defined crop aspect ratios work only in landscape mode (LR2.1) (Mac, Win)

When I try to use pre-defined or user-defined crop aspect ratios, e.g., 5x7, on a picture in portrait mode, the crop always goes into landscape mode. This makes no sense; PS doesn't do that.
As an interim solution I have been rotating my portrait pictures 90 degrees into landscape orientation just to get the cropping done, and then rotating them back to portrait, but my neck is beginning to hurt. What is the correct method for cropping in portrait mode using pre-defined aspect ratios?

The method I use is to set the ratio, then do not drag from the corner; plop the crop tool inside the edges and draw as you would in PS. Then adjust via edges, corners, etc.

AME Export from HDV source: Pixel aspect ratio squeezed in Queue; ok in direct export.

I have some existing HDV footage that was converted to Cineform codec (CFHD) in an .avi file that I need to export. My target requires Windows media format (.wmv Window Media video 9).
My output settings are the following:
640x480, square pixels, 29.97, lower, VBR, 2 pass unconstrained, 800 kbps.
When I export these files in a sequence directly from Premiere Pro CC (Export button), the pixel aspect ratio looks correct. (It looks ok in Premiere and in the Premiere Export window, too.)
When I export using the Queue button in Premiere to AME CC, the video renders out squeezed, as if the aspect ratio is ignored.
I can also see the squeezed video in the AME preview window when the file is rendering.
This worked OK previously in Premiere 5.5.
Is there a setting that controls this and allows normal rendering from the Queue?
Using the Queue is much preferred to avoid bottlenecks in workflow.
System: Windows 7 enterprise 64 bit, Lenovo W510, Core i7, 16GB ram.
Nvidia Quadro FX 880M
Premiere Pro CC: 7.2.1(4)
Adobe Media Encoder: 7.2.0.43 (64-bit)
Not sure if I am using the Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration.
Thanks.

I'm using CC, updated today. (see system info at top).
I'm starting to wonder if the codec info is not read correctly when using the Queue (Cineform codec). I took your suggestions and created a new sequence with one clip and used the same settings. I opened the export settings window in two separate ways:
Export settings in Premiere (Ctrl M). All is good in the Source tab. PAR is interpreted correctly:
I sent the export to the queue, and from the job in AME clicked the "Custom" link to retrieve the same settings window.
However, the Source video PAR is not interpreted correctly:
This must be related to why the render from the AME queue is not correct.

Burst Mode for 4:3 Aspect Ratio?

How do I shoot pictures of 4:3 aspect ratio and Burst Mode? Not Timeshift Burst but similar to the one found in Superior Auto.
And while we're at it, could there be included in the future 4:3 for Superior Auto?
Thanks

There isn't burst mode
http://userguide.sonymobile.com/referrer.php?region=global-en&product=xperia-z1#General-camera-setti...
Capturing mode settings overview
Superior auto
Optimise your settings to suit any scene.
Manual
Adjust camera settings manually.
Timeshift burst
Shift back and forth in time to enjoy and share your favourite moments.
Picture effect
Apply effects to photos.
AR effect
Take photos with virtual scenes and characters.
Find more information about what you see in the viewfinder.
Social live
Broadcast live video to Facebook™.
Sweep Panorama
Use this setting to take wide-angle, panoramic photos. Just press the camera key and move the camera steadily from one side to the other.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." Kurt Cobain (1967-1994)

Video support: resolution, portrait mode and aspect ratio

I have been playing with a friend's PowerPC-based mini (while I wait for Leopard to come out) and have some pre-purchase questions:
1) Do the current Core 2 Duo mac mini models support the VESA standard Preset Timing Mode of 1680 x 1050? (That's not listed on his older mac mini and would affect my choice of monitor.)
2) Does the current mac mini support portrait mode with any monitor at all?
3) The specs list maximum resolutions of 1920 x 1200 (16:10) with DVI and 1920 x 1080 (16:9) with VGA. I'm guessing that is related to bandwidth of the cable and does not mean that all output to DVI would be at the 16:10 aspect ratio and all output to VGA would be at the 16:9.

mexibeetle,
As far as the resolution of 1680x1050 I cannot answer you. I have a Power PC mini as well as an intel mini. The resolutions available change based on the display connected, but neither of mine offer that particular resolution (the 17" monitor I have does not go that high on the PPC mini via VGA and the intel mini is hooked up to a 40" LCD TV via HDMI...those resolutions are either 1600x900 or 1920x1080)
Neither my monitor nor my HDTV list that particular resolution (1680x1050) as being available, regardless of what they are connected to, so I cannot say whether or not the mini is capable of driving a screen at that resolution.
As to portrait mode, on both the older and newer minis in the display preference pane there is the option to rotate your image...90, 180 and 270 degrees. Mounting your monitor horizontal or vertical should not pose any problem as far as I can see.

Text squeezing to wrong aspect ratio in PAL D1 Anamorphic project

For some reason when I have been typing text into a PAL D1 Ana'phic project the text looks squashed, when it should look normal.
Rather annoyingly it is my client who has noticed this after I have spent 2-3 days on a whole load of text graphics (18 projects)
Curiuously, I have just started a new project and the text behaves correctly.
Does anyone know why the problem may be occurring? The only other elements in the projects are red boxes created using the Motion Rectangle tool.
My only quick workaround is to go back into all the projects and change the 'x' scale of the text.
Any advice mucho appreciated.

This may be slightly off subject, but I almost always have to go to the distort aspect ratio (in FCP) and correct it for Motion 3 elements, whether they are files or renders. It is true of various project settings and both video and stills, both HD and DV. Usuallly there is a 33% distoriton and I simply adjust to 0%, render the timeline and all is well. I've seen this referred to a few times - is it a bug?

Aspect ratio driving me mad

Hi all.I live in Australia and have been having a hard time getting my head around this aspect ratio stuff. If you can be bothered I will give you the story of whats happening. I am recording my footage in dv wide screen mode with a sony HVRA1P. Next Step, I capture it into Final cut express HD. Once in, it is automatically given the anamorphic tick. So far, so good. Then Once I was happy with my project I saved it as a QT file - self contained. This is where the problems started. When I played the file back in QT, it was squashed into a 4:3 window. And when I burnt it to DVD, it also wouldnt play back in proper 16:9. Even though it was recorded in 16:9, and edited in 16:9.
I was then told by the supplier of my gear that I would need a little program called "Anomorphicizor". Basically what it involved was dropping my QT file onto this icon and doing a 'save as' on the file. this actually fixed the problem. It played 16:9 on a widescreen and on a 4:3 tv it letterboxed - exactly what I wanted it to do. However it Is another step that takes time and because I have lots of projects to output, it becomes a longwinded process.
Then one day I typed into google "16:9 files in QT". And I fell upon a site that had the following information:
Exporting 16x9 QuickTime Final Cut Pro
One of the really confusing issues about working with 16x9 in Final Cut Pro, is when you go to export a QuickTime movie and it comes out 4x3 instead of 16x9.
When exporting a Final Cut Pro movie, the system will use the current sequence or clip settings. If you are working in DV-standard def, your footage was brought in at 720 x 480.
Final Cut Pro uses an anamorphic aspect correction feature to make it easy to edit in 16x9. The problem is, when you export a QuickTime movie you end up with a movie that is tall and skinny squeezed into the standard 4x3 player window.
So, instead export your final movie using QuickTime Conversion, and then specify a size of 865 x 480. Then, you will have a QuickTime movie that plays within a 16x9 window.
This was very interesting reading, but still a bit confusing. Firstly it said that if I was working in dv standard def, my footage would be brought in at 720x480. This is not the case though. In my window the frame size is 720x576. It also suggests that I export my project using quicktime conversion and specify a size of 865x480, which will give me a 16:9 window. It did'nt say which compression settings to use so I just used DVPAL. Any I tried all of this and low and behold it actually paly back correctly and I didnt have to put it through the "anamorphicizor" program.
Now, if you are actually still reading all of this, then thankyou. I guess to sum all of this up, - What is the best way to save my fcp project so that it will play back 16:9 in QT, and on a dvd player.? Thankyou in advance, Matty

Thanks again Dave for getting back to me. All of your information is fantastic and is slowly starting to sink in. though if you could stay with me a tiny bit longer that would be great.
Firstly: When I drop my QT file into the anamorphicizor program, the result is great. it plays back widescreen on a 16:9 set and letterboxed on a 4:3 set. This is exactly what I want it to do. The only problem is that its another step in what is allready a fairly time comsuming process, considering there are a lot of projects that i have to create. If I was somehow able to bypass this "anamorphicizor" step, it would be great.
I think I mentioned to you that I did come across a web page that talked about exporting from QT. It suggested to export my final movie using QT conversion and then specify a size of 865x480. Now I wasnt sure if this setting was for ntsc or pal, but i tried it anyway. And it actually worked. It played back widescreen on a 16:9 set and letterboxed on a 4:3 set. - and I didnt even use the "Anamorphicizor" program. Is this the answer?. Is the setting of 865x480 correct? Are there other settings in the QT conversion stage that I need to be aware of - like the compression setting - least amount up to best quality? Am I asking too much of you Dave? I think I can answer that one! Thankyou in advance. Matty
Your resolution is 720x576 regardless of whether it
is 4:3 or 16:9. That's the native resolution for PAL
DV/DVD, and other metadata are used to determine
whether it is 4:3 or 16:9. If the clip is 4:3 then
it should display at 768x576; if it is 16:9 it should
display at 1024x576. See, the native pixel count is
actually narrower (in your case) than 4:3 (for me
it's actually wider). So if you look at an
anamorphic clip, it will be squeezed into the 720x576
narrower-than-4:3 window. But that's OK. All of the
data is there; it will be stretched back out when you
play back from a DVD. If you are going to a DVD, you
don't really care if the data files play back
stretched or squeezed or whatever on the computer, so
long as they get encoded correctly and behave
correctly for the DVD.
The Anamorphicizer doesn't do any conversion to your
file; all it does is to add something to the
QuickTime container so that iDVD will identify the
clip as widescreen (since iDVD doesn't give you an
option to do that yourself). I suspect that it just
adds the "wide" atom to the end of the file, but I
don't know that for certain. In any case, the movie
data itself is not changed, and I wouldn't consider
that to be any kind of "conversion". So don't worry
about recompression or anything like that from using
Anamorphicizer.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Aspect ratio help for a newbie?

Hi Everyone,
I've got a Sony DCR SR-32 camera (please don't laugh ) and shooting in its HQ mode, (9Mb/s) and 16:9 aspect ratio.
I can import the footage into iMovie and make a movie with no problems. But I've just bought FCE and am struggling to get the footage imported at the correct 16:9 aspect ratio. After trawling the discussions I've tried the log and transfer method, and all the other relevant discussion on importing AVCHD files directly into FCE but no success (I get file opening error ?). So I'm bringing the footage into iMovie, exporting it from iMovie as an FCE XML file and opening that using PAL anamorphic or NTSC anamorphic Easy setups.
Even so, I've got what looks like 16:9 video squeezed into a 4:3 aspect ratio with black boarders on either side padding it out back to the 16:9 size.
I'd welcome any advice other than "get a new camera "

Hi Tom, I seem to have a similar problem, not sure if you've seen this, but I have the new canon vixia hg 21 which is avchd and FCP 6 isn't recognizing it either. Using Imovie to recognize the files works fine, the problem is that when you export from imovie '08 into FCP via xml, it imports fine, but I also get the same display issue with the black bars surrounding the footage, only in the canvas. It appears fine in the viewer and in it's own sequence in the timeline. But when you mix the different camera footage together, the other being the Canon XH A1, it appears as a different aspect ratio??? What the?
ANy help would be greatly appreciated!

Aspect ratio problem with consumer camera and Premiere Elements 11

Hello everyone - I'm Steve. I'm new here. I do still photography on a pro level, digital and analog, but I am an absolute dummy with video...but then, I don't want to do much, just rudimentarily cut a few family videos, upload them, etc.
However, I can't get Premiere Elements 11 to output my self-shot clips in a correct aspect ratio.
My camera is a consumer-model Canon Legria FS200. I shoot video in a resolution the camera calls XP. The camera says they are 16:9, the camera monitor shows them as 16:9, and when I use the software (called Pixela Image Mixer) that came with the camera to import the clips to disk, I get mpg files that Windows (7) Explorer says are 720x576 pixel, and that VLC player correctly displays as wide-screen 16:9 without me having to tweak its display settings.
However, the moment I import them into Premiere Elements, they appear horizontally squeezed, and I can't seem to output them any other way, with or even without editing them in Premiere.
I tried to use the recipe given here: https://forums.adobe.com/message/5987538#5987538 , (replacing only NTSC with PAL because I'm in Germany), namely, setting the project preset set manually for PAL/Hard Disk etc/ Widescreen 48kHz and check force selected program settings. But no matter, Premiere displays the video in horizontally compressed form, with large black bars to the right and to the left.
On the export side, setting the output to PAL DVD Widescreen and setting the Pixel Aspect Ratio in the output settings to Widescreen does not help, either. Neither can I force VLC player manually to display the correct aspect ratio. BTW, audio is perfect all along.
This is about as far as I can see myself getting without help. Has anyone any idea?
Thanks a lot in advance,
Steve, from Germany

Steve
I see that you are now in the Adobe Premiere Elements Forum with your problem already solved.
I did not see any Why for what you encountered, so I thought I would give you my take on this.
Your Canon FS200 gives video with MPEG2 video compression with a .mod file extension. That .mod file extension can be found in use with some Canon as well as JVC cameras. The .mod file history with Premiere Elements (any version) is problematic. In some instances, the user needs to rename the file extension from .mod to .mpg before it can be imported, but not always. But, the .mod widescreen comes packaged with the aspect ratio dilemma, presenting as 4:3 rather than 16:9. The classical argument is whether Premiere Elements does not recognize a .mod file's 16:9 flag or whether the 16:9 flag got lost.
There used to be a utility contributed by an user to handle the file extension and/or aspect ratio issues. Now, the general fix is to import the file into Premiere Elements (in your case 11) with Add Media/Files and Folder/Project Assets. And in Project Assets, you right click the file, select Interpret Footage, and go to the Pixel Aspect Ratio section of the Interpret Footage dialog where you
(a) dot the Conform To:
and
(a) set the Contorm To: field to (in your case) D1/DV PAL Widescreen 16:9 (1.4587)
Once you are in the program and have the file on the Timeline, if any black edges, you can click the monitor to bring up the image's bounding box. Then drag on a bounding box handle to scale the image just to the point where the black edges are gone.
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

FCP: Motion Distort Aspect Ratio -33.33?

Good morning,
I recently exported two different sequences from FCP. Both films were exported using ‘QuickTime Movie’ and ‘Current Settings’.
One of the films came out letter-boxed and the other did not.
In investigating this I found the only difference in the settings of two films seems to be that under the 'Distort' field in 'Motion' tab of the FCP Viewer, the Aspect Ratio for the letter-boxed video was set at '-33.33' while for the full-screen the Aspect Ratio was set for '0'. When I changed the -33.33 to 0 I got the full-screen, non-letter-boxed image I wanted.
Both films are also played with QuickTime player using ‘Conform Aperture to: Clean’ under the ‘Presentation’ tab of [Command]-J.
Why was the Aspect Ratio for these clips set at -33.33? Since I didn't set this, it must have been an automatic setting.
I'm sure I'm missing something here.
Cheers,
BurntMonkey

Studio X,
Thanks again. 'Squeeze Mode' is the DVX100B's solution to fitting a 16:9 aspect on a 4:3 chip. If I understand correctly when in the mode the DVX basically animorphically squeezes the footage onto the chip. Then when it is handled in post the footage is 'stretched' and you are left with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Yes, when I first drag a clip to the timeline, I do get the message about the sequence settings not matching and do I want to change them to match the current clip. Is this when the Aspect Ratio is set to -33.33?
My question is still 'Why?' When I reset the aspect ration back to '0' I get the full-screen, 16:9 image that I was hoping for in the first place. But I'm wondering when this will come back to haunt me. I have burned a DVD using the exported sequence so everything seems to be OK.
Thanks for your help in understanding this.
Cheers,
John

DVX and the Squeeze Mode in FCP

Good morning,
I recently experimented with the Squeeze mode on my DVX100b. I shot in 24pA and captured to FCP using the advanced pull down setup. The clip was recognized as anamorphic (judging by the checked box in the Anamorphic column of the browser) and I just put it into the time line and exported it as a Quicktime Movie using the 'current settings' default.
What I noticed when reviewing the QT movie is that everything looks a little squished on the horizontal plane (shorter and fatter). I don't mind since I'm 7'2" and weigh 98 pounds but my co-star, my dog Fezic, is complaining. He looks like he's 1'6" and weighs 98 pounds!
Have I missed something essential to using DVX Squeeze footage in FCP?
Cheers,
John
Message was edited by: BurntMonkey

Hey John,
I could be wrong but, I think that QT will only recognize the source media's native pixel aspect ratio, which in your case is squished (squeeze mode).
Are you going to DVD? If so, DVDSP will allow you to check 16:9/anamorphic, in which case it should unsquish your footage.
I just picked up a DVX100B myself, (love it-by the way--just don't have the bucks for HVX yet..but some day). I haven't gotten as far as exporting/burning so I'm not positive about this, however I've worked on many projects that was shot 16:9 (1280 X 960) on the HVX which FCP ingests as and recognizes as 960 X 720. If I had to export a roughcut sequence for client or for composer, etc. I would always panic B/C the QT made it looked squished. But, it was brought to my attention after scouring the forums here and elsewhere that QT does not recognize 'SQUARE' pixels.
Also, (I'm sure you're aware), but if not, you should check out dvxuser.com. They have loads of info on your cam and how it integrates w/ FCP.
Best of Luck!
Zack

Will FCP tell me what the 'correct aspect ratio' is?

Hi,
This isn't a problem, I'm just curious.
When I import clips in to FCP I am allowed to view them in their correct aspect by checking 'Correct For Aspect Ratio' using the 'Window Zoom' button in the canvas.
Is there a way of seeing the correct aspect frame size in the browser?
For example, I shoot in 'squeeze' mode on my DVX100b. That footage is recorded/imported at 720x480. FCP allows me to edit it as it should look. And then it's up to me to 'un-squeeze' it. That's fine, no problem. But I'm wondering if final cut pro has any idea what the un-squeezed frame size should be (or is it just automatic) and does it tell me anywhere.
Just wondering.
Thanks,
Double ohh

The unsqueezed size is 720x480, and you'll see it in the browser under "frame size" (you may have to enable this by control-clicking on the top of any browser column).
If the anamorphic column is checked in the browser, you'll always get a correct display in FCP. As you've discovered, you'll have to modify your output files (either by changing the frame size or changing the movie properties in quicktime player) to get them to display correctly on a computer screen. Your DVD or video player will always display widescreen material correctly once you've authored your disks in widescreen and set up your DVD player to match your TV screen aspect.
Best of luck.

Letterbox stretching aspect ratio dvx100a help!!!

I shot video on my dvx100a camera in letterbox mode. My manual says letterbox means 16:9.
In FCP I captured using easy set-up NTSC and 48KHZ 720x480.
Maybe that is wrong?
Anyway I noticed the image looks stretched in the viewer. If I uncheck anamorphic in all my clips the image looks normal. But when I export video edited this way to FCSP or just to quicktime I have black bars not only on the top and bottom but also on the sides. It's not terrible but the image is a box within a black box or - how do you say? floating on black.
Is there something I'm doing wrong? I tried capturing with 48 KHZ anamorphic and got the same thing.
Anything I can do? And if there is something I can do, does that mean I need to recapture all my video using a different capture setting?

I own the DVX100B, essentially same camera. In Letterbox mode, those black bands are already burned into the 4:3 frame. The manual states "Black bands are recorded at the top and bottom of the image."
Therefore, I would guess you should capture as ordinary NTSC 48K. Then you can scale the image up into a 16:9 sequence if you want but it will degrade the picture accordingly. But at least your aspect ratio won't change.
The Panasonic DVX100A/B is a great camera but you should not film using Letterbox mode. You could try the Squeeze mode, but the best method for getting 16:9 from the DVX100 is buying an $800 Anamorphic lens adapter. I outfitted both my cameras with one. This allows you to use FCP's NTSC 48k Anamorphic capture preset to get the best 16:9 from that camera. But if you must have wide screen, try the Squeeze Mode. Good luck.
Hope that helps.
Eddie

Squeeze Mode - Aspect Ratio

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