• Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

  Showing 4:3 in a 16:9 timeline

  Posted by John Kay on August 30, 2008 at 2:22 pm

  I’m working on a basic slideshow, but want the control of FCP that iMovie doesn’t quite offer, and I’m new to FCP. I’ve tried a bunch of things I’ve found while searching, but am still having a problem. I’m planning on showing it on an HDTV via the miniDVI port on my macbook, so I’ve made it a 16:9 (1440×1080) project to get the best quality I can for the HDTV. I’ve also got some video captured on my digital camera, which is only 640×480. What I’d like to do is keep the video at 4:3 and scale it down, so it’s only about 30-50% of the frame height and the quality is decent, but keep the project HD for the still pictures.

  The problem I’m having is that when I export via quicktime or using quicktime conversion for 16:9, the video portion is squished to make it 16:9. Can someone help me figure out how to keep the proportions of the video content at 4:3 while exporting the movie at 16:9??

  Thanks a lot,
  John

  Rafael Amador replied 18 years ago 3 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  Michael Sacci

  August 30, 2008 at 6:31 pm

  I think I would recommend starting with a 720p timeline (maybe Photo Jpeg as the codec) 1280×720. Your photos will thank you for the progressive format and with this you are using a true square pixel format. 1440x is a HDV setting not the best starting point. Then when you drop your video onto the timeline you need to do to the motion tab and remove the upscaling and if has aspect ratio adjustment applied. You do this by double clicking on the clip in the timeline and than selecting the Motion Tab, hit the red X on Basic and Aspect and their settings will be removed, then if you want to scale up the video up can, remember anything more than 115% really starts to break apart, especially if it not very good footage to start with.

  When you are done Export to Quicktime with same settings (MAKE self-contained). Test to make sure your computer can playback this new file.
• 

  Rafael Amador

  August 31, 2008 at 4:41 am

  [John Kay] ” so I’ve made it a 16:9 (1440×1080)”
  Hi John,
  As Michael points 1440×1080 is not Anamorphic when you are using Square pixels.
  You need to build your sequence with 1920×1080 or 1280×720 Square Pixels. Your movie will look perfect when opened in QT.
  rafael

  http://www.nagavideo.com

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