• Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

  Formats and letterboxing

  Posted by Ayesha Khan on May 5, 2009 at 7:00 am

  Hi there,

  I’m a newbie and although I’ve played around with FCP a bit I seem to come against many hiccups.

  I have shot in HDV 25f (the Canon xh A1’s version of 25p). I live in the UK so this is all PAL.

  I’m doing a short video for a friend for her website (which is looking good) but I’ve been requested for the format of a quicktime movie in 640 x 480, which is 4:3. Is there a way to export in this format without getting that stretched look and by adding bars at the top and bottom (letterbox)?

  Any help and options would be appreciated. At present the only way I seem to be able to export is by getting a very nice but squashed image. I imagine that is preferable to cropping the image but I would like to try that too if it’s an option.

  So two questions really about the export….
  1. Letterboxing
  2. Cropping

  Thanks in advance for your help and expertise!

  Ayesha Khan replied 17 years, 4 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  Russell Lasson

  May 5, 2009 at 2:13 pm

  You can create a custom preset in Compressor to letterbox your footage. So open the preset that you’re using (may want to make a copy of it) and then go to the filters – video – letterbox. From there, there are several options for letterboxing. Play around with it and let me know if you don’t get it figured out.

  -Russ

  Russell Lasson
  Universal Post
  Ridgeline Digital Cinema Mastering
  Salt Lake City, UT
• 

  Ayesha Khan

  May 5, 2009 at 3:01 pm

  Hi there Russell.

  I’ve not actually used compressor before. Is this the trick I’m missing? And basically and most importantly, will it give me a final ratio of 4:3? It’s 640 x 480 to be precise.

  Will go and try and do as you say shortly. Need a short break after the rough cut.

  Thanks!!!

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