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Pixel Aspect Ratio workflow: square to NTSC
Hello all,
I know this is a very basic issue, and I’ve read lots of posts and articles about this, but I am still confused, and would greatly appreciate some clarification for workflow:
I am creating an AE project using all square pixel elements (photos and graphics), which will be output to DVD for projection.
Am I supposed to work in a 540×720 square pixel comp, and then before rendering place that comp inside a 480×720 NTSC DV comp?
Could I work in a 480×720 square pixel comp and then just change the pixel aspect? will that distort the final output? will it distort the AE preview?
many thanks for clarifying this very basic thing.
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3 Replies
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“Am I supposed to work in a 540×720 square pixel comp, and then before rendering place that comp inside a 480×720 NTSC DV comp?”
Only when working with apps which don’t support non-square pixels and when bringing those elements as Comp (since Comps inherit the comp settings from the still file). This spells “Illustrator” very clearly 🙂 It could be also the case for any application that can spit layered PSD files and it’s not Photoshop (since PS can handle non-square pixels since CS1).
“Could I work in a 480×720 square pixel comp and then just change the pixel aspect? will that distort the final output? will it distort the AE preview?”
If you bring square pixel elements into a Comp you create with non-square pixels, AE will take care of everything as long as it knows the nature of the incoming elements. Most of the time, AE guesses PAR from image dimensions. So if you bring any graphic that doesn’t match a typical video format, AE will interpret it as square and you’re good to go. So, you only want to avoid using typically non-square PAR video sizes set as square pixels. Or viceversa.
Adolfo Rozenfeld
Buenos Aires – Argentina
ar(AT)adolforozenfeld.com -
The simple answer is (for North American standard definition) to do all your work in 720×480 compositions, regardless of the source media you are using. After Effects will know that your assets are square pixel and will handle everything behind the scenes for you.
It will only overly-complicate matters to start mucking around with using non-standard comp sizes and trying to get everything to work out properly, and it’s completely unnecessary since AE is smart enough to do the dirty work for you.
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[beenyweenies] “The simple answer is (for North American standard definition) to do all your work in 720×480 compositions, regardless of the source media you are using. “
Do all your **After Effects** work in 720×480, that is. Unless you know how to do non-square pixel work in Photoshop or Illustrator, use 720×540 (square pixels) in those apps.
🙂
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