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maintaining aspect ratio
I am trying to understand graphics and how they work with video. I have been told that there are two ways to modify graphics for video. One is to crop them in Photoshop to 720X480 (which is my setting in FCP – 4:3 DV) or you can create a new Photoshop file using the film and video preset (set at 720X480) and then resize the image and save.
Everything looks great as I bring them into FCP, but when I go to export (I chose current settings – which is 720X480) and then open them in Quicktime, my movie looks wider. I even tried a test with a circle and the quicktime movie distorts it (making it wider)
What am I doing wrong?
What is the best way to maintain correct aspect ratio when working with graphics or photos?
Thanks!
Gary
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10 Replies
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Here is the odd thing……When I play the movie in Quicktime it looks distorted. When I import that quicktime movie back into FCP it looks correct again.
Both are set to 100% scale and the quicktime says it is a 720X480 movie.
What am I missing here?
Thanks!
Gary
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check your QT preferences for screen size. ?
Moto Guzzi rider
dog lover w/wife, Ex & 3 kids -
No that doesn’t change the movie. The odd thing is that when I view it as a quicktime movie it looks distorted.. when I use adobe flash encoder and make it into a flash movie it is still distorted. When I convert it to MPEG2 for DVDSP it looks normal. When I import it back into FCP it looks normal.
Are my eyes playing tricks on me??
I have tried to upload a couple of .jpgs of screen shots, but Creative Cow website is doing funky things…
Thanks for you help!
Gary
Thanks!
Gary
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Without knowing how your graphics were created it’s hard to say. It sounds like you’ve got a pixel aspect mismatch somewhere.
Here’s one thing to try:
Set up a new timeline in your project using the same preset that you’ve been using. Before you drag any graphics to the timeline, go to the browser window and highlight one of your graphics. Slide the blue slider until you see the Pixel Aspect column in the browser. If it says “Square” in the Pixel Aspect column, right click (or control-click) on it to change it to NTSC-CCIR601. If it already says NTSC… control-click on it to change it to “Square”. Now drag that graphic to the timeline and try exporting the timeline.Mark Landman
PM Productions
Champaign, IL -
[Gary Goldblum] “I have tried to upload a couple of .jpgs of screen shots, but Creative Cow website is doing funky things… “
Gary,
The Cow website mechanism for posting stills appears to be working just fine as you can see from my test below. What exactly are you doing? Maybe we can help you with that functionality… As they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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Your FCP manual discusses this in some detail. Please look this up in your manual.
Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/ -
The upload feature is NOT working from my computer. I reset safari and I click on the icon to upload a photo. I hit chose file and I select my file. Then I hit Upload image and it says “image uploaded” yet doesn’t show it in the upper right part of the screen.. Hence I cannot place the embeded code in my discussion. I tried it on Firefox and the icon for uploading a photo doesn’t appear on that browser.
Doh!
Funny thing is it worked the first time I tried, but I accidentally uploaded the wrong image. I hit the X button near the image and it has never reappeared for me…
Thanks!
Gary
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[Gary Goldblum] “Funny thing is it worked the first time I tried, but I accidentally uploaded the wrong image. I hit the X button near the image and it has never reappeared for me… “
Try to save your still in another format with Photoshop. The only time I encounter issues is with certain file types that are not Cow friendly. However, saving them as a jpg in Photoshop seems to cure all evils.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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I have read quite a bit of the owner’s manuel. Does quick time always display movies incorrectly? Is it my computer? (Imac 24 inch) or is it how I am exporting the movie?
I just want my movie to look the same in both FCP and Quicktime.
** I am importing a .psd file of a circle that is exactly 720 X 480. It is perfectly round in Photoshop.
** In FCP that file looks perfect and my sequence is set to 720 X 480 with a pixel aspect of NTSC-CCIR 601 on both the sequence and the .psd file.
** When I export it as a quick time movie (using current setting OR setting it to NTSC DV) my circle is oval in Quick time.
If you know why this is occurring please let me know!
Thanks,
Gary
Thanks!
Gary
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OK, turns out it’s the DVD Studio Pro manual that covers this in detail. Look up “Square Pixels in Graphics” and it will give you guidelines for setting up your Photoshop documents.
Also, if you have a relatively recent version of Photoshop, any of the last 3 or 4 versions have supported non square pixels for SD. You can load a preset that uses the proper pixel aspect ratio in Photoshop and create your graphic there. If you use Illustrator, the film & video presets are set up for square pixel equivalents.
Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/
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