• Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

  can’t seem to crop in export FCP 5

  Posted by Timi Conley on May 10, 2011 at 1:51 am

  Hey folks.. I seem to have a complex question. Some footage I am trying to export has black space on the left and right.

  In exporting a timeline, the crop feature

  Export > Using Quicktime Conversion > Options > Size > Preserve aspect ratio using CROP

  doesn’t seem to work the way I expect it to. I figured I would export with crop to get rid of the black spaces on the sides, but instead of cropping it just squeezes the image horizontally… the black space remains even thought the exported size is narrower. It ends up just looking like a more vertical aspect ratio.

  In the timeline, the clips look normal (unstretched) with the canvas measuring (actual screen) 960×480 with black space on either side of the actual clip. The picture size within the frame measures (actual screen) 854×480 at 100%. The sequence settings are
  NTSC DV
  NTSC CCIR 601 / DV (720×480)
  anamorphic 16×9 checked

  In the motion tab of the clips, the distort is set to 12.5 (based on some sort of import scenario?)

  Is it obvious that I’m totally stumped? I’ve tried a bunch of variables in exporting with no luck… help!!!

  Timi

  Rahul Duggal replied 15 years, 4 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  David Roth weiss

  May 10, 2011 at 2:23 am

  [Timi Conley] “In the motion tab of the clips, the distort is set to 12.5 (based on some sort of import scenario?)”

  That’s not right Timi, the distort parameter should most likely be reset to zero on all clips by using the remove attributes function.

  In the future, while cropping may seem logical for excluding the “pillar bars” on-screen, in fact, that is exactly the opposite of how the job is done. You’d actually scale up the video on the timeline until the image fills the frame. That’s because video has standard frame sizes that are, for the most part, set in stone. Cropping would change the frame size, scaling the video fills the standard frame. There may be some softening of the image, but it’s hardly noticeable.

  David Roth Weiss
  Director/Editor/Colorist
  David Weiss Productions, Inc.
  Los Angeles
  https://www.drwfilms.com

  POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

  A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums. Formerly host of the Apple Final Cut Basics, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
• 

  Timi Conley

  May 10, 2011 at 3:42 am

  Thanks for the insight… I’ll have a go of this and try to simplify my aspect ratio boondoggle. I’ll let you know. Again, thanks!
  Timi
• 

  Rahul Duggal

  May 10, 2011 at 6:03 am

  Yes, scaling the image until it fits the canvas without the pillar bars is the correct way to go.

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