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Rectangular Pixel Setting: Where? (also tips for higher quality?)
The bottom line: Where can I find the setting — in Final Cut, in Compressor, or in DVD Studio Pro — to use rectangular instead of square pixels on export (or burn or wherever)?
The story: I’m trying to burn a DVD for a friend of our kids’ jazz concert. It looks great on computer. Once in DVD Studio Pro’s simulate function, though, all the the performers look slightly stretched. They look that way on TV, too. My understanding is that this is due to the difference in computer and TV pixel shapes and that there is a setting somewhere to address it.
Below are my settings in Compressor, if that helps. And, if anyone can recommend settings for higher quality (I’m getting some stepping which looks lousy on big TVs), I would love to hear them.
Thanks much,
Gary
Name: MPEG-2 7.5 Mbps 2-pass
Description:
File Extension: m2v
Estimated size: 2.88 GB/hour of source
Type: MPEG-2 video elementary stream
Usage:SD DVD
Video Encoder
Format: M2V
Width and Height: Automatic
Pixel aspect ratio: Default
Crop: None
Padding: None
Frame rate: (100% of source)
Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off
Start timecode from source
Aspect ratio: Automatic
Selected 16:9
Field dominance: Automatic
Average bit rate: 6.4 (Mbps)
2 Pass VBR enabled
Maximum bit rate: 7.5 (Mbps)
High quality
Best motion estimation
Closed GOP Size: 1/2 second, Structure: IBBP
DVD Studio Pro meta-data enabled -
5 Replies
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[Gary David] ”
The bottom line: Where can I find the setting — in Final Cut, in Compressor, or in DVD Studio Pro — to use rectangular instead of square pixels on export (or burn or wherever)?”Well, typically it is dictated by the format you are editing. DV is rectangular. ProRes is square. DVCPRO HD is rectangular. So really if you want square pixels, you should choose that format when editing. Put DV, or DVCPRO HD in a ProRes sequence. Or, if you use Compressor and compress to ProRes, the pixels will then be square.
[Gary David] “Once in DVD Studio Pro’s simulate function, though, all the the performers look slightly stretched.”
What source format are you working with in the timeline? what are the sequence settings? How did you compress the file for DVD? What TV are you watching this DVD on? SD DVDs that are 4:3, when played on some HDTVs, will look stretched. because the TV itself will stretch the 4:3 image to fill the 16:9 space.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Shane:
Thank you so much for replying. Here are what I think are the answers to your questions (I’m a bit of a noob at this stuff):
When I look in sequence settings, I see Apple ProRes 422 as both the render codec and the QuickTime video setting. I think I have it for the clip settings, too as I did a Log and Transfer to pull in the clips (and my Apple trainer said that converting to Prores would ultimately give me greater flexibility and/or quality).
I am testing this on Sanyo HD TV. The DVD is formatted as a 16:9 letterbox. It was shot in 16:9 and is being edited in 16:9. So, I’m not stretching 4:3. The stretching is slight, but noticeable.
I think I want both square and rectangular pixels depending on output. I’m burning the DVD for the friend (rectangular) and creating mpgs (square) for online view by out-of-state family. Also, because computer monitors work in square pixels, isn’t that what I want while editing?
In Compressor, I’m outputting to MPEG-2 for a DVD. Wouldn’t that convert to rectangular?
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[Gary David] “I think I want both square and rectangular pixels depending on output.”
No…you don’t. Sorry, your noob-ness is showing. 🙂
ProRes is a square pixel format only. And you don’t want both.
[Gary David] “I am testing this on Sanyo HD TV. The DVD is formatted as a 16:9 letterbox. It was shot in 16:9 and is being edited in 16:9. So, I’m not stretching 4:3. The stretching is slight, but noticeable.”
Check all the VIEW settings on the TV. If it is set to JUSTIFIED, or JUST, it will slightly stretch things. TEst on another TV…you might not see it. I’m sure this is something happening because of the TV, not anything you did.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
“ProRes is a square pixel format only”
This is not really true. ProRes uses D1 pixels in SD, just like most everything else. They can also be Anamorphic in 16×9 SD. In HD, they generally are square, but can also be captured using HDV style (with 1440 pixels stretched to 1920)
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[Shane Ross] Sorry, your noob-ness is showing. 🙂 . . . I’m sure this is something happening because of the TV, not anything you did.
It’s good to know I’m not as much of a noob as I appear! 😉
Anyway, I finally found the setting. It’s in DVD Studio Pro. In the upper right of the Viewer window there is a Settings drop down menu. It’s there! The kids no longer look stretched.
Thanks to all for helping!
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