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16:9 workflow?
Hey, just wondering if some1 could give me a quick workflow (with settings) to edit 16:9 footage.
The specs:
FCP 4.0 (might use 4.5). 4:3 NTSC monitor. Small-format Mini-DV footage (possibly DVCAM?), recorded using a Panasonic DVX100 in 24P mode (NOT 24PA).Questions:
– what’s the difference between normal Mini-DV footage and DVCAM footage? This project was originally shot on large format DVCAM tapes (DVCPRO 50) and Mini-DV copies were made. Should I be going back to the original tapes for the final cut? Would there be any quality loss if only the mini-dv tapes are used? We have no large format DVCAM deck.
– Is it possible to be editing a 16:9 timeline, but have FCP output to my monitor with letterboxing (black bars on top/bottom)? Or am I forced to see vertically stretched footage all throughout the edit. -
2 Replies
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FCP outputs a 16:9 timeline to your monitor, but if your monitor is not switchable between the two aspect ratios then yes, you’ll always see the stretched 16:9 footage on your 4:3 monitor. After you choose to, say, make a DVD of the footage, only then will you be able to have your 16:9 media permanently shown on a 4:3 unswitchable monitor in letterbox format.
If you want to see what your 16:9 footage will be like before your final output from FCP you can reduce the height of your footage by exactly 33.3 percent and then you’ll see the letterboxed footage correctly displayed on your 4:3 monitor. The trouble with that is you might have to render the timeline before you can play the footage properly without fropping frames. I know I would have to do that because my Mac is too slow to play back a squeezed timeline without rendering. Your machine may be faster and will allow you to do it. Go to the motion tab in the Viewer or Canvas windows and reduce the verticcal resolution by 33.3%
Hope that helps you with your 16:9 questions.
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Hello,
there is an easier way. The footage is 16:9. You just have to put the captured 16:9 files in a sequence in 4:3 and you havve an automatic letterbox in the 4:3 Monitor.
When you have edited the piece change settings in the sequence to 16:9 and it shows the sqeezed picture in the 4:3 Monitor.Rainer
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