16×9 Question

[Todd Beabout]

The XL1 does shoot anamorphic 16:9 and I don’t believe that it is capable of just adding black bars to a 4:3 image. I know this may not be ideal, but an easy way to get it right is to use firewire directly from the camera. That is the way that I did it when I worked with DV, but you should also check your sequence preset to make sure that it is an anamorphic sequence. If the sequence itself is 4:3 then FCP will add the bars for you and you can go on using your anamorphic footage in a 4:3 sequence.

Check that your sequence is 16:9.

Good luck.

-Todd Beabout
Vazda Studios

[Seawild]

ThanksTodd,

Yeap my sequence is 16×9 and I am capturing at 16×9.. And I am using firewire. Its all working just fine. BUT I am concerned that the footage does not fill the Canvus window that looks like it is 16×9. It adds black bars at the top and the bottom. If the footage is really 16×9 should it not fill the entire 16×9 Canvus window? ( I’m looking at the Canvus at 25%)

I have a HD wide screen.. Should I look at the footage through SVHS to that to tell…
Sorry, my brain’s not working to well today and this is the first time I’ve used 16×9 footage.

Thanks, Chris

[Seawild]

Oh!! I just looked in the XL1 eye piece that I am using to capture.. And it says in the lower right conner “16bit 16:9” Humm I guess that pretty definitive huh? But still why are those black bars there in the Canvus window?

Chris

[Todd Beabout]

Not really sure man… Is your canvas window “rectangle” rather than “square”? If it is then everything should be OK. It sounds almost like the camera used a different aspect ration, but I don’t think that is possible.

-Todd Beabout
Vazda Studios

[Seawild]

Well my Canvus window is rectangle as it should be. And If I drag the handels on the footage I can resize it to fit the window and it looks ok, I guess.

This is what I have selected for capture and sequence.
Frame size 720×480 Aspected (NTSC DV (3:2) and then I have the Anamorphic 16X9 box checked.

What do you think?

Chris

[Wilhelm Beck]

I was experiencing a very similar thing.

My investigation showed that I was capturing at anamorphic 16:9 OK, but I hadn

[Seawild]

Wilhelm,
Was the footage fine when you streached it to fit the 16×9 Canvus?
Thanks, Chris

[Tracey Dunn]

I might be wrong, but didn’t the XL1 just put black bands at the top and bottom of the screen in the viewfinder to simulate 16×9? In effect it’s still a 4×3 image and it’s carrying that over to the window. Unless you used an anamorphic lens, the image isn’t really anamorphic to the computer.
Just a thought.

[Seawild]

Tracey
Ummm… yeah I don’t know. I’m not really a camera person. But when I look in the viewfinder I see a full image, cropped on the right and left and no bars. And the capture window shows no bars either. So I’m not sure. Plus the view finder says its 16bit 16×9.

Thanks,Chris

[Wilhelm Beck]

Good Morning Chris (well, it