720×480 Square-Pixel Image Sequence?

[Brittnell Anderson]

Yeah, this is using “custom” settings.

720×480
Square Pixels
30fps

Images used in the comp are also 720×480 Square Pixel .tgas (rendered out of 3DS Max).

Render settings are the same, with no stretching, scaling, or anything else. I just can’t get it to write out anything but .9 pixel aspect for these image sizes… interestingly, making the comp 720×481 makes it render correctly (square pixels).

[Darby Edelen]

[Brittnell Anderson] “Render settings are the same, with no stretching, scaling, or anything else. I just can’t get it to write out anything but .9 pixel aspect for these image sizes… interestingly, making the comp 720×481 makes it render correctly (square pixels).”

The pixel aspect ratio is irrelevant in this situation. If you want them to be seen as square pixel in Photoshop I suppose you could record an action that changes them from 0.9 PAR preview to Square Pixel, but this doesn’t change what the pixels are, only the way they are seen in Photoshop.

If you’re complaining about them being interpreted as 0.9 on import into AE, then just Reinterpret the footage to be square pixel (cmd-f or ctrl-f on PC). AE has a list of interpretation rules that says “If an image is 720×480 it is probably NTSC and should be interpreted with a 0.9 pixel aspect ratio.” You can override this after import.

Darby Edelen
Lead Designer
Left Coast Digital
Santa Cruz, CA

[Brittnell Anderson]

Yeah, that all makes sense.

We were actually running into this issue when bringing the AE comp output into a Premiere project, where the majority of footage was straight out of 3DS Max (@ 720×480 1.0) and the project settings to match (720×480 1.0).

I didn’t think to have my editor turn off Premiere’s “use image pixel aspect” for these files. Works, but still kind of strange that these products assume that what you set your output at is not really what you want.

[Steve Roberts]

Why choose 720×480 square pix in the first place?

I ask this because, if you want to go to DVD, and MAX only renders square pixels, you should have made the MAX camera 720×540 for 4:3, or 864×486 for 16:9. 720×480 square pix is between those two: neither fish nor fowl.

So. Why choose 720×480 square pix (in MAX) in the first place?

[Brittnell Anderson]

This is for a hand-held game system as well as computer.
Not to NTSC and/or DVD.

Yes, for NTSC, we render out 720×540 from Max.

…

Man, I can’t wait for NTSC to die.

[Nate Hanson]

Sorry to butt in on this conversation…butt…

I always have to send my AE stuff out with the “Stretch” check box checked, and I have to change the dimensions to 740×534 (instead of 740×480). I found that number in a help file.

If I don’t do that, my stuff looks stretched after I bring it in to Final Cut Pro and then export my finished product at 720×480. I don’t understand why.

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Nate*
* Author has no real-world experience; he works in the plastic-bubble world called “Public Education”.