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Anamorphic looking like streched letterbox?
I created a SD DVD from anamorphic 16:9 source material. I created an anamorphic sequence in FCP and encoded it to a 16:9 m2v file, using Apple’s High Quality 90 min DVD preset in Compressor.
I brought this file into DVDSP and I did choose “letterbox” with the understanding that this only effects how the DVD will be played on a standard TV. It does look fine on a standard TV (letterboxed), but when I play the disc on a widescreen TV, instead of filling up the frame it looks like it is stretched to the edges width-wise, but still has black bars on the top and bottom. So the image looks a tad “fat”. Again, my starting sequence was Anamorphic, not a letterboxed SD sequence (which is actually a 4:3 sequence in disguise). I do understand the difference. I just don’t understand what went wrong. If you have any advice, please inform.
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9 Replies
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Could be the settings on the TV/DVD player as well… How does it look on your Mac desktop DVD Player?
Noah
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It looks normal to me. I know if something is really NTSC letterbox and not anamorphic, my mac DVD player would display it with pretty wide pillars — postage-stamped on the screen, right?
Well, that’s not happening on my mac. It looks correctly proportioned.
But like you I thought it might be the player settings so I popped in what I think is another 16:9 indie movie (shot on video and burned to disc) and this movie looked correct on the same TV. It still had bars at the top and bottom, but the CHyron didn’t look wide or anything. But this movie might have been transferred to film before the DVD was made, and the aspect changed — so it’s hard to make an apples to apples comparison.
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Take a look at this page- might help you figure out the issue:
https://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/anamorphic185demo.html
-Noah
Check out my book: RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera! Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio.
Call Box Training now featuring the Sony EX1 Guidebook, Panasonic HVX200, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 7D, and Panasonic DVX100. -
I’m familiar with that page. It must be a player setting or just bad uprez-ing from the TV side b/c my picture doesn’t quite fit into any of those categories, though the last one is the one I’m shooting for. I checked it again in my laptop and it plays beautifully with no pillars, no letterbox, and no picture distortion, so I just have to trust that my client will see the same thing I;m seeing. Yikes.
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RE: “I brought this file into DVDSP and I did choose “letterbox”
16×9 is set during mp2 encoding, so you probably “double-set” 16×9. Try not choosing “letterbox” with your authoring s’ware and see if that solves the problem. Make sure your DVD player is correctly set for the monitor it is feeding. Just an idea.
Mike Brown
Video/Film Producer
American Heart Association -
you cannot “double set” this in DVDSP, if it is encoded as 16×9 it also needs to be set as 16×9 Letterbox in DVDSP (which is how it should automatically be set to when you drop it in a Track.
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Then, never mind.
Mike Brown
Video/Film Producer
American Heart Association -
help! im having the same problem…
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Rohan,
For me it did indeed turn out to be a tv/dvd player issue. The file itself was fine, and it did ultimately play on their machine without distortion. Have you checked the disc on multiple platforms?Marni
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