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Activity › Forums › Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy › Exporting a 4:3 letterbox from a 16:9 project. Can it really be this hard?

  • Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

    Exporting a 4:3 letterbox from a 16:9 project. Can it really be this hard?

    Posted by Daniel Grixti on July 6, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    Hi there,

    I have recently edited some footage with a mix of 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. My sequence settings are: Frame Size: 1440 x 1080, Aspect Ratio HD (1440×1080) (16:9). Pixel Aspect Ratio: HD (1440×1080).

    I want to export this project to a 4:3 aspect ratio with letterbox but when I try and export all my footage is stretched vertically. The final export that I need is at a resolution of 400×300. I have tried changing the resolution when exporting using quicktime conversion using the preserve aspect ratio using all the available options in the dropdown menu – (letterbox, crop, fit within dimensions). All of them have the same vertical stretched results.

    I can’t for the life of me work out how to export my HD, 16:9 project to 4:3 with letterboxing.

    I would really appreciate someone’s help on this.

    PS.
    There are 5 clips in my timeline and 4 of them are 4:3. There is only one that is 16:9. So I would also settle for a standard 4:3 export that would crop the sides of the 16:9 clip. I can’t work out how to do this either!

    Thanks for your help,
    Dan

    Victor Perez replied 15 years ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies

  • Rafael Amador

    July 6, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    [Daniel Grixti] “Size: 1440 x 1080, Aspect Ratio HD (1440×1080) (16:9). Pixel Aspect Ratio: HD (1440×1080).

    I want to export this project to a 4:3 aspect ratio with letterbox but when I try and export all my footage is stretched vertically. “
    Thats because your movie is not displayed with the proper pixel aspect ratio.
    Computers use Square pixels. They don’t know what “HD pixels” are.
    Working in 1980×1080 or 1280×720 you will skip this issue.
    rafael

    http://www.nagavideo.com

  • Rafael Amador

    July 6, 2011 at 6:20 pm

    [Rafael Amador] ” want to export this project to a 4:3 aspect ratio with letterbox but when I try and export all my footage is stretched vertically. “”
    The question here is what you intend to do, a web video? a DVD?..
    rafael

    http://www.nagavideo.com

  • Victor Perez

    July 6, 2011 at 8:25 pm

    Long workaround is to export Native Quicktime (HD). Now your QT movie will be 1920 X 1080. Open that Quicktime in Quicktime Pro or Compressor THEN export as SD (4×3) to whatever frame size you need.
    Hope that helps,

    Victor
    http://www.editvictor.com
    http://www.hbhm.tv
    http://www.itvisus.com

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