HDV scales by 133 for 1920 timeline?

[Tom Wolsky]

To keep the image proportionate it has to scale down, or the image will look stretched.

All the best,

Tom

Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop”

[Michael Gissing]

Nothing to fear with the scaling. FCP firstly reduces the vertical to take out the anamorphic and then zooms the pic back up to full frame.

It might seem strange but it is effectively just stretching the horizontal. The vertical resolution remains the same.

[Ken Pugh]

Thanks for the info. I’ve been so used to scaling 4:3 video up by 133 in SD timelines I thought maybe the same was happening – but now I look closer, I see the crucial difference is that 4:3 footage in a 16:9 project is distorted by MINUS 33.33 (to keep the correct aspect ratio). This does not shrink the footage (nor does it scale it), it only affects the picture horizontally. Whereas HDV, being anamorphic, needs to be distorted by PLUS 33.33 – which does scale the footage, which is why the additional step of also scaling up by 133 has to be introduced, to return the picture to its correct size.

I’m not going to think about this any more – I guess the FCP programmes had good reason to implement aspect ratio control in this way….

Cheers,

Ken.

[Itai Levin]

I have a similar question.
I need to deliver a client’s HDV project (shot on a Sony and edited in Vegas 8.0) as a 1920×1080 digital file for a U.S. TV network which broadcasts in HD.
I usually work with Final Cut but don’t see way the workflow should be much different. When rendering/exporting should I use a 1 pixel ratio or a 1.33 in the settings?
Thank you,
Itai

[Michael Gissing]

Your export file should be 1920 x 1080. The file format (quicktime/AVI etc) & codec will be dictated by what the broadcaster wants.

[Itai Levin]

Thank you for your reply Michael.

I had no doubts about exporting the file as 1920×1080,
that is the actual question – how to export a 1920X1080 digital file which is broadcast ready out of a 1440×1080 timeline.

To be more specific, I’m concerned about
the Pixel Aspect Ratio setting in the export box.
Should I set it to Square Pixel?
1.33? Is 1.33 pixel Ratio the same thing as HD(1440X1080) Pixel Aspect Ratio. The question is in regards to work flows in both Vegas 8.0 and Final Cut Studio 2 (Pro 6).

Thank you.
Itai

[Michael Gissing]

Your timeline should be 1920 x 1080. So your export is the same. This is square pixel and true 16:9. FCP has already corrected the HDV by applying the distort.

If your sequence is set to 1440 x 1080 then you can correct on export via Compressor, setting the file to 1920 x 1080 on the geometry page in the inspector panel.