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letterbox 16:9 to 4:3
howdy,
i have a 30s spot shot on a z1u, edited in fcp. (timeline 1440 prores) i need to export it 4:3 letterboxed with below specs. what’s the best way to proceed? thx in advance.
18MB/s
MPEG-2 Program Stream
4:2:2
9 frame GOP
29.97fps
4*3 Aspect Ratio (If captioned the file needs to be
720*486), 720*480 (recommended)
Interlaced lower Field first
Audio: MPEG-1 Layer 2
2 Channels
48KHz
20bit
384Kbps (recommended) -
10 Replies
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To get it letterbox, I would drop the sequence from your Browser and drop it into a 4:3 timeline. It should automatically scale down.
From there i’d sent it to Compressor and drop the MPEG setting on it and apply all the settings you listed.
Rob Grauert, Jr.
http://www.robgrauert.com
command-r.tumblr.com -
I would seek clarification. Those specs mention 4:3 aspect ration, but all SD is 4:3. You can achieve 16:9 either with letterbox or anamorphic.
Before you throw away 40% of your frame area by letterboxing, find out if that is what they want, or if it is anamorphic. They may also want center punched 4:3 from the 16:9 so ask what the broadcaster actually wants and expects.
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Not sure where you are getting losing your 40% loss Michael.
Yes definitely find out what the specs are from the broadcaster.
I am cutting a spot now that is an HD finish but client wants to preserve for 4:3 because one broadcaster, ESPN, will not take two masters, an HD and a SD letter box. So we are making sure our HD is center safe because ESPN will just center cut it. Doable but not preferable.
But Rob Grauer is right. If you take your HD cut drop it into a 4:3 seq it will automatically letterbox it. 4:3 Done. If you want it center cut the bring it back to 100%.
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thanks for the info. does compressor make one stream mpeg 2 files? not familiar with “center cut”.
thx again
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>Not sure where you are getting losing your 40% loss Michael.
Agreed. I see it as 25% personally, but thats just me.
>So we are making sure our HD is center safe because ESPN will just center cut it. Doable but not preferable.
From a production workflow I’d say creating a single universally acceptable master is by far the more preferable option and is common practice, but aesthetically one could certainly argue that separate masters with graphics and overlays created specifically for the intended display aspect may be preferred.
>If you take your HD cut drop it into a 4:3 seq it will automatically letterbox it. 4:3 Done. If you want it center cut the bring it back to 100%.
No. Not 100%, a HD (16:9) to SD (4:3) center cut only crops the sides to create the 4:3 aspect, it doesn’t also crop top and bottom as these instructions would cause to happen. If you want to center cut for the sources and sizes described here then a scale somewhere in the region of 68% should be about right.
Best
Andy -
>Does compressor make one stream mpeg 2 files?
Yes it can. Look in Compressor’s settings for Apple > Formats > MPEG2 …. both Transport Stream and Program Stream are “muxed” formats ie audio and video streams are combined (multiplexed).
>not familiar with “center cut”.
Center cut is the term used for cropping 16:9 aspect source to create a 4:3 aspect target or visa versa … this is as opposed to adding padding to the source image to fill it out t the desired aspect (eg adding a letterbox)
Do a quick search here for details on using compressor to create a center cut or letterboxed version of your edit, the topic has come up a couple of time in recent days.
Best
Andy -
Yes…for production it may be more preferable but aesthetically it is not that it was I was referring to. I find delivering an HD and SD letterbox to better.
And Andy is right…sorry to confuse things….I did not mean 100% scale…I was just referring to “fill frame”. % wise it is closer to 40% but that all depends on your initial HD aspect ratio.
However all that aside, Jenna do find out from both your client and where it will be broadcasted if they want a “center cut” or letter box for the SD vers of this HD spot. They will produce different results.
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“Not sure where you are getting losing your 40% loss Michael. ”
Sorry I got a bit excited. My calculator tells me that a 30% reduction in horizontal width will be required to create a 4:3 letterbox out of anamorphic, so the letterbox section will total 30% of the frame, thereby reducing resolution by that amount.
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what am i doing wrong? i drop the 1440×1080 sequence in the 4:3 timeline and it fills the screen.
thx again
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control click on the clip in the seq. Select Remove attributes. Then deselect “distort”.
i find 1440 x 1080 to be a bit funky. If it is filling screen and looks “squished” then the above may solve the prob.
good luck
bibbo
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