Rectangular Pixel Setting: Where? (also tips for higher quality?)

[Shane Ross]

[Gary David] ”
The bottom line: Where can I find the setting — in Final Cut, in Compressor, or in DVD Studio Pro — to use rectangular instead of square pixels on export (or burn or wherever)?”

Well, typically it is dictated by the format you are editing. DV is rectangular. ProRes is square. DVCPRO HD is rectangular. So really if you want square pixels, you should choose that format when editing. Put DV, or DVCPRO HD in a ProRes sequence. Or, if you use Compressor and compress to ProRes, the pixels will then be square.

[Gary David] “Once in DVD Studio Pro’s simulate function, though, all the the performers look slightly stretched.”

What source format are you working with in the timeline? what are the sequence settings? How did you compress the file for DVD? What TV are you watching this DVD on? SD DVDs that are 4:3, when played on some HDTVs, will look stretched. because the TV itself will stretch the 4:3 image to fill the 16:9 space.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Gary David]

Shane:

Thank you so much for replying. Here are what I think are the answers to your questions (I’m a bit of a noob at this stuff):

When I look in sequence settings, I see Apple ProRes 422 as both the render codec and the QuickTime video setting. I think I have it for the clip settings, too as I did a Log and Transfer to pull in the clips (and my Apple trainer said that converting to Prores would ultimately give me greater flexibility and/or quality).

I am testing this on Sanyo HD TV. The DVD is formatted as a 16:9 letterbox. It was shot in 16:9 and is being edited in 16:9. So, I’m not stretching 4:3. The stretching is slight, but noticeable.

I think I want both square and rectangular pixels depending on output. I’m burning the DVD for the friend (rectangular) and creating mpgs (square) for online view by out-of-state family. Also, because computer monitors work in square pixels, isn’t that what I want while editing?

In Compressor, I’m outputting to MPEG-2 for a DVD. Wouldn’t that convert to rectangular?

[Shane Ross]

[Gary David] “I think I want both square and rectangular pixels depending on output.”

No…you don’t. Sorry, your noob-ness is showing. 🙂

ProRes is a square pixel format only. And you don’t want both.

[Gary David] “I am testing this on Sanyo HD TV. The DVD is formatted as a 16:9 letterbox. It was shot in 16:9 and is being edited in 16:9. So, I’m not stretching 4:3. The stretching is slight, but noticeable.”

Check all the VIEW settings on the TV. If it is set to JUSTIFIED, or JUST, it will slightly stretch things. TEst on another TV…you might not see it. I’m sure this is something happening because of the TV, not anything you did.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[John Pale]

“ProRes is a square pixel format only”

This is not really true. ProRes uses D1 pixels in SD, just like most everything else. They can also be Anamorphic in 16×9 SD. In HD, they generally are square, but can also be captured using HDV style (with 1440 pixels stretched to 1920)

[Gary David]

[Shane Ross] Sorry, your noob-ness is showing. 🙂 . . . I’m sure this is something happening because of the TV, not anything you did.

It’s good to know I’m not as much of a noob as I appear! 😉

Anyway, I finally found the setting. It’s in DVD Studio Pro. In the upper right of the Viewer window there is a Settings drop down menu. It’s there! The kids no longer look stretched.

Thanks to all for helping!