[Alexandra Hidalgo]

So I’ve been trying different rates in the compressor and none of them seem to be working. I tried compressing it at 720×480 NTSC DV (3:2) and the 1440×1880 footage looked awful. Blurry and with movement lines everywhere. Then I tried 1440×1880 with DVCPRO HD 1080i60 (16:9) pixel ratio in the inspector, which is what most of the footage was filmed in and it looks great (very crisp), however, it’s stretched sideways. Any suggestions on what I can do to make it look crisp but not stretched? I’m currently trying 720×480 with DVCPRO HD 1080i60 (16:9) pixel ratio, but I’m guessing that won’t work either.

Please let me know and thanks so much!

[Alexandra Hidalgo]

I’m pretty sure the footage is anamorphic. I should be able to compress the final project tonight and see how it looks. I’ll let you know if I run into trouble.

Thanks so much for your help, you guys!

[Alexandra Hidalgo]

And this would be better than keeping the 720×480 settings that I’ll be exporting the sequence in?

[Alexandra Hidalgo]

Thanks. So when I turn it into an mov in compressor, should I tell it to be 720×480 in the inspector window? How do I tell it to convert to HD?

[Alexandra Hidalgo]

Sorry, is the 720×480 the SD footage? If so, do you recommend that I change the sequence settings to 720×480 and then render it? The main outlet for this video will be online but we’re hoping to make it look as good as we can in full screen mode.

[Alexandra Hidalgo]

Thanks!!! It seems to be working now…

[Alexandra Hidalgo]

Ok, now it really is working. Thank you so much. This removes a great weight from my shoulders!

Do I need to worry about this?

“I had selected DVCPRO HD Firewire, but the frame rate for that says 29.97. There’s also a DVCPRO HD Firewire 25fps, but since we’re using 24, it doesn’t seem to make sense. I can’t figure out if I should be using 24 or 60 here since we shot with both.”

I currently have it as 59.94, is that right or should I go with 23.98 instead?

I do believe this is it and I’m done bugging you guys about this issue. Thank you!

[Alexandra Hidalgo]

Thanks, Shane. I’m in H264. The second tab from the right is called Geometry. Under dimensions there are a lot of ratios I can choose from but none are 960×720. There is something called a custom 16:9. Is that what I want? I don’t see anything called Full 16:9.

[Alexandra Hidalgo]

So when I send the sequence to compressor it turns it into a 4×3 so people look stretched upwards. It happens when I’m using H264, which says it uses 100% of both the width and the height of the original. It is also stretched upwards with the Apple ProRes 422. For the latter, it gives me the following numbers in the Inspector Window: Encoded bounds 960×720, Display bounds 1280×720. I imagine the display bounds number is the problem, but I don’t know how to change it. Doesn’t that number come from FPC? I’m thinking it’s a wrong setting there, but I’m not sure where.

I wonder if it’s because of the Device Control Presets under Audio/Video Settings. I had selected DVCPRO HD Firewire, but the frame rate for that says 29.97. There’s also a DVCPRO HD Firewire 25fps, but since we’re using 24, it doesn’t seem to make sense. I can’t figure out if I should be using 24 or 60 here since we shot with both. I don’t even know if that’s what’s causing it, though. It’s the only thing that seems out of place. Sorry for the confusion… any help would be very much appreciated.

[Alexandra Hidalgo]

Oh my god, that did it!!!!!!! Thank you, thank you. I was so terrified by having to do this all over again. Very depressing evening and morning. I’m compressing a very small sequence now (one clip) to see if it comes out in the right ratio (this is how the whole thing started because the files were coming out stretched and once I started messing with the values everything got out of control). If that doesn’t come out stretched then I’m set!

Thank you, thank you.