[Lulu Malmgren]

Thank you for your help. Preview is an excellent way of doing it. I’ve now completed my task – so much appreciated!

Lulu x

[Lulu Malmgren]

OK but don’t understand why 1440 to 1920? Why not from 720 to 853?

And also – what’s crazy is that it does the reverse with my non-anamorphic footage. They’re stretched!

FCP used to export those stills into 640×480 – now exports them into 720×480 as well.

Guess this has been a good learning experience in aspect ratio – but still (excuse the pun) quite annoying.

Best

[Lulu Malmgren]

https://www.larryjordan.biz/articles/lj_creating_freeze_frames.html

Also:

https://www.apple.com/support/releasenotes/en/Final_Cut_Pro_6.0_rn/

“When using Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 to export video to formats compatible with Apple TV, iPhone, or iPod devices, the video was scaled to the correct aspect ratio. However, exported still images were also scaled, leading to a loss in quality. When using QuickTime conversion in Final Cut Pro 6.0.3, still images are exported at their native aspect ratio.”

So basically, 6.0.2 (which is what I had before I did the software update earlier this year), would export the images as displayed, but you would loose quality, so 6.0.3 and later, exports in native format, hence the squishing.

OK, so it can’t be done in fcp. Can anyone recommend a way to re-size exported fcp stills back to their aspect ratio, without photoshop?

Lulu

[Lulu Malmgren]

Yep, something has definitely happened.

Just looked back at an old project, through a folder of exported stills that I did in December (there’s about 57 of them) and they’re all 853×480.

There is no way I re-sized them in photoshop as I don’t have the software, or automator, as I wasn’t that aware of aspect ratio info back then.

Also I distinctly remember the speed at which I would scan through the film and export all the stills I wanted.

If I did it then – I must be able to do it now – unless fcp exports differently in the new fcp upgrade.

[Lulu Malmgren]

I’ve recently updated my version of FCP…I saw on an older post re: this, that different versions of fcp swap and change bits (see below).

“You were right Dave. It had changed, and then changed back. In FCE4 export still image converts to 190×1080. In FCP6 it did this as well. In either 6.0.2 or 6.0.3 it changed back. I think because there were complaints by people who were going to Photoshop for fixes in image sequences. The scaling and rescaling was a huge time waster. So now still images reverted as well. It would have been nice is still image export and image sequence export had different behavior. ”

Basically, I don’t have photoshop, so how can I get a still from one of my vids with the aspect ratio preserved, without having to export and then re-size?

Someone’s suggested a screengrab, but the stills are going to be blown up on my website, and it’s tricky getting exactly along the edges.

Best wishes

Lulu

[Lulu Malmgren]

Hey thanks for responding.

Hi thanks for responding.

I’m shooting with DV NTSC – not HDV.

I’ve had another look, and something definitely has ‘happened’.

Looking at a still I exported in January – it’s preserved the aspect ratio. In preview it says it has 853 x480 pixels. Whereas, when I follow the same process today to export a still, preview says it has 720 x 480 pixels.

In my sequence settings, it says frame size 720×480 NTSC DV (3:2) – which is the natural settings fcp goes to with my footage.

Any thoughts?

Also, I’ve exported anamorphic stills before without having to stretch in photoshop.

[Lulu Malmgren]

Woa – yes of course. Didn’t know what the terminology would be, but after u confirmed ‘button navigation’ is correct term, I found…Auto-assign buttons now, in Menu Settings drop down box.

[Lulu Malmgren]

SO i’m now trying the following:

Start new sequence in project, change sequence settings to 4:3, and uncheck the anamorphic button.

Then I nest the film into the new sequence and click no when it asks if I want to change the sequence settings to match the clip settings.

The film appears with white strips above and below, so i place a slug underneath, and that gives it the letterbox look.

I’m exporting the sequence as a self contained QT movie with current settings selected.

Dragging and dropping into DVDSP shows the letterboxed version in the simulator. Will burn a copy and see what happens.

It does seems strange to me that I have to do a ‘trick’ like this.

Oh and here are the images:

Original image in FCP:

Image from a QuickTime export:

Image from the DVD burnt using DVDSP:

Lulu x

[Lulu Malmgren]

Hey great!

Ok so it’s not a high end camera. 15 year old Sony handheld.

In the camera settings I go to ‘camera set’ and turn on the ’16:9wide’ setting.

Importing – well, when I go to ‘easy set up’, format is set to “all”, use is set to “custom”. The sequence and capture presets say DV NTSC 48 khz Anamorphic.

The sequence settings say:
Frame Size – 720 x 480
Aspect Ratio – NTSC DV (3:2)
Pixel Aspect Ratio – NTSC – CCIR 601 / DV (720 / 480)
Anamorphic 16:9 – is ticked
Field Dominance – Lower Even

Quicktime Video settings:
Compressor – DV/DVCPRO – NTSC

In FCP the footage looks anamorphic in the viewer and canvas.

I’ve attached 3 images of a still from my film. ‘Original’ is from the canvas in FCP. Quicktime, is from a QT export. And, ‘DVD’ is from a burnt DVD with DVDSP.

So basically you can see that the DVD is missing the whole edge of the frame. If you look at the tree on the left, there is almost an inch of the image missing from above the persons head. Plus, in the DVD image, the guy in the grey t-shirt at the top right, he is the last person in the frame, whereas in the original and QT images there is another person next to him. They have been cut out of the DVD image.

When i go back to DVDSP, it’s almost like the image outside of the title safe area is missing.

But i do find it strange, the in fcp you can see it all, QT you can see it all, in DVDSP you can see it all (both in the viewer and in the simulator), it’s just when you burn the DVD all 4 sides get cropped.

OK so the DVD issue is the same on my computer and TV.

So maybe because it isn’t true anamorphic, something is going array when the DVD burns with the anamorphic settings in DVDSP.

Your advice to do “a center crop and zoom in 133% as well as change the pixel aspect ratio” sounds familiar, perhaps this is what I have to do, then do a self contained movie export and drag and drop into DVDSP.

I also, want to get the best definition possible, so would you suggest to do an HD DVD?

Thanks so much for your help!

Lulu x

[Lulu Malmgren]

Yes of course – you’re right. I made my first film in iMovie and haven’t released my linear editing habits. But I like the idea of sculpting it down – as i’m not following a storyboard, and have complete free reign. I might (though) try your suggested way on the next clip and see which fits better. Any other technique tips that you couldn’t edit without?

Thanks