[Maria]

Unfortunately, that’s not the answer because I checked the whole movie before I set it to render. Still curious!

Maria Luisa Gambale
DP/Producer
Brooklyn, NY

[Maria]

Thank you very much, Wayne. And does this information apply to when I’m viewing the clip just via the Quicktime program?

Maria Luisa Gambale
DP/Producer
Brooklyn, NY

[Maria]

Yeah, I’m back on 5.0.1.

Maria Luisa Gambale
DP/Producer
Brooklyn, NY

[Maria]

Just a follow-up in case people are curious:

iDVD doesn’t seem to have anything where you select a widescreen project mode.

I output from my anamorphic sequence and dumped it in iDVD.

Plays great on an HD TV – just the way it should.

Does not switch to letterbox on a Standard Def TV or on DVD Player on my Mac.

I’ve read some iDVD forums and they seem to say that 5.0 and 6.0 don’t truly suport anamorphic – you have to trick these workarounds – which I’ll try tomorrow.

I really just should get DVD Studio Pro, but until then, I think it’s back to letterboxing.

If anyone has had a different experience with this, or I am missing something, I’d be happy to know it.

Maria Luisa Gambale
DP/Producer
Brooklyn, NY

[Maria]

Awesome! And it only took me three years to figure that out.

Thanks, Jeremy – you’ve been a huge help.

Maria Luisa Gambale
DP/Producer
Brooklyn, NY

[Maria]

Ah, actually, one quick follow-up question. I know that if you have a 4:3 project letterboxed that it will be letterboxed on an SD TV and will be 16:9 but not full-screen on an HD TV.

If you make your DVD from your anamorphic timeline, I’m supposing it’s going to be full-screen widescreen on an HD TV – what’s it going to look like on a Standard Def TV?

By the way, FYI, iDVD does call it 16:9.

Thank you!

Maria Luisa Gambale
DP/Producer
Brooklyn, NY

[Maria]

Thanks – that all makes sense now. Appreciate it.

Maria Luisa Gambale
DP/Producer
Brooklyn, NY

[Maria]

Thank you, Jeremy. All of that is good info – problem is I don’t have DVD=SP at home right now.

But it’s not a problem with the making of the DVD. It’s the Quicktime Movie export.

I got a version working by exporting to DV-NTSC with QT Conversion instead. There actually is still a small sound glitch in one location – but this is showing up in the 4:3 timeline version also. (The other massive sound glitches were just appearing once I exported.)

One follow-up question (though I am still curious why the QT export wouldn’t work). I didn’t have time to experiment with exporting directly from my anamorphic timeline and making a DVD from that file. iDVD says it can handle anamorphic and HD files, but I wasn’t sure. I did get as far as exporting the file in anamorphic, but when I played it in Quicktime directly, it wasn’t appearing anamorphic (it was squeezed). So, I stopped and went back to the tried and true, being short on time. Would it look okay in the final DVD?

Maria Luisa Gambale
DP/Producer
Brooklyn, NY

[Maria]

Thanks Dave and yes, your clarification is correct. Sorry about the wrong vocab.

Unfortunately, the letterboxing is not an option for the client.

Maria Luisa Gambale
DP/Producer
Brooklyn, NY

[Maria]

Thank you Andy, and thank you Jerry and Stuart. I like this last idea – it seems to give me a bit of control.

I now do have a slightly different scenario to address and if you guys have time, would love to hear a response. I don’t have to deliver in anamorphic at all, and they want me to edit the timeline in 4:3 to start with. If I’m going to have to pan and scan certain clips, what’s the best way to go now?

Also, just because this is bugging me – 720×480 is always 3:2 and 640×480 is always 4:3, right? They were asking for 720×480 (4:3) and I didn’t feel quite confident enough to say that doesn’t make sense.

Many, many thanks,

Maria Luisa Gambale
DP/Producer
Brooklyn, NY