Ok,

Im sure this has been addressed somewhere, but bear with me...

How easy/hard is it to take footage from a Canon XL-H1, which is natively 1440x1080 and convert it to 1920x1080?

I have a client that requires files be 1920x1080....

can Compressor do this, lossless? - I have a Quicktime movie as 1440x1080....

Using FCP 7 (like it better than X)

Thanks guys

In FCP setup a ProRes (not HQ) 1920x1080 sequence drop your footage onto the timeline - when FCP asks if you want to match sequence to footage click no - edit as normal, render and export the ProRes 1920x1080 edit. My FX1 shoots 1440x1080 and this is the method I use with no problems.

Trying to remember back from old days, but i believe 1440 is a rectangular pixel, and 1920 is a square pixel.
Simply output to the client's codec requirements.

Your NLE will correct the pixel aspect ratio, and you don't need to worry.

You can use a Nanoflash device to record in 1920x1080 native via SDI. Your client will love it ;)

With respect to Peter's and Dave's feedback, will this work similarly in Premiere Pro (CS6)?

Thanks!

To achieve a 16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen), the pixel ratio of a 1440x1080 resolution should be 1.33, which is rectangular. To convert it to 1920x1080 and maintain 16:9, choose such resolution in your NLE then set the pixel ratio to 1, which is square.

Canon XLH1 has 1440 effective resolution, which means the pixels in the sensor is 1.33, to achieve widescreen. I'm sure Canon has a good reason for choosing 1440.

1440 = 1.33 (rectangular)
1920 = 1 (square)

Just make sure these resolutions match. Otherwise, frames would look horizontally stretched.

I use Sony Vegas Pro, which is the only NLE I know, so, I can't answer your other questions.

Why did Canon choose 1440? Because that is the official spec for HDV - it is 1440x1080. HDV does use rectangular pixels with a PAR of 1.33, and a little math shows that 1440 x 1.33 =1920! So like magic, playback comes out as 1920x1080.

Regarding the Premiere question, simple use a 1080i sequence preset (1920x1080) and when you import the HDV clips, they will automatically fill the screen. For example, use an AVHCD preset. The NLE understands the pixel aspect ratios and adjusts things properly. Then just export to format of choice as 1920x1080 (1.0 PAR, square pixels).

Thanks

Thanks Jeff Pulera! I learned something new today.