How do I achieve the above aspect ratio(motion picture format) using FCP 5.1? I search the forum for 2:35.1 but none.

Thanks,
Nathan

Nathan,

There are various plugins that will matte the image to give it the 2:35.1 aspect ratio. Keep in mind, that this is a matte, so your sequence will still be (I assume) 16:9. Did you shoot in 16:9? If so, then I believe this is how you will achieve your desired aspect ratio. I'm not really sure if you would set up you sequence to the 2:35.1 ratio, perhaps others will chime in too.

I use Nattress plugs (I believe it's called 'widescreen').

Hope that helps.

Todd

Yeah, there's a plug-in that comes with FCP that'll do the matte for you. Just check under the effects tab, it's called widescreen, and you can select from a wide variety of aspect ratios.

I found it from the Effect tab. Thanks for the help.

Might be an obvious question but what is this doing to the 16:9 image? Is it squashing it slightly or increasing the bars and 'writing' over your footage?
If I recall, somebody on here (Brian Luce perahaps?) shot with this in mind and attached hair lines to his viewfinder/LCD so he kept within the new ratio frame.

It's just putting black bars over your image, covering the upper and lower parts of your footage.

It's just putting black bars over your image, covering the upper and lower parts of your footage.

Cheers Chris - then I guess you would have to plan for this when shooting footage. I thought about trying this ratio on some recent theatre projects but I'd end up slicing off the foreheads of school children which seems a little wrong.

Thanks.

It is a lens thing, meaning you film your project in 2:35.1 with a lens that will do so. You will still have a 16:9 image that will look cropped if you use filters.