Problem exporting Stills in FCP! Help!
 

Got a new mac pro with FCP a short time ago and I've recently tried to export a still image from some of my HD footage. The problem is the size / format in which the stills are being exported!

Everything in FCP is all perfect and looks as it should. HD footage is uploaded as 1440 * 1080 and exports at 1920 * 1080 and is also perfect.

However whenever I try to export a still from timeline / slug viewer (as any of the formats be it a jpeg, qt pic, tiff...) they all come out squashed from the sides even though the info proclaims that they are 1440 * 1080.

Not sure how to resolve this as I've exported from other macs fine! Mine just seems to be screwing them up. Its probably something really simple I just dont know what.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Best,

Giles B

1440x1080 is squished. It only looks correct when a viewer is set to stretch it. (in other words anamorphic settings) This is something that can go wrong in final cut and in quicktime, but is solved by checking anamorphic or in QT properties: presentation.
I actually don't know if anamorphic can be set for a picture, but I do know that you can easily fix it in photoshop. Open the still, and in image adjustments-image size type in 1920 instead of 1440, and make sure that 1080 stays the same. You might want to de-interlace it too under filters-video filters. (unless FCP does that automatically these days).
What did you mean when you said it properly exports 1920x1080? I thought your question was why it's not exporting correctly.

This is all about pixel shape in HD. Pixels are not square in most forms of HD or even SD DV. Many graphic programs expect square pixels not rectangular. QuickTime will record metadata about the pixel shape with SD DV stills but it seems that it doesn't always do it with HD stills depending on the HD format. Photoshop needs to be told the adjust the pixel aspect ratio under the image menu.