Importing Anamorphic Footage
 

I set the import preference to anamorphic and the timeline to 16:9, and when I import footage, the viewer letterboxes and correctly unsqueezes the footage.

However, with the exception of one clip that FCP imported and unsqueezed correctly, all of the clips are still unsqueezed.

And when I drag an unsqueezed clip into the timeline, it shows the unsqueezed clip, with vertical black bars on the width side of frame.

Help.


Powerbook G4 1.25GHz FCP HD OS 10.3.9

First, before dropping any clips into a sequence you must be sure that it's set for 16:9. Choose Settings from the Sequence menu and be sure the anamorphic box is checked.

I'm having a hard time sorting out exactly what else is happening for you, but I think the following will make everything work. After importing if (for whatever reason) the clips don't appear in the proper 16:9 aspect ratio in the viewer, then you need to look at their item properties. Select the clip in the browser and go to Edit > Item Properties. Make sure the anamorphic box is checked for each clip. You can also do this directly in the browser by scrolling the window all the way to your right until you see the anamorphic column.

So the basic idea is that the sequence must be anamorphic and the clips must all be anamorphic BEFORE you put anything into a sequence. If these properties don't agree then FCP will either letterbox or pillarbox to fit as it chooses.

Actually it doesn't matter one way or the other how you do the capturing because you can set the clip to anamorphic afterwards with no loss of quality.

One other thing; if you view the clips on an external monitor (connected to your camera via firewire) they will not appear as 16:9 UNLESS you have a 16:9 capable monitor. On a 4:3 monitor they will all appear too tall and skinny. That's the way it's supposed to be. If you use a widescreen monitor/TV then it will stretch the clips out to the correct proportion. Most 4:3 monitors and TV's don't know how to do this, although some pro monitors will have a 16:9 switch.