Creating DVD from 16:9 footage
 

I shot some footage with my xl-1s in 16-9. Than I imported into FCP4.1. Exported using compresser with settings 60min widescreen/DVD studio pro 2.0/ burn and the image looks scretched. Should I have used 60min 4:3 in compressor? Can someone lay out the step please?

Are you are exporting your video for viewing on a computer monitor with square pixels? If so you will actually have to change the frame size to 854x480 (or 278x240, etc) for the image to be properly proportioned.

Or are you burning to a DVD and viewing the results on a normal 4:3 TV set? If so then the DVD player should provide its own letterboxing if properly configured. Sorry, I'm still on FCP3 and don't use DVDSP but what you describe is what one would expect when viewing anamorphic widescreen video on something other than a 16:9 display device.

16:9
 

Sorry I didn't state what the final product would be. It will be viewed on a 50 LCD flat screen. (gateway).

Have you tried viewing on the actual 50" LCD screen (assuming it is 16:9 native)? Even though it looks "squashed" on a 4:3 monitor it should look right on a widescreen TV. On your DVD player go to the system menu and make sure you correctly identify the type of screen that's connected. If you set this for 4:3 the player itself will letterbox the output. If set set this for 16:9 it will pass the unaltered anamorphic image to the widescreen LCD and it should look correctly proportioned.

LCD
 

Yes I did actually try it on the 50". The setting it has is 4:3, 16:9, and panarama. What should be the settings when I export from FCP in compressor? I used 60min widescreen. I also exported as 60min 4:3.

All hardware DVD players and software DVD players as well should
account for widescreen and display it correctly.

BUT, for hardware DVD players this WILL ONLY WORK if you have
setup your DVD player correctly. In other words, you must tell
your DVD player if you have a 4:3 or 16:9 TV hooked up.

Watching the native MPEG2 stream on your computer might
indeed display "incorrectly". What matters is the final disc playing
back on properly setup hardware.

If that still displays wrongly then your DVD isn't 16:9. Are you sure
you set the footage & project to 16:9 in DVDSP 2?

The widescreen TV itself will also have a variety of modes, and that could be causing a problem if set incorrectly. My Sony has the following: full, normal, zoom, wide zoom and letterbox. In most cases it needs to be set to "full" to properly display 16:9 footage. Check your TV set manual for more info on this, I'm sure it varies between different manufacturers and models.