Captured 16:9 plays 4:3 in quicktime

[Tom Chaney]

Happy Holidays Everyone.

I'm trying to capture some footage from an XL2 shot at 30P in FCP and of course it looks fine in FCP, but when I open the clip in quicktime, for web, etc. it is squeezed 4:3.

I have had some luck with it when footage is shot 24P, but not 30P. I have everything clicked as Anamorphic, and in the advanced menu have clicked progressive and 16:9.

Anyone have any ideas, or know how to fix this?

Thanks,

Tom

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Tom Chaney

Happy Holidays Everyone.

I'm trying to capture some footage from an XL2 shot at 30P in FCP and of course it looks fine in FCP, but when I open the clip in quicktime, for web, etc. it is squeezed 4:3.

I have had some luck with it when footage is shot 24P, but not 30P. I have everything clicked as Anamorphic, and in the advanced menu have clicked progressive and 16:9.

Anyone have any ideas, or know how to fix this?

Thanks,

Tom

Unfortunately, QT doesn't recognize the anamorphic flag in the player. You have to manually resize the video in the QT player. Use 852x480 for full resolution playback.

-gb-

[Boyd Ostroff]

True that you can use the player to change your screen size (but do you need Quicktime Pro for that?). But if you are putting your video on the web and want it to be in the correct proportions without any user intervention, then you'll need to set a custom frame size when you export the Quicktime movie.

Like Greg says, 854x480 would be full size. But you can use any size you like. Just make sure it's in the 16:9 proportion. So, for example, if you wanted the video to be 240 pixels high it would be 240 x 1.778 = 426 pixels wide. Of if you wanted the window to be 320 pixels wide it would be 320 / 1.778 = 180 pixels high.

[Tom Chaney]

Gentlemen,

Thank you. I exported from FCP to QT with the correct size.

I love this place.

Merry Christmas.

Tom

www.take2themovie.com

[Stuart Allen]

yes, thanks for the tip.. I was scratching my head on this one as well.

Geez, you'd think as nice as QT is, it could do the stretch for us when the 16:9 flag is present!

[Brett Whited]

Hey guys-
I've been trying to get my 16:9 footage to DVD without any success. I have a GL2 and I use Final Cut Express HD (it's basically the same as FCPHD). Anyway, I go to export it an burn it, and it's still streached to 4:3 in playback. People on the "Apple Discussions" forums say that I need to use the "Anamorphisizer" found here:
http://capital2.capital.edu/admin-st...idescreen.html
I, being cheap, don't want to through down $30 bucks for Quicktime Pro just so I can use that little tool... especially if it doesn't work on all DVD players like it states.

Anyway, what I'm getting to is this: If I export and specify the demensions like Boyd stated earlier, will that fix my problem? Oh, and if it's for a DVD, what resolution should I use? Just asking because the original post was for Web use.
Thanks!
-Brett

[Bryon Akerman]

What I've always done and its worked for me is make sure I capture into FCP using the anamorphic settings, do all of my editing and then export using quicktime compression with the anamorphic settings. Whenever I open up DVD studio, I have to set it for anamorphic, then import my assets. From there, it's all down hill

Bryon <><

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Brett Whited

Hey guys-
I've been trying to get my 16:9 footage to DVD without any success. I have a GL2 and I use Final Cut Express HD (it's basically the same as FCPHD). Anyway, I go to export it an burn it, and it's still streached to 4:3 in playback. People on the "Apple Discussions" forums say that I need to use the "Anamorphisizer" found here:
http://capital2.capital.edu/admin-st...idescreen.html
I, being cheap, don't want to through down $30 bucks for Quicktime Pro just so I can use that little tool... especially if it doesn't work on all DVD players like it states.

Anyway, what I'm getting to is this: If I export and specify the demensions like Boyd stated earlier, will that fix my problem? Oh, and if it's for a DVD, what resolution should I use? Just asking because the original post was for Web use.
Thanks!
-Brett

What software are you authoring the DVD with? IDVD can make widescreen DVDs for you. But, here's that catch that most folks aren't aware of. All DVD players have a video setup menu where you tell the player what type of display is attached...4:3 or 16:9. If you set it for a 4:3 display, it will automatically letterbox widescreen material if the anamorphic flag bit is set on the DVD. Somehow, a lot of set top players come with the display defaulting to 16:9 so the player 'thinks' you have a widescreen and doesn't apply the letterboxing properly. You should NOT resize your video for DVD because it will re-scale the video and it will lose quality. The anamorphic flag just alters the 720 horizontal pixels into wider ones to form the 16:9 ratio.

HTH,

-gb-

[Brett Whited]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

What software are you authoring the DVD with? IDVD can make widescreen
DVDs for you. But, here's that catch that most folks aren't aware of. All DVD players have a video setup menu where you tell the player what type of display is attached...4:3 or 16:9. If you set it for a 4:3 display, it will automatically letterbox widescreen material if the anamorphic flag bit is set on the DVD. You do this manually in DVD Studio Pro and Idvd has a preset for NTSC widescreen. Somehow, a lot of set top players come with the display defaulting to 16:9 so the player 'thinks' you have a widescreen and doesn't apply the letterboxing properly. You should NOT resize your video for DVD because it will re-scale the video and it will lose quality. The anamorphic flag just alters the 720 horizontal pixels into wider ones to form the 16:9 ratio.

HTH,

-gb-

Thanks for the reply guys. I am unfortunatly forced to use iDVD instead of a sweet program like DVDSP. I've tried burning my project with iDVD and it does't work. I've tried it also with Toast 6, but it's a little weird. Sometimes it works with Toast 6, sometimes it doesn't work and it's streached to 4:3 (like it does with iDVD), and other times it actually squishes it so everything looks fatter then what it normally is. Seeing as how it works sometimes with Toast, I don't think my DVD player is a factor in this. I feel like I've tried everything. I feel like I'm forced to use my GL2 without 16:9 and then add the letterboxing in as a matte when I edit. Anyway, anymore comments would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[Bryon Akerman]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

What software are you authoring the DVD with? IDVD can make widescreen
DVDs for you. But, here's that catch that most folks aren't aware of. All DVD players have a video setup menu where you tell the player what type of display is attached...4:3 or 16:9.

i forgot about that but that is true.

The obvious answers always get me. I'll spend 30 minutes trying to figure out why my computer won't work before I realize it's unplugged.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Brett Whited

Thanks for the reply guys. I am unfortunatly forced to use iDVD instead of a sweet program like DVDSP. I've tried burning my project with iDVD and it does't work. I've tried it also with Toast 6, but it's a little weird. Sometimes it works with Toast 6, sometimes it doesn't work and it's streached to 4:3 (like it does with iDVD), and other times it actually squishes it so everything looks fatter then what it normally is. Seeing as how it works sometimes with Toast, I don't think my DVD player is a factor in this. I feel like I've tried everything. I feel like I'm forced to use my GL2 without 16:9 and then add the letterboxing in as a matte when I edit. Anyway, anymore comments would be appreciated.
Thanks.

I had to amend my post. I have IDVD 5 and it supports widescreen material from Imovie which is where the widescreen preset is. Try putting some of your footage in Imovie with that preset then send it to IDVD and burn it that way. That should set the flag bit and your player better recognize it or there is something amiss with the player. Just be sure you go into the player's video set up menu and set the correct display type to 4:3 and letterbox as opposed to pan and scan.

-gb-

[Brett Whited]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

I had to amend my post. I have IDVD 5 and it supports widescreen material from Imovie which is where the widescreen preset is. Try putting some of your footage in Imovie with that preset then send it to IDVD and burn it that way. That should set the flag bit and your player better recognize it or there is something amiss with the player. Just be sure you go into the player's video set up menu and set the correct display type to 4:3 and letterbox as opposed to pan and scan.

-gb-

I wish there was a better way than the way you suggest Greg. I've heard of other people doing that too. They say the quality of the video afterwards is degraded. So I guess I'll just have to shoot in 4:3 and then leterbox it afterwards... that is until Apple provides a fix for iDVD and detecting the Anamorphic flag in the video. Thanks for the help guys!
-Brett

[Nate Schmidt]

Just so you know the options Brett, you can still shoot and edit in 16:9 and when you're all done editing drop your finished movie in a 4:3 sequence and it will letterbox for you.