HD aspect ratio conversion
 

Damn, Drat and Blast.
(more effluent expetives deleated for the sake of the children)
I have recently had a low budget HD project delivered to me as both a HDcam tape and a .MOV file. the problem is, I know that the original aspect ratio the film was shot in is 16:9 and the .mov has been captured in 4:3.

Oh you say, go back to the place that captured it and get them to do it again, humm, not that simple, I wish it was.

So, should I open a 16:9 sequence and stretch the 4:3 picture?
Should I do open a 4:3 sequence and then output it as 16:9?
Or something else?
I am not going to do anymore editing to the footage, it is meerly to burn DVD's and the like.

Thanks in advance.
John

Assuming that the picture is squeezed (anamorphic) I suggest bringing the file into FCP and bringing up the "Item Properties" box for the file. There you should be able to check a box labled, "Anamorphic". Drag the file to a standard 4:3 timeline and it should automatically letterbox if that's what you want. Bring the file into a 16:9 timeline if you want to create a 16:9 DVD track.

I once handed a partially edited music video to finish on DV tape. It was done with Premier and the editor apparently didn't know how to get a 16:9 video back on tape so it played all squeezed without the signal that alerts programs like Final Cut that this is a 16:9 tape. The raw footage was shot in 16:9. I did the process I just explained and it worked perfectly. I was able to mix raw footage with the previously edited video.

Thanks a bundle.
A bundle of thanks