Compressor aspect ratio problem

Suddenly I'm having a problem I've never had before. When I export from FCP using Compressor, my 16:9 comes out 4:3. I'm working in an HDV1080p24 timeline, Studio 2. No matter what format I choose this is happening. I've done hundreds of exports before with no problem. This morning I trashed preferences, still didn't work.

In Compressor, doing an H.264, my settings are:

Format: QT
Width: (100% or source)
Height: (100% of source)
Selected: 1440 x 1080
Pixel aspect ratio: HDV 1080i (16:9)
Crop: None
Padding: None
Frame rate (100% or source)
Selected: 23.976
Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off
Codec Type: H.264
Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On
Pixel depth: 24
Spatial quality: 75
Min. Spatial Quality: 25
Key frame interval: 24
Temporal quality: 50
Min. temporal quality: 25

This is pretty much the default H.264 setting I'm doing as a test. Doesn't matter if it's prores or what, same thing happens: my 16:9 becomes 4:3.

The only new thing I did in the current production was use some new fxI had installed. I started a new project this morning without any fx at all, and it still happened. Trashed preferences after that and it's still going on.

I can't find anything else to check. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Bill Pryor
bill.pryor@ymail.com

That's because your HDV is 4x3. The native encoded pixel aspect ratio for HDV uses a 1440x1080 raster and non-square pixels.

If you want your HDV to come out 1920x1080, you need to tell Compressor explicitly to scale it.

(Also, exporting "using Compressor" is not a good way to go. It leads to all sorts of inconveniences. You'd be well served by getting into the habit of exporting to a Quicktime movie using timeline settings and running that through your Compressor cluster.)

Here's something I just found: If I export from my timeline (I did an H.264 to test it) as a QT, then take that to Compressor, the aspect ratio is fine. But going from the timeline is still bad.

That's because QT knows that hdv is anamorphic and will treat it accordingly so, such as displaying hdv in QT player as widescreen automatically. Compressor always deals only with the source media, which is why it's the best way to export for your final master copy. The trick is you have to pay attention to your media and it's actual pixel dimensions and your end destination.