XML IMPORT - CANVAS DISPLAYS WRONG RATIO (DV PAL)

Hi all,

CAN ANYONE HELP ME PLEASE! I'm using FCP v6.0.1, with OSX Leopard on a non-Intel G5. I'm continuing work on a project which was assembled using FCP v6.0.5. Since my version is older, I used XML v4 to import the assembled sequences into my project. The original footage is DV PAL, 4x3 ratio (I'm in the UK but please don't let that put you off helping me!).

After importing the XMLs of the sequences, I noticed they were showing green render bars and also, although the image looked correct, it wasn't filling the screen as it should. My Audio/Video settings are set as they should be to DV PAL, but when I looked at the sequence settings I saw they were, strangely, showing HDV settings. When I changed the sequence settings to be as they should (ie Aspect Ratio: CCIR 601/DV PAL(5:4) / Pixel Aspect Ratio: PAL CCIR 601 (720x576) / QT Compressor: DV PAL) the display then filled the canvas but was somewhat squeezed (vertically) - though when I did a match frame it was correct in the viewer (I can't figure out if that last bit is strange or not).

I couldn't work out why all the sequences were defaulting to HDV, but eventually re-imported the XML files, this time deselecting "Over-ride settings from XML". The result was that the sequence settings were correct, but nonetheless the aspect ratio was still squeezed in the canvas (while OK in the viewer, exactly as before).

Does anyone know what the problem might be? I'll be so grateful if anyone can help. I suppose I could render everything but:
a) it will take forever
b) even when I do, it's still wrong because the image has black bars at the sides, and grey top and bottom (though at least it's not squeezed).
c) there must be a better solution!

I've tried the whole thing again using XML v3, but that didn't make any difference.

Hoping to hear from you out there...

Many thanks
Conniex

> I couldn't work out why all the sequences were defaulting to HDV

That's because you had your Sequence Presets (under Audio/Video Settings) set to HDV. New Sequences created are determined by that preset. Or, whoever had edited the original timelines didn't bother to check, so they used the wrong Sequence Settings.

Changing the Sequence Settings of a Sequence doesn't fix all the automatic corrections that happened when you put clips of a different setting into the timeline.

If your Sequence Settings are correct now, then select the clips in the timeline, then press OPTION-APPLE-V (Remove Attributes). Choose Basic Motion and Distort, and click OK.


www.derekmok.com

I can't thank you enough!!! Really appreciate it. All the best.