more anamorphic troubles

Sorry to revisit this issue, but now that I've successfully solved the problem of proper viewing of anamorphic clips in my timeline (FIT TO WINDOW), I cannot export it in Quick Time Movie without it reverting to a squeezed image. I've tried every combination of setting, and I've checked and unchecked "anamorphic" box in the browser, yet no matter how I export, I cannot produce a properly letterboxed Quicktime that I can use to make a MPEG-2.

I assume this has something to do with how I captured my 16:9 footage, but should that make a difference? Unless I'm overlooking something, Derek's excellent article on aspect ratio doesn't seem to contain the answer to this one.

> no matter how I export, I cannot produce a properly letterboxed Quicktime that I can use to
> make a MPEG-2.

Anamorphic movies are supposed to be vertically stretched. If your target is DVD, leave it alone, and set your DVD to anamorphic 16:9. The DVD player will crunch it back into its correct proportions when playing -- filling the screen if it's an HD TV set, letterboxed if it's an SD TV.

If you want the letterbox bars to be part of your image -- you would do this if you're anticipating that your target audience won't have a 16:9 device -- then put the movie file (or the anamorphic 16:9 sequence) into a non-anamorphic sequence. (This part is in my FAQ article) This would apply a -33.33 Distort - Aspect Ratio crunch to the image.


www.derekmok.com

The fog is lifting, and this whole issue is at last starting to become clear. Many thanks for eradicating up the last vestiges of confusion and helping me lay this topic to rest.

I might mention, however, a curious discovery I made while searching for a way to get the Quicktime movie itself to play in the correct format: if you go to CUSTOM SETTINGS and check the ANAMORPHIC box, lo and behold, the resulting movie plays on the computer in the desired letterboxed 16x9.

It's an academic question, by why doesn't this happen when I select "anamorphic" anywhere else; i.e., in my current settings?

for qt to play fcp scqt at the correct aspect do this.

cmd-J -> click on the presentation and check the conform aperture (make sure drop menu is set to clean).

this does nothing for dvdsp though. It just allows you to watch the fcp qt at the correct aspect in QT.

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> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"