anamorphic problem

Some preset is wrong and I can't work it out. Everything seems checked anamorphic but when I export a QT file of the sequence and drop it into IDVD it comes out 4:3. What am I doing wrong??? Thanks, Chris

Are you using an iDVD 4:3 preset / template?

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Yes - but switching to 16:9 is no help.

Could it be that a single shot not clicked anamorphic in the sequence affects output of whole sequence?

> Could it be that a single shot not clicked anamorphic in the sequence affects output of whole
> sequence?

No. Once a clip is in a sequence, Sequence Settings dominate -- a non-anamorphic clip in an anamorphic sequence would be "twisted" to anamorphic (and probably result in warped proportions). Something else is going on. Maybe you need to post your complete iDVD and FCP settings so we can check each one. I don't use iDVD so unfortunately I can't give specifics, but some other people do use it.


www.derekmok.com

There is some incompatibility between FCP/FCE and iDVD, but if you have Quicktime Pro the 16:9 fix is easy:
- From FCP export the anamorphic movie to .mov with Export/Quicktime Movie together with its chapters (if any). Use Current Settings, but whether Make Movie Self-Contained is checked or not doesn't make a difference.
- In QT Pro Player open the exported .mov movie, open its property window (cmd-J), select the Video Track, then open the Visual Settings tab, uncheck Preserve Aspect Ratio and set the Scaled Size to 1024x576 (PAL) or 853x480 (NTSC), and save.
Now when you import this .mov to iDVD its 16:9 aspect ratio is preserved.
(See also http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2179)

Piero

that's interesting, Piero.

in the past i have used a free app called "Anamorphizer"
it's very simple drag & drop thing that create a new reference file that will work in iDVD

get it here:
[homepage.mac.com]

Nick,
I tried Anamorphizer once in the past but it didn't work with me (it just did nothing...).
Since the QT Pro fix is quick and easy I just use this when needed.

Piero

Thanks Piero - QT Pro solution seems to work - but does this accentuate interlacing problems?? Maybe just the iDVD Preview. I still can't work out what I have set wrong in FCO for this continuing problem. If I change Sequence Presets to Anamorphic and tick Anamorph in Browser list surely it should export QT Anamorphic???? Chris

"If I change Sequence Presets to Anamorphic and tick Anamorph in Browser list surely it should export QT Anamorphic???"

it probably is.
remember anamorphic means a 16/9 image squished into a 4/3 frame.
you have to tell whatever your DISPLAY is to stretch it back out.

that's what you do in QT player when you change the numbers.
when a DVD has a certain flag set, the player detects that and will do the stretching.

it shouldn't affect interlacing at all.


hope that makes sense,
nick

In my experience interlacing is not affected.

What is not fully clear to me, however, is the following:
- suppose I use Export/Quicktime Movie with an anamorphic sequence (e.g. PAL 720x576, PAL CCIR 601 pixel aspect ratio, AND Anamorphic flag SET: that means that the actual frame size should be 1024x576 square pixels)
- then the resulting .mov in the QT Pro Inspector (cmd-I) is described among others by:
Format: DV 720x576 (1024x576)
Normal Size: 720x576 pixels
Current Size: 720x576 pixels (actual)
- so QT knows the movie is anamorphic (see Format) but it displays it squeezed to 5:4 ! (Current Size).
Why ?

Two fixes are possible, both using QT Pro Property Window (cmd-J), and can be saved with the movie:
a. set Conform aperture to: Clean in the Presentation tab of the main movie item (first in the window), or
b. set Scaled Size to 1024x576 (after unchecking its Preserve Aspect Ratio option) in the Visual Settings tab of the movie Video Track

The effect is slightly different (even if in both cases QT Pro Player shows a 16:9 movie):
- in case a. the movie Normal Size is changed, and everything else follows - BUT iDVD still thinks it is 4:3 !
- in case b. only the movie Current/Display size is changed, AND now iDVD understands the movie is 16:9 !

But I'm pretty sure that in any case there is NO conversion of the movie media: just the display size is affected in some way.

Now my questions are:
- why QT Player displays a wrong size (5:4 in PAL, 3:2 in NTSC) if it knows it is anamorphic ?
- why changing the display size with methods a. and b. above gives different results, if both just change the display size ?
- in other words, how is the anamorphic information stored in the .mov file ?

Sorry for the length but I'd really like to understand how it works, eventually...

Thanks for your patience

Piero

QT metadata/header/whatever it is called, I believe.

The data is not changed/re-encoded, but just the way the file is read. I think it's the same thing when you conform a video in Cinema Tools.

However, recently I reimported a video back in to FCP to play it on the timeline (i had earlier changed the display size in QT Pro so that it plays in square pixels- 768x576), and on the import, I realized that the footage needed a render as FCP was reading the file as 768x576, as opposed to the 720x576 it was supposed to be in.

Based on that, if you reimport a 720x576 FHA file that has the display size altered in QT Pro, FCP should read it as 1024x576. I'll check on that later.



www.strypesinpost.com

Hi Gerard,
in fact when I reimport the 720x576 with its Visual Settings modified to 1024x576 in QT Pro, the imported clip is 1024x576 square pixels, as you expected.
But when I reimport the 720x576 with its Conform Aperture to: Clean in QT Pro, the imported clip is again 720x576 PAL CCIR 601 Anamorphic.

That's probably why iDVD works in the first case and not in the second.
Still I cannot believe that the data is re-encoded in neither case above...

Piero

This 'feature' is getting a little confusing, TBH. When I resize the display to square pixels in QT Pro, it is because i just want it to look okay when the producers/directors/whoever is viewing it is seeing it in the right aspect ratio.

However, FCP (and iDVD, though i don't use it much) shouldn't be interpreting it as a file encoded in square pixels, and request for a render as if it was encoded in that manner.

Here's an Apple doc on the "conform aperture" feature.

[support.apple.com]



www.strypesinpost.com