Aspect Ratio Madness

Hi all,

I'm editing in a sequence ratio 1440 x 1080, and exporting my sequence to quicktime, then using quicktime conversion to prep it for vimeo.

In the finder it states the clip is 1920 x 1080, but when i bring it back into fcp and lay it in the timeline item-properties says it's now 1440 x 1080.

The problem here being wether i quicktime-convert direct from the original timeline, or from the 'flattened' QT version, once converted the file comes out squeezed, something more akin to 4:3. which is not acceptable.

I've tried manually inserting 1440 x 1080 as the aspect ratio in conversion as well as selecting 1920 x 1080, as well as ticking the 'preserve aspect ratio' box. nothing seems to work it always comes out squeezed. most annoying indeed.

Any ideas chaps?
WM,

1920x1080 is the display size. Check in the QT player not the finder.

All the best,

Tom

Even in QT player the ratio is still squashed into 4:3 . . .

"then using quicktime conversion to prep it for vimeo. "

what settings are you using?

you might be better off using compressor to convert rather than QT,

im using settings:

dimensions: custom 1440 x 1080

ticking 'preserve aspect ratio'.

There is an option 1440 x 1080 HD 16:9, which i hadn't tried so i'm exporting that now to see, maybe it's simply that option, although the other didn't specify 4:3 . .

most annoying.

now it's a 16:9 file with the sequence squashed inside it with black bars either side . . .

anyone got any ideas????

You might try dragging a single clip, from a bin to a new timeline, and answering yes to change specs. ...and then pasting your old timeline to a new one. use shift + command drag to overwrite.

Also using compressor is a good suggestion and making sure you look at the preview window.

tried all that - nothing . .

also using compressor in the preview window my 1440x1080 file is still, AGAIN looking squashed to a 4:3-esq mutation . .

totally annoying . . . anyone else got ideas on how to solve this????

Which QT player did you use to look at it?

Does it look correct in FCP? What's the aspect ratio of the original media? When you bring the file back into FCP what does it say the pixel aspect ratio is? It should not be square.

All the best,

Tom

QT player version 10.0 (it looks fine in the QT player)

All clips look correct in FCP timeline and viewer, as well as the QT exported final sequence.

Original media (initial clips ripped from youtube, transcoded via Streamclip exported at 1440 x 1080, movs bought into FCP)

Dont Computers only display square pixels, what do you mean? how do i check that?

Thanks,
WM

Computers only display square but video often doesn't use square pixels, so the computer has to be told the PAR is not square and to adjust it. In the browser in list view there is a column for pixel aspect ratio. Right-click in it.

All the best,

Tom

"All clips look correct in FCP timeline and viewer, as well as the QT exported final sequence."

So where is the problem?

All the best,

Tom

the problem is that when exporting for Vimeo, via quicktime conversion or Compressor, the sequence always comes out squashed 4:3 instead of the 1440x1080 as per clip and sequence settings . . .

stil no idea why, i've ben thinking of work-arounds, changes, and have taken advice off this thread so far to no avail! bit baffled by it . .

>dimensions: custom 1440 x 1080
>ticking 'preserve aspect ratio'.

Export same as source and when you encode it in Compressor, use 1920x1080 and use square pixels for the final web encoding.

1440x1080 is also known as thin raster, and was a trick to save on bit rate on many of the older HD formats. 1440x1080 when displayed as square pixels is not 16:9, but 4:3. So the HD image is encoded at 1440x1080, but on display, the signal will be corrected to 1920x1080 (or 16:9). All of this depends on the anamorphic flag in the metadata. My rule of thumb for web deliverables, is to always do the final encoding at 1920x1080 or depending on the format requested, but I never do non square pixel web deliveries unless the client specifically requests for it, which has yet to happen.



www.strypesinpost.com

Cheers strypes! and Tom for your suggestions, 1920x1080 via Compressor for the win!

Many thanks,
WM

I would add that if you had used QuickTime Pro 7.6.6 you could well have been seeing exactly what you see in FCP - you can also use the "Show Window Properties browser, where you could change the aspect ratio from 4x3 to 16x9 by selecting video track, then visual settings, unticking the "Preserve Aspect Ratio" and entering your desired pixel width in "Scaled Size" on the left, press Enter and tick the Aspect box. Close this window and Save, this movie file would now look the correct shape in QT 10 and 7.6.6.
I believe this still stands.
Pashdej

QuickTime X is a toy viewer, and badly designed with no pro features at all. Most of us like QuicjkTime 7.6.6 for exactly the kind of manipulation described above.

- Loren

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