Changing aspect ratio to 100% of source when exporting for DVD in Compressor

Hi,

Sorry if this isn't the place to post this, I couldn't seem to post anywhere else. But I've looked around and haven't been able to find an answer to this problem that has come up regularly and I've never been able to figure out.

When I export in Compressor using DVD settings (Best Quality: 90 minutes), it makes the aspect ratio 16:9 instead of 100% of the source. I exported the film from FCP as an uncompressed QT, and the aspect ratio is 2048x1080, so Compressor making it 16:9 squeezes the image. And when I try to change the setting under Video Format, the only options for the frame size is 16:9 or 4:3.

Is there a way I can get it to compress it with the Pixel Aspect Ratio being 100% of the source? Is there a different setting I should compress it with that would still create a file that's works for DVD?

I have to send the DVD out for a deadline tomorrow, so any help is greatly appreciated! Sorry again if this is the wrong place to post this, I'd be happy to repost it somewhere else if there's another that's more appropriate.

Thanks a lot,

Adam

so what ratio is 2048x1080?
looks a bit like 1:1.85
remember a DVD can only display on an SD screen as either 16/9 or 4/3

so a few thoughts:
in Compressor, in the geometry pane, you can ad PADDING to the top & bottom.
you might have to go by eye unless you can figure out the maths.

alternatively make an SD anamorphic ProRes422 sequence in FCP,
drop your exported file into that,
set the motion filtering to Best in the Sequence's Settings Video Processing Pane.
render & re-export.

when you make the DVD, remember to tell it to display as 16/9


cheers,
nick

re: Padding.

I forgot there is a "Preserve Source Aspect" setting, so it's really very simple.

nevertheless, DVDs from HD source are notorious for image quality loss.
you can sett eh frame controls in Compressor to best,
but re-processing through FCP to SD first might be the best


nick

Thanks for the advice! Padding was the way to go, and yeah, there was an option to "preserve aspect ratio" which was simple.

Cool, I never knew about that, it's a huge help. Thanks again!