Need to export 16:9 from 1440x1080 60i

I've searched the archives to some degree and have not found a direct answer to this question yet.

I recently shot some footage with a Canon XH-A1 and imported it into FCP6. The source files are 1440x1080 60i and show up as 16:9 when editing, however whenever I export using Compressor the aspect changes to what appears to be a 4:3. I suspect the reason for this is that Compressor sees the pixels as square. My question is, what setting do I use to export a H.264 file that will appear in a 16:9 aspect ratio from this source footage?

On a side note I'm also noticing that during the pans in the video that I authored from compressor seem jerky, they play smooth in FCP but not after they go through Compressor.

I've also tried to output using a quicktime conversion for comparison that does appear to have the correct aspect ratio but it shows stepping artifacts and any fast movements also show scan lines during playback.

Thank you in advance.

Eric

>I suspect the reason for this is that Compressor sees the pixels as square.

Not necessarily. There are two buttons on the top right hand corner of the preview window in Compressor. One of them will display the source in square pixels or something...

>My question is, what setting do I use to export a H.264 file that will appear in a 16:9 aspect ratio
>from this source footage?

Usually I do resize to square pixels when I send it out to the web. What is the frame size that you need?



www.strypesinpost.com

As for size I would like to get as close to the source as possible if I could. Final product will end up on the web.

I did hit the buttons at the upper right of the viewer to check the output but noticed that I had to click the center button (that shows a percentage of size) and change the "adjust aspect ratio" button on and off to get it to update after I made changes to my settings and I wasn't sure which of the 2 buttons on the top right would give me the actual output or which one was square pixels and which one wasn't.

My confusion comes from the fact that when I just exported using quicktime it came out in the proper aspect ratio but the quality was not that good, whereas compressor seemed to change the aspect to 4:3 and had better quality. What I'm looking for is a setting that I can use in compressor that will give me a 16:9 aspect ratio from 1440x1080 60i footage if it is possible. I'm ready to try something smaller than 1080 to get it to work but I'm not sure what number to use.

>As for size I would like to get as close to the source as possible if I could.

Well, you could output 1080, but I won't advice it, as most people do not have such massive computer monitors at home.

640x360 would be good, or if you're sure your webpage is that wide, you could go 1280x720.

>any fast movements also show scan lines during playback.

You should deinterlace the footage in the frame controls tab. Set output to progressive.



www.strypesinpost.com

I appreciate your input, I am going to try the progressive setting, I thought that might help with the "jittery" pans that I was getting.

I did find that if you do an output of 1440x810 it makes a 16:9 that is pretty close to the original size and aspect ratio. I realize that is way bigger than a normal webpage will handle but I wanted to see how close I could get to the source size as kind of an experiment.

Once again thanks for your help.