Making a quicktime of PAL 720x576 project

Question

Level 1

9 points

Making a quicktime of PAL 720x576 project

I digitised in some footage in iMovie and then tried to save as a Quicktime, but it always saves with a slight squeeze on it, making the picture appear taller. I thought by importing into Final Cut Pro HD would solve this, but it does exactly the same. It looks fine in the software, in both imovie HD and final cut pro HD, but as soon as its exported it looks squeezed, but not like anamorphic squeeze, as ive checked that box isnt ticked.
Any ideas?

Posted on Oct 4, 2005 7:33 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Oct 4, 2005 8:00 AM in response to Paul Beard

I don't know iMovie, but I'd guess it's a square/rectangular pixel aspect ratio thing. If you don't know about this, computer pixels are square, whereas tv screen pixels are rectangular (and are wide in PAL and tall in NTSC). A 720x576 image in pal will be multiplied on the x by 1.07, and in NTSC it's multiplied by 0.9.

Basically, if you are working in PAL, a 720 wide image with square pixels will appear a little squashed sideways. Look for "pixel aspect ratio" controls.

Cheers

Steve

Reply

Answer 2

Paul Beard Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 6, 2005 4:25 AM in response to Steve Archbold

Hi,

Im in England and am working in PAL, so maybe it accidently got digitised in NTSC. still doesnt explain why it looks normal in FCP.

Reply

Answer 3

Oct 6, 2005 8:44 AM in response to Paul Beard

When in FCP, Ctrl-click on a clip and go to Item Properties>format. if the Frame size is 720x576, and the Pixel Aspect is on PAL - CCIR 601, itmeans that it's multiplied by 1.07 to correct for PAL. If it's 720x576 Square Pixels, it's not correct and will appear squashed when viewed in PAL.

Check your settings, and let me know what they're set to.

Cheers

Steve

Reply

Answer 4

Paul Beard Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 6, 2005 5:38 PM in response to Steve Archbold

yes its set to PAL - CCIR 601, 720x576.

Reply

Answer 5

Oct 7, 2005 11:51 AM in response to Paul Beard

Hmm - not sure what the problem is then - I'll have a delve and get back if I come up with anything

Steve

Reply

Answer 6

Oct 7, 2005 4:16 PM in response to Paul Beard

Hi Paul
How are you exporting it to Quicktime ????

Brendan

Reply

Answer 7

Oct 7, 2005 6:16 PM in response to Steve Archbold

Paul, there is no problem. That's how PAL (and NTSC) pixels display on a computer screen (as Steve has been mentioned). FCP displays them correctly by altering the image's aspect ratio. If you go to the little size pulldown on the canvas window and select display as square pixels, it'll look just like it looks in QuickTime on the desktop.

Patrick

Reply