1920x1080 or 1440x1080

Question

Level 1

10 points

1920x1080 or 1440x1080

My camera shoots in 1920x1080. At least this is what is says in the specs. When I import a sequence in FCP, it indicates in the browser that the fame size is 1440x1080, which is impossible. I can see the frame is 16x9, so how can it say 1440x1080?

PowerPC G5 Dual, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Jan 20, 2010 11:16 AM

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Answer 1

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Jan 20, 2010 11:28 AM in response to Puceron

Because it is Anamorphic.
1440x1080 non-square pixels (wider than they are tall) expressed as square pixels is 1920x1080.

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Answer 2

Puceron Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 20, 2010 11:38 AM in response to Nick Holmes

But why is it written 1920x1080 on the camera specs? Does it mean the camera shoots in 1920x1080 but PFC transfers it into 1440x1080?

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Answer 3

Zak Ray

Level 4

3,469 points

Jan 20, 2010 11:40 AM in response to Puceron

You've either got your capture settings wrong, or more likely, the manufacturer was bending the truth. What format does your camera shoot?

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Answer 4

ScottieB

Level 3

505 points

Jan 20, 2010 11:50 AM in response to Zak Ray

Many formats (including SD) use non-square pixels. Take DV for example - it is 720x480 non-square pixels, which translates to 640x480 on a computer screen (sqaure pixels).

1440x1080 is a common HD setting - especially for HDV. The low bandwidth of DV tapes meant cutting a few corners to get full 1080 res - and using non-sqaure pixels was one of them.

So, it is 1440 non-square pixels, which works out to 1920 when you "stretch" them out - anamorphic footage works in much the same way. I suppose it is somewhat bending the truth, but it is a standard.

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Answer 5

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Jan 20, 2010 11:59 AM in response to Puceron

You probably have a HDV camera. Going by the system spec at the bottom of your post, you probably have a version of FCP that does not support ProRes. In that case, this would be your Sequence setting:

User uploaded file

As you see, it has the 1440x1080 pixel dimensions, but as I wrote earlier, those pixels are not square. Below, you can see the QuickTime Player Inspector for a clip exported using that setting.
It is now displayed in a square pixel format of 1920x1080:

User uploaded file

Make sense?

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Answer 6

Puceron Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 20, 2010 1:03 PM in response to Nick Holmes

This particular camera is AVCHD (1920x1080). When I import a sequence into FCP, and I look at the property of the sequence (which has nothing to do with the settings), it says the sequence is 1440x1080. So FCP recognizes it as 1440x1080, even though it was shot in 1920x1080). So I'm guessing FCP doesn't like 1920x1080 so transfers it into 1440x1080 non-square pixels. Does this sound right?

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Answer 7

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,867 points

Jan 20, 2010 1:09 PM in response to Puceron

Rather than having everybody going around in circles why don't you just tell us what this camera is.

If it's an AVCHD camera you'd also better need to tell us how this media is getting into your computer because AVCHD can only be ingest in Final Cut on an Intel computer.

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Answer 8

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Jan 20, 2010 1:15 PM in response to Puceron

What are your exact system specifications, version of Mac OS X and FCS?

Those that appear below your posts are either out of date or not good enough to work with AVCHD.

You need at least FCS 2 to work with AVCHD. FCS 2 has a minimum requirement of Mac OS X 10.4.9 to install at all. An Intel CPU is required for AVCHD.

What is your current Easy Setup in FCP?

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Answer 9

Puceron Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 20, 2010 1:36 PM in response to Nick Holmes

Sony HDR-XR520V AVCHD. I work on a 2 X 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon with 8 GM Memory
I also work with OS X 10.4.11 and FCP 6. I import the data from the camera's hard disk directly into FCP through a USB2 wire. Each sequence is imported separately. I'm not sure yet what settings I should use because FCP doesn't list AVCHD. All I wanted to know is what are the closes settings and how do you find out what they are. I understand there is Capture Preset and a Sequence Preset. Do they need to match? What if you don't have the correct Capture Preset? What does FCP do then?

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Answer 10

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,867 points

Jan 20, 2010 2:15 PM in response to Puceron

What preset did you use to capture? You should be using a ProRes preset that matches the frame size of your media. Most AVCHD cameras can shoot either 1920x1080 or 1440x10180. The display size for both is the same, one is anamorphic and the other is not. The first uses a higher data rate then the second.

And yes, you capture settings should match your media, and your sequence settings should match your capture settings.

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Answer 11

Puceron Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 20, 2010 2:31 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

I used HDV 1080i60. It seemed to work good. Why do you think ProRes would be a better preset?

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Answer 12

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,867 points

Jan 20, 2010 2:37 PM in response to Puceron

The actual ingest codec in controlled in the preferences popup in the log and transfer window. You're probably setting it to ProRes there. That's the default I think. Perhaps you've done something else. One reason not to use HDV is that 1080i HDV is always 1440x1080. There is no 1920x1080 preset for HDV. Your media, what you shot on the camera, may well be 1920x1080 not 1440x1080, but I don't that. Maybe you did shoot 1440x1080.

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