NTSC DV Anamorphic or NTSC DV?

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Level 1

35 points

NTSC DV Anamorphic or NTSC DV?

I would like to know which is the proper choice for my AV settings (Sequence & Capture). I down converted HD footage shot in the 16:9 format from a Sony HDR-HC7 to my JVC SR-VS30U mini DV video cassette recorder. I recorded it on DMV60 tape. Should I set up AV settings in Final Cut 5 as NTSC DV Anamorphic or NTSC DV?

It seems to look fine in NTSC DV but someone else said it should be in anamorphic. Help!

G5, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Mar 20, 2011 12:19 AM

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Answer 1

Meg The Dog

Level 6

13,826 points

Mar 20, 2011 12:27 AM in response to Mac Mimi

Hi -
If your footage looks correct (by which I mean: letterboxed with black bars at the top and bottom of a 4:3 frame) then leave it alone.

You would use the anamorphic setting if your video filled the 4:3 frame with no black bars and everything looked tall and squished skinny.

MtD

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Answer 2

Mar 20, 2011 8:20 AM in response to Mac Mimi

Yeah -- hard to tell. I'm not sure about the JVC's capturing of the video. Meg's right though. Capture a little of it and see what happens. Sometimes just watching it on the LCD of the JVC might not give you the best idea. My panasonic will automatically adjust the LCD for anamorphic but the earlier version of the camera did not.

I would say that if it fills the whole screen then 90% sure it is anamorphic. The 10% would be a possibility (though really remote) that it is now just cropped!! Doubt it though. If it is letterboxed you'll have to dbl check to see if it is indeed being 'fixed' by the camera or if indeed it is now 'letterboxed'. I hate editing letterbox'd stuff. Effects and certain transitions will also affect the letterboxing!! After you are done editing you'll need to go back and add mattes on the top and bottom to re-box the video!!

But here's what I'd do if I could...

Edit it again in HD... capture into FCP as HD and let Compressor convert it to DV AFTER you're done editing in the native format. Much easier!! Do you still have access to the original?

Good luck,

CaptM

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