16x9 aspect ratios, widescreen filter

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16x9 aspect ratios, widescreen filter

I'm shooting 16x9 digital video and want to change the aspect ratio to 2.35:1 with the widescreen filter, but am running into problems. After applying the filter (and I've experimented with different ratios), in the canvas the footage looks somewhat cropped in--but not as much as you would expect--but in the viewer the footage is extremely cropped in. When I output to DVD, the footage is unaffected (it's still just 16x9) if I've used a lower aspect ratio... or it's horizontally stretched, yet still with black bars, if I've used a higher aspect ratio. I tried nesting the sequence and then applying the filter, and I've had the same results. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Jan 21, 2006 11:47 AM

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Answer 1

hanumang

Level 6

9,250 points

Jan 21, 2006 12:36 PM in response to Chris Galt

I'm a little confused by your description. Could you clarify - step-by-step, if possible - what exactly you're doing?

There is a quirk in FCP when it comes to how the Widescreen matte filter will look when applied to 16:9 material and loaded into the Viewer.

As best I can tell, when you click on a 16:9 clip in the Timeline that has a the matte applied to it, it seems as thought the matte does it's calculation as though the clip is 4:3 and the Viewer image is 'appropriately' distorted. Even a 1.85:1 filter will look way too cropped on a 16:9 clip loaded into the Viewer in this way. Though my experience is that this is simply a quirk when loading clips into the Viewer. The Canvas and all exports (to DVD, Print To Video) have been trouble free for me.

Having said all that - and if I am touching on the same quirk that you're experiencing - your issues when exporting to DVD have me scratching my head.

Like I said earlier, drop some details on us. In particular, what are your sequence settings and how are you exporting?

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Answer 2

Chris Galt Author

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Jan 25, 2006 10:58 AM in response to Chris Galt

I tried to post more information a few days ago, but it must not have worked, so I'm doing this again. 🙂 All right: The footage was shot in 16x9 on a Canon XL2, then captured as anamorphic. The sequence itself is NOT marked anamorphic, because if I check that option, everything looks squashed. The sequence is set at 720x480 NTSC. If you need any other specs, please let me know.

I brought the clips down into the timeline, loosely edited them together, and then individually applied the widescreen filter. I also tried rendering the entire sequence (so it would be a single clip) and THEN applying the filter, but I get the same results. Anyway, I output the rendered video as a Quicktime file, then burn it onto a DVD using Toast Titanium (so I wouldn't have to create menus in DVD Studio Pro). When I try playing the disc in my home DVD player and TV, the footage looks squashed in (but still with black bars) if I tried using a large aspect ratio (such as 2.35:1), but if I used a small aspect ratio, it either looks like 16x9 or is only slightly modified and I can't tell the difference. ...Does that clear it up at all? If you need more info, please let me know. Thank you for helping me with this--it's driving me crazy!

Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

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Answer 3

hanumang

Level 6

9,250 points

Jan 25, 2006 11:37 AM in response to Chris Galt

The footage was shot in 16x9 on a Canon XL2, then captured as anamorphic. The sequence itself is NOT marked anamorphic, because if I check that option, everything looks squashed. The sequence is set at 720x480 NTSC.

This is potentially troubling - your footage is captured as anamorphic, but when you place it in an anamorphic timeline, it looks squashed?

If you have a moment to troubleshoot, try this...

Switch your [current] sequence to Anamorphic
With your sequence open and active in the Timeline, press Command-A to select all your clips
With all your clips selected, press Option-Command-V to bring up the Remove Attributes dialog
Check the box for Distort - under the Video options, on your left-hand side - then click OK
(Please be careful and make sure Distort is the only option checked, since you don't want to remove any other attributes, like Filters or anything)

Your sequence's clips should no longer be distorted.

Anyway, I output the rendered video as a Quicktime file, then burn it onto a DVD using Toast Titanium (so I wouldn't have to create menus in DVD Studio Pro).

Just so ya know, you can author a disc in DVDSP without a menu. (The Knowledge Base article references DVDSP 2 & 3 specifically, but it works in DVDSP 4 as well)

Note: If the Remove Attributes trick worked in FCP, you must set the Display Mode of your Track - not the asset - in DVDSP to 16:9 Letterbox to account for the fact that your track contains Anamorphic 16:9 material that should be letterboxed on a 4:3 display.

When I try playing the disc in my home DVD player and TV, the footage looks squashed in (but still with black bars) if I tried using a large aspect ratio (such as 2.35:1), but if I used a small aspect ratio, it either looks like 16x9 or is only slightly modified and I can't tell the difference. ...Does that clear it up at all?

I have to confess that I've never encounted anything like that, but I do have one question: did you burn the DVD as Anamorphic 16:9 or Standard 4:3?

Anyhow, try out the first 2 suggestions - in FCP and DVDSP - if you have time and see where that leaves you.

Hope you work it out...

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Answer 4

ThomasG

Level 5

6,745 points

Jan 25, 2006 12:07 PM in response to Chris Galt

You don't say if you are using Toast 6 or 7. Toast 6 is often confused about 16:9 sources (sometimes gets it right and sometimes doesn't). Toast 7 is right nearly all the time and also has a force 16:9 setting. The problem you are having isn't with the video itself, but with the instruction the DVD player is getting about how the video is formatted. There is a 16:9 flag that isn't enabled.

The application myDVDEdit lets you change that flag. Doing so requires copying the VIDEO_TS to the hard drive and changing its permissions to Read & Write.

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Answer 5

Chris Galt Author

Level 1

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Jan 26, 2006 12:53 PM in response to Chris Galt

Thank you guys so much for your help thus far. I am using Toast 6, which may be screwy (I'll keep an eye out for that--thanks for the tip), but I am now thinking that's not the main problem. Changing the sequence to anamorphic (and removing the "distort" that was on all the clips) worked, and helped. Thank you for that tip!

I exported the sequence using Quicktime conversion, and then viewed the Quicktime file on my computer. This keeps getting weirder: in Quicktime, the black bars were at 16x9, even though I had applied a 2.35:1 widescreen filter to my sequence in FCP, thereby cropping everything in. Since there was less vertical image to work with, everything was stretched up to fill the screen (up to the 16x9 black bars, that is). For kicks, I tried burning this file onto a DVD through Toast, and on my DVD player it looks exactly the same.

...Any thoughts??

Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

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Answer 6

hanumang

Level 6

9,250 points

Jan 26, 2006 1:41 PM in response to Chris Galt

I exported the sequence using Quicktime conversion, and then viewed the Quicktime file on my computer. This keeps getting weirder: in Quicktime, the black bars were at 16x9, even though I had applied a 2.35:1 widescreen filter to my sequence in FCP, thereby cropping everything in. Since there was less vertical image to work with, everything was stretched up to fill the screen (up to the 16x9 black bars, that is). For kicks, I tried burning this file onto a DVD through Toast, and on my DVD player it looks exactly the same.

QuickTime Player doesn't read the Anamorphic flag, so what you're seeing is 720x480 as 4:3. Hence the reason your 2.35:1 matte looks like 16:9. If you had no matte, your footage would be vertically stretched to fill the 4:3 frame.

But don't worry, the Anamorphic flag is there - your issue with the burnt DVD is probably that you neglected to tell Toast that your material is 16:9 (and how to deal with it).

I don't know Toast, but something tells me that if you try the DVD Studio Pro workflow I suggested earlier, it just might work for you. 🙂

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Answer 7

Chris Galt Author

Level 1

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Jan 27, 2006 10:42 AM in response to Chris Galt

Ah, I finally got it to work! Thank you so much for your help. Yes, the problem was needing to readjust all the settings to recognize, and properly display, the 16:9 and then the 2.35:1. Now it even plays correctly on my TV! Thank you!

Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

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