Final Cut 7 and Compressor - HD to SD title problem

Final Cut did not interpret the titles incorrectly.

You are exporting HD 1920x1080 video which is square pixels and then asking Compressor to make it rectangular pixels for PAL SD 720x576(whether it is 16x9 or 4x3). The HD to SD conversion is causing the distortion of the titles. This should help explain it better

http://library.creativecow.net/articles/gerard_rick/pixel_madness.php

I would try adding the titles after it has been converted to PAL SD. I prefer Natress(a plugin for FC around $100/70 Euros) over Compressor for PAL to SD conversion.

If you can't buy Nattress here is one approach:

*Export without titles and convert to PAL in Compressor
*reimport into PAL 16x9 SD sequence

*add your titles from the HD sequence(your titles will have to be resized)

*open a title in the motion tab and adjust scale & distort to get the best possible compromise(copy & paste setting to all other titles-you may have to manually check each one as some may have special needs)

*export and compress for DVD

This does involve extra work but there is no simple answer for converting to SD without compromises.

You are running into a squeez/stretch issue that creeps up on you when you send your Sequence to compressor. The titles are not being squeezed when rendered over the picture. As such, they are displaying too wide (that is, the picture looks correct but the titles look too wide) in the finished result.

For more direct control of your down conversion to SD, create a new DV-PAL Sequence and nest your HD Sequence into that. FCP will probably letterbox your footage. If so, you'll need to manually adjust the Distort property to get widescreen; however, your titles should scale with the picture by taking this approach.

You will also need to keep an eye on your field rendering.

-Warren

As far as the streteched titles go, I'd render within fcp and make sure the text is displaying correctly.

I find compressor does an excellent job of resizing from HD to SD if you customize the preset and in the frames control panel, enable frame controls and reset the resize filter to BEST.

Just be sure to send a rendered QuickTime movie to Compressor and not a Sequence from within FCP.