Final Cut Express 4.0 Sequence Frame Size

Question

Level 1

4 points

Final Cut Express 4.0 Sequence Frame Size

Importing 1280 x 720 Quicktime clip into FCE 4.0 on home iMac (10.5.8 Leopard), but Sequence shows seting of 720 x 480. Cannot find a way to match Sequence to original frame size, so losing resolution. Oddly, Mac Pro at work has same FCE 4.0 (and 10.5.8 Leopard), but will import into Sequence at full resolution. (Often asks for OK to "maximize for optimum" when dragging into Timeline.) Why doesn't my home FCE do that, and/or what can I do to get correct resolution?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Oct 22, 2012 3:41 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 22, 2012 4:32 PM in response to DrDcb

Create a new Sequence with the proper settings.

-DH

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Answer 2

MartinR

Level 6

19,187 points

Oct 22, 2012 5:38 PM in response to DrDcb

In FCE, the Easy Setup that you select determines the properties of any new sequences that you create. It sounds like your current Easy Setup is DV NTSC (that's what would give you a 720x480 frame size). If you have 1280x720 clips to import and edit, the proper Easy Setup is probably HDV Apple Intermediate Codec 720p30.

To change your Easy Setup, go to FCE > Easy Setup. Be sure to select "All Formats" to see the entire list of choices for the Easy Setup.

Where did the 1280x720 QT clips originally come from?

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Answer 3

DrDcb Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 22, 2012 8:00 PM in response to MartinR

Right on the money! Hadn't noticed that Easy Setup option. Thank you so much-

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Answer 4

DrDcb Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 22, 2012 8:02 PM in response to DrDcb

The original clip was a 720p mp4 that I had converted to Quicktime using MPEG Streamclip, my normal routine since a .mov file is rendered much quicker than mp4 in FCE.

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