Square pixels vs. Rectangular Pixels (when I view menu is still rectangle)

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Square pixels vs. Rectangular Pixels (when I view menu is still rectangle)

I was wondering what's the differences, the benefits or square pixels vs. rectuangluar pixels. all of my menu screens look better with square pixels, but when i simulate or view after burned, it seems to still be in rectangular, is there a way to set the default at square pixels? (THe main menu screen i had was created with motion and is a .mov file, would that explain why, i remember the dimensions being 720 x 486 opposed to 70 x 480, i would like to know how to fix this.)

Thanks for your time! Your help is much appreciated.

iMac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on May 31, 2007 8:15 PM

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Answer 1

APPLE27

Level 2

370 points

Jun 1, 2007 12:09 PM in response to georgeleonard

Computers use square pixels, TVs use rectangular pixels. Thus, a 720x540 square pixel document viewed in, say, Photoshop should be made 720x486 with a D1 pixel aspect if you want it for television. You would need to make sure your document is the correct way if you were putting it in an FCP timeline or something, otherwise it would look squished/stretched depending on waht you did. But for DVDSP, you should create elements in a 720X540 square pixel document. This is also recommended in the manual in the section that pertains to your question. DVDSP will make the necessary corrections for a DVD burned for TV. Since most DVDs are made to go on TV, viewing in 720x486 (rect) would be the most accurate way to view, which is probably why simulator does that so you can see what it will look like on a TV monitor.
I recommend working in the correct size and pixel aspect ratio anyway just to avoid problems down the line. For example, in After Effects you would work with 720x486 video in one precomp and all your generated text and graphics should be in a 720x540 precomp. Then bring the sq pix comp to the rect one (if planning to use for TV) and fit to comp.

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