Aspect Ratios

Average-Ro

Hi all,

Just a quick question. I'm after shooting a short film in 16.9 but I've recently got an e-mail saying that our financiers want it in 4.3 when we hand it up to them (which I find strange but I can't really argue).

What I'm wondering is; is there any way to change the aspect ratio from 16.9 to 4.3 in Final Cut Pro? Or any way of changing it at all for that matter? Thanks in advance guys!!

DWCommuter

When you go to export the edited project (render) from FCP you will be given options. In video settings you can opt for 4:3 as the final output ratio. Now due to the fact that you shot in 16:9 the image may look stretched.

Average-Ro

Yeah, I was afraid that it would look stretched alright. ASide from final cut pro, is there any other way of changing to 4.3 without strethching it? A guy I know who works in a TV station said he might be able to 'Arc' it. Anyone know anything about this? I haven't heard of this proccess before.

BlitzKrieg

isnt arcing it where the image is squeezed at the centre so that you get a sort of convex shape at the top and the bottom, allowing for the majority of the image within the 4:3 frame with little or no stretching

or am I thinking of the wrong thing?


what sort of programme is it out of curiosity?

lodgepole

An ARC is an aspect ratio converter, it can be set to do more or less anything to the aspect ratio of a program. It's a physical piece of equipment, not a process. It does the work to an incoming feed on the fly and outputs the required feed in real time.

I'm not familiar enough with FCP but I imagine you'll have to create the 4:3 version manually unless you can get the tape to your friend who has access to the ARC. By manually I mean squish it down (assuming you're 16:9FH) and then zoom it in.

I'd have thought there'd be plugins available on the web somewhere for such a thing, but I couldn't find anything in a quick google search.

decob

assuming that your current timeline is a 16:9fha sequence. Create a new sequence that is 4:3 (the anamorphic check box is off), drag your origianal 16:9 timeline from the browser into the new timeline, final cut will do the rest and make it letterboxed 4:3....

i certainly wouldn't do a full frame 4:3 crop.

BlitzKrieg

Did you get this sorted?

assuming that your current timeline is a 16:9fha sequence. Create a new sequence that is 4:3 (the anamorphic check box is off), drag your origianal 16:9 timeline from the browser into the new timeline, final cut will do the rest and make it letterboxed 4:3....

I'm at work at the moment doing some testing on some equipment for pre-production for a shoot next week, and if I do as you say with a standard definition video file the image is still stretched on the 4:3 monitor.

EDIT: Ahh ok, figured it out, oooh that looks great.

(for anyone else having problems: right click or apple + click on your sequence in bin, go to settings, click on aspect ratios and select (film academy 4:3), that puts in some bars to keep things from being stretched.

but FCP automatically puts in the bars on HDV footage and it comes out looking fine on the monitor.

An ARC is an aspect ratio converter, it can be set to do more or less anything to the aspect ratio of a program. It's a physical piece of equipment, not a process. It does the work to an incoming feed on the fly and outputs the required feed in real time.

ooh where can I get one of those and how much

lodgepole

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

ooh where can I get one of those and how much

I have no idea but I suspect a lot... Check out Miranda, they're the ones we use I think. I just push the buttons and complain when they break...

BlitzKrieg

now I have a headache.

I got the damn aspect ratio right once, and now it aint working. *murder* *death* *kill*

edit: ahh figured it out

dont move your files onto the sequence until after you made the change to the settings, otherwise it will have bizarred effects on your footage.

Richard O' Shea

For a true undistored 4:3 conversion, use after effects or motion or any other 2d application to make a pan and scan version. Create a 4:3 comp, import the 16:9 footage then keyframe the 4:3 left and right depending on the action. It can be slow but it will get you a good result without stretching.

Average-Ro

Hey guys,

Thanks a million for everyone who replied and help. We ended up using Motion and the pan and scan to convert it to 4:3. This worked out better as it didn't look squashed and we got to choose the framing.

Thanks again for all your help guys!

BlitzKrieg

heh thats great, funny thing is I just got jilted with the same problem at my job, I will be panning and scanning all of tonight zzzzzzzzzz