Of course, I forgot that FCE limits the resolutions you can define in Sequence settings to just standard DV and HD options, doesn't it? No custom resolutions, no web-friendly options. Sigh. Another feature- rich application for web video from Apple.
I'm not sure exactly what FCE offers you, but I'd recommend choosing a setting that doesn't distort or crop your clips. If you choose 720x480 DV NTSC sequence, it's the wrong Aspect Ratio, so your 1280x720 will scale down to 720x405: filling the frame horizontally, but leaving you 37 pixels of empty space at the bottom and the top of your 480 frame. When you then try to export to 640x360, this might end up letterboxed and squeezed again - in fact, this might be the problem you're having now. It may be that - because FCE doesn't support your Aspect Ratio or frame size - the best option would be to choose DV PAL Anamorphic. This IS the right Aspect Ratio - 1024x576, which is exactly 80% of your 1280x720 resolution on both axes. BUT the sequence has an anamorphic stretch on it - so it can cause problems with the export, exporting a squeezed image if you're not careful. Custom export settings or iPod export should see you through OK. Just make sure none of your clips are marked as Anamorphic, and that their Distort setting is 0. Rupert http://twittervlog.tv On 9-Jul-08, at 3:54 PM, Rupert wrote: If I were you, I'd export using the Export to iPod setting and see what you get. It's very good at understanding what is needed, letterboxing or not. Chances are, it'll do it right - but if not, if your video still comes out looking wrong, then it may well be that you've got the Distort settings screwed up in the Motion panel in Final Cut. Distort should be set to 0 - but if you've imported something into an Anamorphic sequence, or anything is different between your sequence settings and your clip resolution, then Final Cut might have distorted it to make it look OK, to squeeze it in. This will screw you up in the Export. Best thing to do if this is the case: create a New Sequence with exactly the same Aspect Ratio as your clips, then copy & paste your edited clips from old wrong sequence to new correct sequence, then change the Distort settings on all those clips to 0. Instead of having to do this manually on each clip, the quickest way to do this is to change the setting on one clip, then Edit>copy that clip, then click off it, highlight all the rest and go to Edit > Paste Attributes, selecting only 'Distort' - that will paste the Distort settings from one clip onto all the others. Rupert http://twittervlog.tv On 9-Jul-08, at 3:33 PM, David King wrote: I did another test (haven't published it anywhere). This time, I did everything I mentioned below, but did NOT check the letterbox box. After exporting, the mp4 video is stretched, and has the black letterbox lines top and bottom. Is 640x360 not a standard size or something? David King davidleeking.com - blog davidleeking.com/etc - videoblog On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 2:00 PM, Brook Hinton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > That would have given you a letterboxed image in a 640 x 480 frame - > but I just opened the clip in quicktime and it's 640 x 360, not 640 x > 480. > > Personally, I would export it as 640 x 360 - just as you did - but > don't turn letterboxing on. That should give you a widescreen box > filled with a widescreen image. > > Brook > > > On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 11:51 AM, David King <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<davidleeking%40gmail.com>> > wrote: > > ok... I used the Sanyo Xacti HD1A. The source video was 1280X720, 30 fps > mp4 > > video. I edited in FCE, then chose export using quicktime compression, > and > > did this: > > > > - under format, chose mpeg-4 and clicked options > > - chose mp4 under file format > > - chose h.264 under video format > > - did the 640x480 image size (chose custom) > > - clicked the preserve aspect ratio using letterbox checkbox > > > > My ultimate goal is to get the video onto my blog and my iphone. > > > > Am I doing this right? > > > > David King > > davidleeking.com - blog > > davidleeking.com/etc - videoblog > > > > On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 1:27 PM, Brook Hinton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<bhinton%40gmail.com>> > wrote: > > > >> 640x360 IS 16:9. It doesn't need to be letterboxed. It will be a > >> widescreen frame. The additional pillarbox in this file is probably > >> there because fitting a 16:9 frame inside a LETTERBOX inside another > >> 16:9 frame makes it smaller on all sides. > >> > >> But to know EXACTLY what happened we need to know: > >> > >> Is the source sequence or file 16:9? or 4:3 with a letterboxed image? > >> Or something else? And what format? > >> > >> Letterboxing is only used if you are trying to fit a 16:9 image in a > >> 4:3 frame while preserving the full image (e.g., putting an anamorphic > >> DV source inside a standard 4:3 image). > >> > >> Brook > >> > >> _______________________________________________________ > >> Brook Hinton > >> film/video/audio art > >> www.brookhinton.com > >> studio vlog/blog: www.brookhinton.com/temporalab > >> > >> > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > -- > _______________________________________________________ > Brook Hinton > film/video/audio art > www.brookhinton.com > studio vlog/blog: www.brookhinton.com/temporalab > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
