Aspect ratio problem with stills in Final Cut Express

[M A V I C]

I've used Final Cut Pro to create photo slideshows before. It works fine. But when I use Final Cut Express 3.0, the still photos are stretched when I export the video.

I RTM'd the section about pixel aspect ratio. So I batched the photos in Photoshop CS3 to set the aspect ratio to NTSC DV 0.9. But it's not enough. I have FCE set to DV NTSC Firewire.

According to QT, the normal size of the video I'm outputting is 720x480 and the current size (actual) is the same.

I'm using File: Export: QickTime Movie... to export. So there's no settings to mess up there.

I have a pile of JPEGs straight from my Fuji S2 that I'm inserting in FCE. I'll probably only have another 10 minutes of internet access before I have to have this figured out (or revert to the old Plan A [which is now Plan B.])

Thanks much.

Edit: And I'll add, the fix I've used in the past is to export the slideshow as 640x480 and the still aspect ratio is correct. They also look correct when I'm editing.

[jimbrady]

Try exporting at 720 x 534

[robfilms]

jim-

why 720 x 534?

can u please discuss your thinking which is obviously based upon your successful experience.

i for one am always looking to learn from those who know more, do it right and know how to explain what they've done.

thanks in advance

be well

rob

[jimbrady]

I don't know if it'll solve MAVIC's prob, but it's the reverse of what I do when designing a full-frame (SD) image for use in FCP. A Photoshop image that's 720 x 534 will display at 4:3 when switched into the NTSC shaped pixels (Image > Pixel Aspect Ratio > NTSC 0.9).

[M A V I C]

The images I'm starting with are 2304x1536. They are full res, and FCE is resizing them on insert. I'm also using FCE to resize and recrop them. Also adding Ken Burns effect. So if I resize them to 720x534 it's not going to work as I need the images to be much larger than the view area.

It just confuses me why they look fine in FCE, but when exported they're off. Especially when I'm using the QT export which doesn't even allow me to change anything.

Also, I have tried other methods of exporting and the same issue occurs.

[M A V I C]

I should add I'm mixing both video and still images in this. So if I export at an odd aspect ratio, the video wont come out right.

All the FCE manual says is "Final Cut Express HD uses slightly different square-pixel image dimensions than other video and still image applications"

Lovely. The only reason I bough this app was for this purpose. It works fine in previous versions of FC...

[M A V I C]

Doh! I'm using 3.5.1.

So I set it to not view as square, but I still can't get it to export right.

[M A V I C]

I'll be able to check back in about 12 hrs... so if anyone figures it out in that time, let me know.

Thanks.

[jimbrady]

[quote M A V I C]The images I'm starting with are 2304x1536
Have you tested it with the images downsized a little prior to importing to FCE? I've seen some odd behavior in FCP when using large stills (including crashing due to a 'still cache' that was set too low)... use images only as big as you absolutely need, and realize that it's usually possible to go bigger than 100% in Final Cut and still see acceptable quality on screen.

[loveshine]

I wonder if this is related to your issue?

http://www.lafcpug.org/Tutorials/basic_dvcpro_bug.html