Import squeeze mode clips

[Zardoz]

Quick question, and I'm sorry if it has been asked before... But does anyone know what my composition settings should be (DV widescreen & pixel aspect ratio) for importing Squeeze mode footage? I've tried a few settings and it never displays the footage correctly. Premiere Pro handles it just fine in its widescreen mode...

[Zardoz]

When I choose a Widescreen composition and do Interpret Footage->Widescreen, it stretches it out a bit, but not completely. The footage is still a little squeezed. And when I output it, Premiere and Windows Media Player both think it's 4x3 and will not unsqueeze it! This sucks...

[Neil Rowe]

..isnt there a preset setting for widscreen DV /16:9 740x480 at 1.2 pixel aspect . i can never remember this stuff cause i just fly through those screens and havent actaully looked at one in a while. but im pretty sure there is that setting under the composition settings. you can also make the clips resize to the comp size automatically. i use AE 6.5 pro.. but should be same on reg 6.5 you should output at 740x480 at 1.2 pixel aspect. dont worry about how media player shows it untill its in its finished format.. IE: mpg2/m2v for DVD , or the final rendered avi which should be 740x480 at 1.2 pixel aspect for output to tape. WMP tends to mess with pixel aspect ratios in avi files but will play them fine with mpg files. .. and you can make premier show it at 1.2 pixel aspect by right clicking the file. (or use any method of multiple file select to affect alot of clips at once) in the project bin. and selecting "interpret footage" then just tell it what pixel aspect you want it to play at. if you have a 16:9/widscreen project and anamorphic/"squeeze" footage , just tell it to play the clips at 1.2 pixel aspect.

[Zardoz]

Thanks for the response...I've tried the widescreen settings in AE though. Comp settings are at D1/DV NTSC Widescreen (9:5 frame aspect). Then I went to the clip, and set that pixel aspect ratio to widescreen as well. It gets wider, but it's still slightly squeezed.
I'm using AE 5.0. Would that be any different from 6.5?

[Neil Rowe]

..dont know. i dont remember 5.0 i have it.. but havent use it in quite a while..(correction.. i have 5.5) and not with 16:9 obviously theres numerous differences between the two though. is there the setting to set your imported clips to the comp size automatically in 5.0 ?
have you tried just making a custom project and specify 740x480 at 1.2 pixel aspcet. then read the footage the same.

[Zardoz]

I did try that...I guess the main problem is that the widescreen preset in After Effects 5.0 is not the same ratio as the DVX's squeeze mode. It's wide, but not wide enough. I read on another message board that the comp size should be around 853x480, and that looks to be about right. But I have to manually unsqueeze the clip to get it to fit this size frame. It seems to be a rather clunky and imprecise way to do it, and there is a significant decrease in the clip's quality when I do.