16:9 frame grabs from FCP?

L

lacuna

Well-known member
Hi,

I'm running FCP4.5 and edit exclusively anamorphic footage. While I can configure FCP to capture anamorphic footage and display it in the viewer correctly, when I do a frame grab it always squashes the footage back to a 4:3 frame (ie, a 4:3 shaped JPG or whatever).

Is there any way to preserve the 16:9 shape in a frame grab, just using FCP?

Hey, a big thanks to anyone who can help.
 
I always export a TIFF then open it up in Photoshop and then hit

Image -> Pixel Aspect Ratio -> DV NTSC Widescreen to fix it.

I don't know of a way to export a frame so that is performs pixel aspect conversion on the way out.
 
tigeba said:
I always export a TIFF then open it up in Photoshop and then hit

Image -> Pixel Aspect Ratio -> DV NTSC Widescreen to fix it.

I don't know of a way to export a frame so that is performs pixel aspect conversion on the way out.
Click to expand...

Thanks Tigeba... unfortunately I think you may be right, there is no way around it. I don't have Photoshop, oh well.
 
When you use the NTSC DV settings, and you click the radio button that says Anamorphic 16:9 your sequence is still 720 x 480- just check the squence settings - it will read 720 x 480. So your stll will be 720 x 480. What is happening is that FCP adds a marker to the footage that says that it is 16:9, so that when it is played back via a DVD player, or the like, it will display the footage at that aspect ratio. Photoshop has the ability to correctly display anamorphic DV stills when using the steps above. If you want to pull a still and you do not have photoshop, do the following:

Example Stills can be found at:

Widescreen (16:9) original: (1.3MB)
http://www.waltersindustries.com/DollyCraneWS.tiff

Widescreen (16:9) corrected: (1.6MB)
http://www.waltersindustries.com/DollyCraneWSFix.tiff

1. Pull your still from your anamorphic sequence. (Shift-N or Modify - Make Freeze Frame)
2. Create a new sequence. (Open apple-N or File-New-Sequence)
3. Under sequence settings change the aspect ration to custom, and then enter the following frame size: 854 x 480. (Right Click on the sequence, or Sequence-Settings)
4. Drag the still you created in step 1 into this new sequence.
5. Now create a still using the same method as above, and export it as a tiff. You are set and ready to rock. This still will be displayed at the correct ratio.

Hope that helps.
 
David Jimerson said:
Seriously?
Click to expand...

Yes. Vegas will export in a WYSIWYG fashion, but it's technically incorrect and can introduce loss issues in subsequential post production. FCP exports as the file format dictates for consistency in processing later (AE, Motion, Livetype, whathaveyou).
 
Hey Waltind, that certainly does help, thanks a lot! I'm in Pal land but I'm sure the same principle applies.
 
patrickj said:
Yes. Vegas will export in a WYSIWYG fashion, but it's technically incorrect and can introduce loss issues in subsequential post production. FCP exports as the file format dictates for consistency in processing later (AE, Motion, Livetype, whathaveyou).
Click to expand...

Actually, you can do it either way, but I was just asking.
 
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