compression squishing my 16:9 image...

GND

GND

Well-known member
I'm having a problem exporting my sequence to quicktime. ...once a quicktime movie - for use in iDVD - my movie is all squished in the 16:9 frame.

It's a 16:9 project, done in the DVX100b's squeeze mode. 24pA setting. edting was fine, I had the advance pulldown and all that just fine. no jerky image or anything. It was perfect looking on FCP viewer and canvas screens.

So, what setting should I choose when exporting to quicktime so the image appears the best and not squished?



incase it helps: the problem is that the image looks like it has a second 16:9 frame matted ontop of the original, thus making the actors faces looks fatter like being squashed on top and bottom.

what can I do to fix it? please help, as project was due today, but I'm giving time to re-burn it due to this look.



note: my quickttime compression settings are: uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2
but what else should I select/change? (everything else is the compresser default/native)
 
Hate to bump a thread, but I've tried to search for an answer and couldn't find someone with the same problem. And I need to solve this within a few hours, thus.... bump. I'm sorry.

Thanks
 
In export > using quicktime conversion

my settings were:

format : Quicktime Movie (should this be MPEG-4?)

then, in the options my settings are

video settings: uncompressed 8bit 4:2:2
size settings: NTSC 720 x 480 16:9
and checked the box "yes" for preserve aspect ratio using -- letterbox



as for just export > quicktime movie. ... well, I did that and the quicktime movie itself was fine, not all squished. Then I brought it back into FCP and did the quicktime compression thing under "export"
...should I not do that? is there a better or easier way to compress?
 
Wait... what exactly are you trying to get? 2 seperate files? why are you going through "quicktime conversion?
 
If your still here - Post, and I'll wait around.

Are you just trying to get your video into IDVD? If you're in a pinch, just drop the one that you exported successfuly ("not all squished") into IDVD. I'm not quite understanding a couple of things.

Mostly, you said you exported into "quicktime movie", then brought it back into FCP and did the quicktime compression thing. Why are you bringing that back into FCP? just throw it in iDVD...

Or am I totally missing something here?
 
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thanks for the help. I am trying to get my video into iDVD with the best possible quality (without any added programs/just FCP)

I threw it back into FCP because my quicktime movie didn't look as clear as the video did in the FCP viewer/canvas screen. it was a tad noisey. ...so I figured I did something wrong and needed to do the compression.
....but after compression it looked clearer, only all squished like I described in the first post.


edit > I'm here and also waiting around.
 
It must have been an illusion, cause there's no way it looked clearer after two exports than one. How long is the entire video?

If you want the BEST possible quality, you'll have to export using compressor, and burn using DVDstudio pro. That takes time and fairly intricate settings depending on a few different things.

If you're in a hurry and you're going to be using idvd to burn, I suggest exporting you're movie into a quicktime movie (like you did), and throwing that into iDVD to burn. No need to double compress...

If this is the serious DVD that's going to be used as the Master for a film or something, then you've got more to do than just "drop it in iDVD and let it burn"
 
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no problem.

...And yes, this was a useless reply...but did it so you know I'm still here :)
 
Beat 'cha

EDIT: stolen from another thread:

also, if you use QuickTime Conversion and export an uncompressed .mov by selecting Compressor 'None', you will have a much higher quality/cleaner and crisper file.

In your case, though, idvd will recompress if the file is larger than your DVD space.
 
so, if I do that - would it get rid of the squished looking 16:9 problem?

do you think the squished 16:9 look (described better in my first post) was due to compression quality ? or some setting I chose wrong? ...almost looked like the letterbox was bigger then normal 16:9. ...like it had a double letterbox matte on it... thus "super squishing" the image.


I'll try the compressor "none" thing you posted. But still worried about the squished aspect ratio thing...
 
Yeah, export to "quicktime Movie"> DV NTSC Anamorphic>check your settings and make changes if neccessary> drop that file into iDVD>burn it

I gotta run, but I'll check this thread again in about 40 minutes. Try the export and get back to me.
 
I'll try. Thanks a bunch. ....and since this is typed - it may not seem like I'm thanking you enough, but I really do mean it.


EDIT > finsihed the compression and it looks fine with no "squished" look. ...though a tad more pixely then the movie in the FCP viewer/canvas .... I'll send it to iDVD and burn it using the best quality possible and see how it looks. will report when it's done
 
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Well, It's no longer squished and odd looking. but way more pixelated then before.

So, now I have to somehow combine the best of both worlds - whatever I did before to get the crisp clear image, but what you told me to do above, that got rid of the aspect ratio squished-madness.

hmm...
 
Pixelated, huh? just in quicktime? open up idvd and drop your file into it, and press the preview button to view it in idvd. Still pixelated? viola...
 
yup, thats how I tested it. (the iDVD preview). pixel-fest.

And I tried doing a mixture of what you said and going to "export>using quicktime conversion" and making it better quality, 4:2:2 thing. and it's back to being all squished.


...unless it'll lose the pixles when I burn it?


EDIT >> Just looked at the footage side by side (the pixlated version + the squished original) and seems the problem is the original is wider, like super-wide screen. as the letterbox "Bars" are the same size as the non-squished version. And the non-squished/new/pixle version is in a square box/viewer. ...the squished one appears in a rectangle box/viewer. Yet both say 16:9. ...and I used 16:9 / squeeze mode on DVX.

Any final ideas? hmm...
 
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