converting 16:9 720p footage to 4:3 for web use

R

richmondfloyd

Active member
Hi,

I have been getting great results so far by shooting with my EX1 720p and then using FCP to compress to 512x288 using H.264 codec.

However, I now have a client who requires the footage to be 4:3 for web use. I have tried several different methods of achieving a crisp 4:3 image without much success.

I assume the best results are going to be creating a full size 4:3 sequence in FCP (although not sure what the 4:3 equivalent of 1280 x 720 is) and then exporting to something like 320x240?

For info, the footage has been round tripped to After Effects and therefore FCP is using Animation codec and rendering to same as codec.

Your help would be very much appreciated.
 
Last edited:
richmondfloyd said:
I assume the best results are going to be creating a full size 4:3 sequence in FCP (although not sure what the 4:3 equivalent of 1280 x 720 is) and then exporting to something like 320x240?
Click to expand...

The 4:3 equivalent in FCP that you want is 960x720.

Of course, one can crop it in the transcoding process, but unless you framed your content for 4:3 safe, there's going to be points at which an invisible mend may be appropriate - basically, pan-and-scan FCP style.

If you know that the 4:3 version is web only, and small at that, you can zoom in quite a way. I've turned a 16:9 2 shot into two 4:3 singles before.

I'd export from Final Cut Pro at 960x720, and let the encoder do the scaling. FCP is so much better than it used to be, but small (320x240) sizes can need a little light blur to help stop aliasing, whereas other sizes (480x30 and above) tend not to need it. That way, one version from FCP makes many sizes.
 
tell your customer it is non-sens. ? If there is a only one place where video size is not important it is internet.
 
I'm in america and we edit SD as "NTSC". Set up an NTSC project, drop in your 720 file, don't allow it to change the sequence to match the clip. Then you just strech up your clip until it fills the screen - or not. Maybe your client won't mind letterboxing. I don't see why they need the stuff to be 4:3 for the web though. That's a TV thing that's limited by NTSC specs.

Anyway you have this NTSC project. All your clips are sized and pan/scanned to fit in 4:3 as best as possible. Export a final clip - whether stand-alone or not. Then when you create the youtube file, make sure to set the size to "640x480" and 5,000kbps or above. If you don't set it to 640x480, it will come out as "720x480" which in NTSC is a little bit stretched wide for TV, which corrects that by the time it get's to your TV.

It may sound convoluted, but it's simple in practice. I take 720p30 footage and make 4:3 out of it sometimes, and it's no big deal. I just don't understand why the client needs it square for the web. If it was going to standard def TV I would understand, but it's unnecessary for web.
 
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