Downconverting HD to a 4:3 SD sequence
- Thread starter SPZ
- Start date
bigbossbmb
Well-known member
nest your dvcpro sequence straight into an SD sequence. it should just letterbox on its own.
BenB said:
Thanks a lot BenB and Bigbossbmb. One Question: If I nest my sequence to SD, and it automatically letterboxes, if I do a Scalling, in order for example to get a full screen picture, will I lose resolution, since I'm going over 100 on an SD timeline, or are the calculations done before the downconversion?
bigbossbmb
Well-known member
i highly doubt it...it is just referencing the HD sequence in an SD view. There wouldn't be any resolution loss unless you render out a letterboxed version and then scale it...
bbalser
Veteran
I do this pretty often. In fact, FCP automatically scales material to fit the Sequence settings the opposite of what you're thinking.
Once you drop your HD material into your SD Sequence, it is Letterboxed. But if you actually go to the Viewer's Motion tab, you'll see that it's scaled DOWN to fit the SD sequence, not up!
For example, I have an NTSC 4:3 Sequence. I take a 16:9 720 HD asset and drop it into the SD Sequence, and it's Letterboxed, by default. I open that from the Timeline window to the Viewer window. I go to the Viewer's Motion tab. The 720 HD footage has been scaled down to 66.67 percent, in order to fit inside the smaller SD viewing area.
If I change that to 100 percent, the top and bottoms match up, the left and right edges are cut off, just like Pan and Scan.
If you highlight that asset in the Timeline window, then turn on Image+Wireframe in the Canvas, and zoom the Canvas out a bit, watch what happens when you change that HD footage to 100 percent in the Motion tab.
So, at least theoretically, your SD Sequence will look better than if it had been shot in SD in the first place.
Once you drop your HD material into your SD Sequence, it is Letterboxed. But if you actually go to the Viewer's Motion tab, you'll see that it's scaled DOWN to fit the SD sequence, not up!
For example, I have an NTSC 4:3 Sequence. I take a 16:9 720 HD asset and drop it into the SD Sequence, and it's Letterboxed, by default. I open that from the Timeline window to the Viewer window. I go to the Viewer's Motion tab. The 720 HD footage has been scaled down to 66.67 percent, in order to fit inside the smaller SD viewing area.
If I change that to 100 percent, the top and bottoms match up, the left and right edges are cut off, just like Pan and Scan.
If you highlight that asset in the Timeline window, then turn on Image+Wireframe in the Canvas, and zoom the Canvas out a bit, watch what happens when you change that HD footage to 100 percent in the Motion tab.
So, at least theoretically, your SD Sequence will look better than if it had been shot in SD in the first place.
Last edited: