the best way to turn HDV footage into SD 16:9?

[Ryan CBP]

Hey guys

I want to output some HDV footage from Final Cut Pro but make it 16:9 so that people with a widescreen will effectively still get it full screen.


Before I was exporting the HDV footage as a quicktime and then pulling that into a uncompressed 10bit time and exporting it again then as that type (SD) ready for use in compressor. However this is making the footage appear as widescreen within a 4:3 box. So there are two massive black bars on the top and bottom of the footage. Just wondering how is best to convert this down to 16:9 widescreen so it ISN'T in a 4:3 constraint.

Once again, this is another hole in my knowledge! Thanks a lot

 

[kwoff]

Export directly from your HDV timeline in FCP to Compressor using the Export Using Compressor menu command in FCP 6 (the command is Send to Compressor in FCP 7). Check the Compressor manual or the Apple Pro Training Series Compressor book for the appropriate output settings in Compressor to get non-letterboxed widescreen. I don't recall exactly what the settings are, but I know that they are described clearly in the APTS book. I have used this workflow to export DVCPro HD footage to SD, both 4:3 and 16:9, without a hitch.

Kevin