Why has my dimension info changed?

Seamus McFlannel

Seamus McFlannel

Well-known member
I'm in the middle of a feature shoot, and halfway through we noticed that the information on our clips has changed. The dimensions used to show as as 1280x720. But one day, after we had updated Final Cut pro, we noticed that the dimensions were listed as 960x720. None of the camera's settings were changed, and the pictures look the same, except when we view them in the little preview box when we call up the info from the Quicktime files on the Mac. Then we notice that the 1280x720 files are shown in their normal 16x9 aspect ratio, but the 960x720 files are presented in a 4:3 ratio but the picture is squished horizontally.

Is this because of the FCP update, or have we inadvertently changed a setting in the HVX200. We can't find any changed settings.

One final note: When we make stills of the older 1280x720 shots, their dimensions in iPhoto are listed as 1280x720, but the newer shots are listed as 1248x702.

Again, they all look the same on the Marshall monitor, at the shoot, and on the 23' mac monitor at home.

Does anyone know what is going on here?

Thanks,
Seamus+
 
Wow. Go daredevil. I'd never have the balls to update the software in the middle of a feature length project. Are you importing via firewire or P2? 720 HVX clips ARE 960x720 like the anamorphic 720x480 clips of old. I've noticed that as of FCP 5.1.4 it now exports "current settings" @1280X720 although that's not really what you're working with. Good Luck.
 
The footage has always been 960x720--your FCP update didn't change that. DVCPRO HD footage uses a 1.33:1 pixel aspect ratio, which makes 960x720 act like 1280x720.

As long as it all works well together in your timeline, you'll be fine.
 
Yeah, it didn't occur to me when the icon for the FCP update showed up on my screen, that it might affect the import process with the P2 card, so I automatically updated it.
I have been importing the footage into the P2 slot on my laptop and storing on a Lacie 1000 GB Hard drive.
With all that said, I'm having no trouble editing it in my timeline. I've exported some rough edits with the earlier footage and the later footage combined to Quicktime with no problem. I've also burned a couple of DVD's just make sure, and they are fine as well.
I've been aware that the HVX200's actual pixel count is 960x720, but the previous version of FCP always listed it as 1280x720 when I imported, so I was a bit confused when the newer version listed it as 960x720.
Thanks for the input.
 
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