16:9 default in DVD burning?

Hi!

I have edited a piece in 4:3 format but once it is burned on DVD in my FCP X the format is changed, to what I understand - 16:9. I wonder why this is happening? Is it due to burning settings? I need it burned in the same format - 4:3. What do I need to do to achieve that?

Thanks!

Post a screen shot of your project properties and the viewer.

briesmas wrote: Hi!

I have edited a piece in 4:3 format but once it is burned on DVD in my FCP X the format is changed, to what I understand - 16:9. I wonder why this is happening?...

If you shot it in HD by definition that is 16:9, there is no 4:3 HD format. Of course you can matte a 16:9 frame to 4:3, provided you composed the shots for that, but the final display on a 16:9 display will be pillar boxed.

This is further confusing because DVD is only 4:3 at physical level. However there's a method called digital anamorphic squeezing that compresses a 16:9 frame to 4:3 and sets a flag which his hopefully interpreted at playback to de-squeeze that to 16:9 (of course limited to 720x480 physical resolution).

I think normally FCP X uses anamorphic squeezing when making a DVD from 16:9 HD material.

If you shot in NTSC DV which is 720x480 4:3 and your project is also 4:3, I'd think the final DVD should be that.

However -- I am guessing your material was 16:9 HD and you imported it into a 4:3 project. When you create a 4:3 project in FCP X, that is usually NTSC DV, and the properties can be either 720x480 DV or 720x480 DV Anamorphic.

Burning a DVD from HD material in a 4:3 NTSC DV project produces a window boxed 16:9 display (at least when played back using Quicktime on a Mac).

Burning a DVD from HD material in a 4:3 NTSC DV *anamorphic* project produces a full screen display which is anamorphically de-squeezed to look normal (depending on player), although base resolution is still 720x480.

If you composed in 4:3 we need to know how you did that and what camera type.

When you combine all these issues with interlacing and the varied playback methods (software player, old hardware player, new hardware player, etc) it can be very confusing. Evaluating the behavior of the DVD requires checking on multiple devices. That's another reason why migrating to streaming or file-based HD distribution is a good idea.

Tom, I'm not by my editing computer at the moment. Will make the screen shot tomorrow.

Thanks for your thoughts Joema, but I am starting to think that may be the problem is not at my end (my fcpx DVD export). The DVD I exported went to a screening venue for testing and that is from them where I got response that it is not a 4:3 format. I took another DVD copy and tested it at my home computer and it is 4:3 for sure. The editing was done from archive materials and it was shot on MiniDV camera (720x480) and there is no other way for Final Cut than export it in the same ratio, right? On the other hand, the screening venue should know what they are talking about. So I'm puzzled...

briesmas wrote: ...The DVD I exported went to a screening venue for testing and that is from them where I got response that it is not a 4:3 format. I took another DVD copy and tested it at my home computer and it is 4:3 for sure....

Yes if you shot DV 4:3 material it can generally only be 4:3 at playback. However we don't know what they mean by "it is not a 4:3 format". Does that mean stretched, window boxed, pillar boxed, etc?

I just tested some DV material from a Panasonic AG-DVX100p, imported it into (1) An NTSC DV project, and (2) An NTSC DV Anamorphic project in FCP X, and burned a DVD for each project using FCP X. Both DVDs play OK in Quicktime on my iMac, plus two different hardware players. On a 16:9 HD display they play as 4:3 pillar boxed, which is expected.

However -- if my TV is set to manual 16:9 display aspect ratio, the same DVD will play horizontally stretched.

It is possible their projector or display was just set for 16:9 so it appeared your DVD was not 4:3, and they neglected to mention the stretch factor.

Do not trust a film festival to be that technically competent. I've been at some who were really lacking in A/V equipment knowledge. I'm guessing their playback system wasn't set up correctly.

Thanks for all your input and suggestions! The screening venue fixed something at their end and the picture was projected properly with 4:3.