Re: HELP digitzing 640x480.....

The pixel dimension subject can be very confusing. The thing to remember is that video content on analog Betacam tape is 4x3 aspect ratio, or anamorphic (for display on 16x9 screens, but let's not discuss that can of worms here). In the digital world, 4x3 aspect ratio comes in many flavors. DV (non-square) pixel aspect ratio is 0.9 for a 4x3 image, and 1.2 for a 16x9 image, both 720x480. The difference is the pixel size itself, not the pixel dimensions. Uncompressed 4x3 video has a pixel dimension of 720x 486. If you capture analog Betacam at those pixel dimensions you'll be OK. 640x480 is a square pixel flavor of 4x3 video, which was the world of the old Media 100 system. One thing to note, if you're planning on making a DVD from 720x486 digital video you need to crop off 6 horizontal pixels in your compressor BEFORE making the DVD, because DVD pixel dimensions are 720x480 (0.9 or 1.2 pixel aspect, depending on whether the DVD is 4x3 or widescreen 16x9, respectively). Those 6 extra pixels will give you jittery video on the DVD if they're not cropped off at the compressor. Apple's Compressor application crops off 4 pixels and 2 pixels top and bottom, automatically, when you bring in 720x486 video. THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT...

Good luck!