Re: compression and aspect ratio

Hi Chris,

You don't want to use square pixels, stretch or anything like that. NTSC DVDs can only use 720 x 480 pixels, and if you use square pixels you will have more pixels than the dvd can cope with.

The way you get the proper 16:9 is by different sized pixels to standard 4:3, but the NUMBER of pixels is the same.

If you set your comp to NTSC widescreen NON-square pixels, you will have done everything you need to in order to make sure it will work as a 16:9 video on a DVD.

NOTE: It might initially look squashed in AE because the programme by default shows everything on screen in square pixels, but if you toggle the button in the bottom right of the composition panel (hover over them one by one and you'll find the one you're looking for), you can correct the view to 16:9 so you can see what you'll expect to see on the DVD.

ALSO NOTE: Rendering this format as QT and opening it in QT player will give a video that still looks squashed because the player doesn't automatically recognise that the pixels should be displayed in non-square format. Don't worry - your DVD software will get it right.

Simon Bonner

youtube.com/simonsaysfx