16:9 Import from Comb2008 into Premiere CS4 - not correct aspect ratio
by Steffen Wiegand
on
Oct 31, 2009 at 8:05:34 pm
Hi there,
I set up a PAL D1 Widescreen workspace inside Combustion 2008. Pixel aspect ratio is automatically set to 1,42.
Secondly, Videos that were recorded onto harddisc inside Premiere CS4 show the following properties:
Type: AVI Movie
File Size: 274,0 MB
Image Size: 720 x 576
Pixel Depth: 32
Frame Rate: 25,00
Source Audio Format: 48000 Hz - 16 bit - Stereo
Project Audio Format: 48000 Hz - 32 bit floating point - Stereo
Total Duration: 00:01:15:18
Average Data Rate: 3,6 MB / second
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1,4587
I don't know why Combustion sets the Widescreen aspect ration to 1,42 while Premiere has recorded the material with 1,4587. But that aside.
In the Combustion Composite is just a painted rectangular in order to test the appearance when imported back into Premiere. I have rendered the output in Combustion as DV-AVI, as PNG-Sequence, as Quicktime ... but the result is always the same. Brought into Premiere it just won't appear correctly.
Right-clicked in Premiere, the rendered C*-File shows the following properties:
Type: AVI Movie
File Size: 17,4 MB
Image Size: 720 x 576
Pixel Depth: 32
Frame Rate: 25,00
Total Duration: 00:00:05:01
Average Data Rate: 3,5 MB / second
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1,094
As I noticed, the aspect ratio in the C*-File is neither in the set 1,42 ratio nor the Premiere 1,4587.
Any suggestions how I can "syncronize" Combustion and Premiere to work together for a PAL Widescreen Project?
Re: 16:9 Import from Comb2008 into Premiere CS4 - not correct aspect ratio by Phil Lowe on Nov 2, 2009 at 9:46:24 am
I can't speak to PAL, but in NTSC world, this is what I do:
Ignore the non-square pixel aspect ratio and set C4 up to create (and output) the square pixel aspect equivalent of your non-square project. For instance, I work in Widescreen DV (NTSC) which has a frame size of 720 x 480 with a non-square PAR of 1.2:1.
I set-up a custom template in C4 to create all my graphics in there at 853 x 480 square, which is the square pixel equivalent of NTSC's DV 1.2 non-square widescreen.
Just make sure that any video you import to C4 is stretched to fill the frame (check footage controls: you'll want your video set to anamorphic) and any square still images stay square on import.
Now, to the math:
1.4587 x 720 = 1050.264 (round to 1050).
So create and output your project in C4 at 1050 x 576 SQUARE and any application should be able to interpret this correctly.
I've had to develop this work flow because Avid is really picky about this kind of stuff.
Hope this helps.
I'll run a quick test just to make sure.
Just tested at 1.4587 (your settings) and had no problems importing, however, I noticed the correct DV widescreen pixel aspect in Premiere Pro 2.0 is 1.422. Will try another test at that setting.
Looking at the aspect of a 1.422:1 in C4 (1024 x 576 square), the aspect ratio comes out to 1.778:1. This is the correct 16 x 9 aspect ratio. 1.422 x 720 = 1023.84 (round to 1024).
Finsihed 1024 x 576 test. All good here. Hope this helps.
Re: 16:9 Import from Comb2008 into Premiere CS4 - not correct aspect ratio by Steffen Wiegand on Nov 2, 2009 at 7:48:48 pm
Hi Phil!
Thank you so much for your help!! You really made my day. Just a minute ago I managed to get an output in 1024 x 576. Apparently, the AVI-Renderer has some kind of hiccups and doesn't render properly. The Quicktime-DV-Render went fine, though.
I was wondering: I just set up the project at 1024 x 576 and set the PAR to Square (=1.0). That's basically it, isn't it?
You wrote something that you tried the other setting of 1,4587. Did you enter those numbers anywhere? Or did you have to adjust this PAR for your imported video-file? At the moment I am happy that I've just made it happen for a coloured box that fades and gives away a logo (for the logo I left the square pixel setting, otherwise it appears streched).
You can enter any number in these fields you wish, so if your work involves web-based projects, you can make them smaller or larger, depending on the project. I simply entered the 1.4587 number you provided in the original post.
Re: 16:9 Import from Comb2008 into Premiere CS4 - not correct aspect ratio by Steffen Wiegand on Nov 3, 2009 at 5:35:16 am
Hi Phil!
Once again: Thank you so much! This has been really helpful and you have presented your help so thoroughly with screen-caps and all the math. I really appreciate it!
