comping multiple formats for 4:5 FLV
by Randy Cates (randyman)
on
Mar 11, 2008 at 5:00:38 pm
In a nut shell I'm building multi format (HD-1:33, DV-.9 and GRFX-720x480 sq. pixel) composits that will ultimately end up as 320x240 Flash Videos for streaming. click and "updated link" http://wpcarey.asu.edu/mba/online/program/curriculum.cfm
Problem:
I'm getting squished video (horizontally) when outputting the 320x240 FLV file. I understand why it's being squished but am confused as to how combine these multiple formats to output without distortion. And how my master comp should be configured.
Presently my mstr cmp is 720x480 sq pix. I understand rec./sq. pixels but it starts getting a little more confusing when working with multiple formats with different aspects.
Should I master in a 640x480 comp and just nest everything in it's native format/aspect?
Thanks in advance for pointing me in the right direction.
Randy
Re: comping multiple formats for 4:5 FLV by Dave LaRonde on Mar 11, 2008 at 6:20:48 pm
[Randy Cates]"I'm getting squished video (horizontally) when outputting the 320x240 FLV file... Presently my mstr cmp is 720x480 sq pix."
Your 320x240 FLV file must have square pixels in a 4x3 screen aspect ratio, right? Well, a 720x480 square-pixel comp is NOT 4x3, it's 4.5x3. So when you scale it down to 320x240, it's getting squeezed horizontally.
"Should I master in a 640x480 comp and just nest everything in its native format/aspect?"
Yes. A 640x480 square-pixel comp is 4x3. It will remain 4x3 when scaled to 50%.
AE is REALLY GOOD at preserving footage's proper pixel aspect ratio. You can put HD footage (1.33) of a perfect circle into a 640x480 square-pixel comp, rotate the footage in 2D, and the circle will remain circular. You can also mix footage with varying pixel aspect ratios with no fear.
The key is that AE needs to know the pixel aspect ratio of the footage. So double-check it in the AE's Interpret Footage settings. If it's right, you're golden.
An additonal admonition: if your 1.33 HD footage happens to be shot on an HDV camera AND captured as native HDV, know that you should NOT use it in AE without converting it to a different codec. It will either take a long, long time to render or it won't render at all. Native HDV is pretty much toxic in AE.
