Crop edges to get 4:3
by Daniel Sepulveda
on
Jun 25, 2009 at 7:14:08 pm
Hi,
I have a really urgent problem. I`m producing a TvShow for southamerica, which I need to deliver in as files (not on tape). I recorded in different formats, from which the main one was xdcam 1080i. I made the mistake of keeping the timeline at 16:9, but rezised the video to 4:3. This means I have black edges (with no video) at the sides. Now I need to export from FCP without those edges (because its for regular TV emission at 4:3). How can I export croping the edges so I can get the video to 720x480? (right now is at 1440x1080).
Re: Crop edges to get 4:3 by John Fishback on Jun 25, 2009 at 9:42:03 pm
Try dropping your exported 1080 file into Compressor, and use an SD preset (Prores, 8-bit uncompressed, etc). Turn Frame Controls on and select Best for quality choices. You might have to do some minor cropping. Try it with a short clip first to see how it works. This will take a while to encode.
John
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Re: Crop edges to get 4:3 by Daniel Sepulveda on Jun 26, 2009 at 1:49:45 am
John, thank you very much. Compressor has a feature in geometry that will crop the edges automatically. Great!!! (I know I am kind of amateur)
Now I just have one issue, even thou it is cutting off the black edges exactly over the border, the images are looking a little bit distorted, wider than the in FCP. I guess the solution is to increase the whole size of the image just a bit so it becomes wider, but my project has 40 different timelines and layers, so I need a way to increase the image size in Compressor from the source (FCP), so Compressor doesnt have to distort the image to fill the 720x480 size. Any idead?
Re: Crop edges to get 4:3 by John Fishback on Jun 26, 2009 at 4:13:31 pm
In Geometry, did you use the Dimension control? If not, adjust that for the proper pixel dimensions for your final format.
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870
ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE Enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
24" TV-Logic Monitor
Final Cut Studio 2 (up to date)
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Re: Crop edges to get 4:3 by Daniel Sepulveda on Jul 6, 2009 at 9:40:08 pm
JOHN PLEASE HELP ME,
- When I try to export one of my timelines, an specific one, FCP crashes, and says
Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x0000000000000008
Crashed Thread: 0
- Should my final file be 10 bit uncompressed so it can be handled in Avid? (original material was shoot in XDCAM Cinealta)
- When I try to export it as 10 Bit, Compressor shows and error in the Batch Monitor, saying the codec is not installed. What should I do? (But it is letting me export as 8 bit
Re: Crop edges to get 4:3 by John Fishback on Jul 6, 2009 at 10:10:27 pm
Daniel, I'm not a code guy so I don't know what that error means. Access might mean memory or drive. If your 8-bit export works, I'd use that. You probably won't lose too much quality compared to 10-bit unless you have lots of colored areas where you might see banding occur. You might try re-posting with EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)-HELP in the title.
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24" TV-Logic Monitor
ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE Enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
Final Cut Studio 2 (up to date)
Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN
Re: Crop edges to get 4:3 by John Fishback on Jul 6, 2009 at 10:15:49 pm
I had another thought. Have you trashed FCP prefs and repaired permissions on your system drive? You could also trash Compressor's prefs. Here a link that can help with Compressor problems.
http://www.digitalrebellion.com/compressor_repair.htm
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24" TV-Logic Monitor
ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE Enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
Final Cut Studio 2 (up to date)
Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN
Re: Crop edges to get 4:3 by Martin Burlund on Jun 26, 2009 at 7:50:15 pm
Dear Daniel and John.
I hope you can help me. Also I filmed and captured in DV 4:3 and put it in a 16:9 anamorphic sequence frame. Now I want it all to just be 4:3 when I export it. I want to get rid of the black bars on the sides.
Obviously the frame gets squished when I turn of the 16:9 anamorphic sequence.
I tried to put it in compressor, but I cannot figure it out. Cannot find SD preset, tried with motion 8-bit preset and other 4:3 and 16:9 presets. anyhow it still turns out squished.
When I export it with 16:9 settings in QT it is not squished, but how to get rid of those bars? Tried to import this file into compressor but still squished...
Re: Crop edges to get 4:3 by John Fishback on Jun 28, 2009 at 5:23:40 pm
Take your export (that's not squished) and drag it or import it to Compressor. Use the same codec you edited with for your export - in other words, Current Settings. You can export either a ref movie or a self-contained one (do not recompress frames). In Compressor choose a preset that will encode the file into its final format: h.264, mv2, ProRes, etc. Make sure the output will be 4:3. Use the Geometry tab in the Inspector as described above to crop off the sides. Try a short test until you're happy with the result.
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870
ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE Enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
24" TV-Logic Monitor
Final Cut Studio 2 (up to date)
Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN
Re: Crop edges to get 4:3 by Martin Burlund on Oct 30, 2009 at 9:02:14 pm
Dear John
Thank you for that reply and sorry for late props. I am now in the end phase of my project and I still have not figured out how to unsquish the images once inside Compressor. It seems like when I open compressor to unload the file, it recognizes for a blitz second that I exported/imported a 16:9 file, but then it squishes it back to 4:3 in any case. I cannot see how I can use 'current settings' or my anamorphic 16:9 settings in Compressor.
I toggled all there is to toggle, but it will only play back in 4:3. If you can recognize this problem, I dearly appreciate it.
Re: Crop edges to get 4:3 by John Fishback on Oct 30, 2009 at 9:35:23 pm
please tell me if I understand you correctly. I know you said you started with DV. I think it was 4x3 and you put it in an anamorphic timeline so you had black pillar bars on the sides. You have edited your project. Is it still an anamorphic timeline with black to the sides? And you want to end up with a 4x3 version with no pillar bars, right? Is the timeline using a DV setting?
John
MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24" TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 2 (FCP 6.0.5, Comp 3.0.5, DVDSP 4.2.1, Color 1.0.3)
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Re: Crop edges to get 4:3 by Daniel Sepulveda on Jun 29, 2009 at 1:49:09 am
In case of emergency use Mpeg streamclip and use the crop option on the exported movie. You will need to use trial and error until you figure the values.
