User Guide

56 Chapter 3 Combining Standard and High Definition Video
In Final Cut Pro, you can crop and even perform simple pans by animating the origin
parameters in the Motion tab. For more information on using the Motion tab and
animating parameters, see the Final Cut Pro 5 User Manual, Volume III, Chapter 12,
“Changing Motion Parameters.”
16:9 Anamorphic
This method preserves the 16:9 aspect ratio of high definition video, but reduces the
resolution by scaling from HD to SD image dimensions. SD anamorphic video squeezes
a 16:9 image within the 4:3 SD image area. The image is stretched during playback so
the image appears normally. Some DVD players and video monitors have an option to
unsqueeze anamorphic video.
For more information about working with anamorphic video, see the Final Cut Pro 5
User Manual, Volume IV, Appendix C, “Working With Anamorphic 16:9 Media.”
Upconverting Standard Definition Video
Upconverting a 4:3 aspect ratio image to a 16:9 frame results in borders (or side panels)
on the left and right sides of the 4:3 image. This type of frame is sometimes referred to
as pillarboxed.
If the aspect ratios of the original and destination formats match (for example,
720 x 480 anamorphic footage upconverted to 1920 x 1080), you can simply scale
the original video to the destination size.
Warning: It is difficult to add a convincing pan into a scene that did not originally
have one. Use this technique sparingly.
Original
size
Original
aspect ratio
Destination
size
Destination
aspect ratio
Upconversion
method
720 x 480 4:3 (1.33) 1280 x 720,
1920 x 1080
16:9 (1.78) Scale up
and pillarbox
720 x 480
(anamorphic)
16:9 (1.78)
squeezed
1280 x 720,
1920 x 1080
16:9 (1.78) Scale up
1280 x 720 16:9 (1.78) 1920 x 1080 16:9 (1.78) Scale up