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Can I change pixel aspect without rendering?

9 REPLIES 9
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Message 1 of 10
HalloweenJack2
516 Views, 9 Replies

Can I change pixel aspect without rendering?

Hey folks,

I'm importing an Avid seq into Smoke. It's PAL anamorphic, ie 16:9 720x576.

For some reason, possibly bug or oversight, Smoke brings it in as 4:3.

I don't really see why Smoke needs to render an aspect change. I don't really understand the Resize function but it seems to add black to the sides then stretch out the image, effectively giving you the same thing but with different pixel aspect.

Anyway, is there a way to simply tell Smoke the correct ratio is 1.78?

Cheers
9 REPLIES 9
Message 2 of 10

of course you can. there is a button called pixel aspect ratio or pixel ratio in the timeline
and in the preferences. if your clips have the 16by 9 aspect then flame/smoke will show it
when you enable this function. resizeing your image will not work coz pal 16by9 and 4by3 are both 720x576 only with different pixel aspect ratios.

by default flame/smoke allways show square pixel (aspect ratio 1by1) to avoid nasty edges in display. it is a matter of taste if you like it or not and so they have this pixel aspect button.
it is there in every version of flame/smoke
Message 3 of 10
andy__dill
in reply to: HalloweenJack2

I'm not entirely sure on the smoke side, but this is a pain in the ass on flame. A lot of the time I either re-import (check to make sure you're designating the right aspect ratio) or resize--"Center Crop" with your output size the same as your input and the ratio on "Set to 16:9" will do the trick.

But both are inelegant solutions. There's a way to do it in the library via reformat (I think). I've asked, as have others, for the ability to change the aspect ratio metadata the same way you can change the timecode and framerate with a desktop tap, but so far it hasn't shown up in the software.
Message 4 of 10

on smac there is this button as well.
open clip in viewer - go to full screen - lower left corner - ratio
Message 5 of 10
jaseo
in reply to: HalloweenJack2

When the footage was imported, aspect ratio was probably set to 4:3. This is just metadata that does not need to be rendered.

If you use resize on the editdesk, it will render. However, in the library, you can apply the change instantly by using Tools/Reformat (as Andy alluded to). As long as the only change is the aspect ratio, it will not render. A resolution/bit depth change will force a render.

Also, in the library, you can use Resize on Load. Again, if the only change is the aspect ratio, it will load the clip to the editdesk with the change without rendering.

Now the proxy thumbnail will be the correct aspect. Alos, if you enable "use ratio" in the player, the aspect ratio will look correct.

cheers

Jason
Message 6 of 10

Great, thanks for the help guys.

Peppermint, are you talking about the 'Use Ratio' button in the player? It's not so much a problem with display I was having as clips being defined as 4:3 linear instead of 16:9 anamorphic, but thanks. I don't mind the square pixel display... makes sense I reckon.

Andy, I can't for the life of me find import aspect options except for the one in FCP/XML AFF/Metadata options/clip resolution... If I change this from 'From File' to 'Select Resolution' 16:9 it brings it in as 16:9 with resize on and needs a render.

The Reformat option works a treat however. Changes the whole seq to 16:9 with no rendering or history, as I expected originally.

Jason, is there another place to set import aspect except as I mentioned above? If I import QTs they come in 16:9 it's only this AAF import that seems to have an issue.



Also guys, on a related subject, the gamma of the imports is wrong. I normally export files as RGB and these seem to come into Smoke correctly. However I think the AAF export process uses 601. I have a memory that Smoke has a button (possibly called Gamma?) to bring in 601 files correctly, but I can't seem to find it now.

Any ideas? and thanks again all 🙂
Message 7 of 10
robcoulin
in reply to: HalloweenJack2

hi,

for the (automatic) gamma i think theres adjustment button only for quicktimes ...
601 sounds more like headroom in/exclude ...

robert
robert coulin
www.dreamwalks.com
Message 8 of 10

Ah that's it, it's in QT only.

Sorry Rob, didn't quite understand the last bit, is it possible to correct the gamma?
Message 9 of 10
jaseo
in reply to: HalloweenJack2

Hi there,

Under the File I/O / FCP XML/AAF option, when you change from "From File" to "Select Resolution", and change the aspect ratio, you will also need to make sure the source media comes in with the same resolution/aspect or else a soft-resize is applied.

What format is the source media?

Under File I/O /Import Preferences, select the Format of your source media. For most of the formats, you can then click on Image and see the Aspect Ratio setting. It will default to file header, but you can override it 16x9. In the same section, you will find the Include YUV Headroom option as well.

cheers

Jason
Message 10 of 10

Hmmm... I can't seem to get it to work. If I change the setting to '16:9 Frame Aspect Ratio' the result is 4:3 with a resize on it??? I think it's changing the aspect and then X Scale to 75% so it basically looks the same.

The YUV headroom works though, and that was my main concern. I can just use the Reformat tool to change the aspect, it's so quick.

So I guess I'm good to go.

Thanks for all the help 🙂

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