I don't know jack about video editing/creation. This is my first w/ 16:9.

When creating a new project, I select D1/DV NTSC Widescreen 16:9 (1.2), but I do not want a pixel ratio of 1.2. I want a pixel ratio of 1. Why is that even an option? It will produce a stretched image - I placed a test image that is exactly 720:480 pixels and it does not occupy the entire width of the viewing area.

I want to make a movie that is widescreen 16:9 that will not appear stretched later on once burned to DVD and played in a DVD player. What setting(s) do I select?

10/22/2007 7:52:24 PM

Preliminary research indicates that if I use images that are 864 x 480 they will appear correctly scaled in Premiere as well as on the TV...

Yet if I export the video and play it on my computer (avi), it ALSO appears correctly scaled, which cannot be since TV pixels are supposed to be rectangular. So if it's scaled when played back on my computer, it can't be scaled when on a TV...

10/22/2007 8:05:50 PM

Clarification. The image below shows my workspace. Notice that the blue square is a perfect square, and despite having selected 720 x 480, that green image is actually 864 x 480.

When I eventually export this and put it on a DVD, will it still be a perfect square on the TV?



[Edited on October 22, 2007 at 9:02 PM. Reason : ]

10/22/2007 9:01:18 PM

Right - no one seems to care. However, if anyone should ever also have this problem, I will document my progress:

I created a test DVD. I did indeed get 5.1 Dolby Digital to work :-) first try!

As for the images:
-A 720 x 480 image imported to Premiere did not work. It left black bars on the sides.
-Stretching that image to fit in 864 x 480 did not work. It simply appears stretched.
-The third case was a natural 864 x 480 image. It did not appear stretched but the colored border I put around it to determine if it was the right size did not show. I'm going to make another test disc with several borders to determine where exactly the image is getting chopped.

10/23/2007 7:24:23 PM

Okay - via a simple method of placing symmetric frames inside one another and then viewing the final product on my hdtv, the ACTUAL area viewed is right around 808 x 456, give or take a few pixels in either direction.

It amazes me how incredibly awful and inconsistent the industry video encoding standards are...

10/23/2007 7:48:34 PM

haha i care

i just don't have any of this (editing software and means)

10/23/2007 7:53:45 PM

Ahhhh...I played the test DVD in my computer using Cyberlink and it turns out that 864 x 480 fills the screen perfectly.

This means that either my DVD player or my TV is doing something to chop off about 50 pixels in each direction. I guess I'll just have to pick one and go with it.

10/23/2007 7:55:39 PM

it's your tv and essential area stuff probably

10/23/2007 8:14:23 PM

Yep. It appears so. Still gonna go with the correct rez of 720 x 480...just make sure that no action occurs on the outer 10% of the image.

10/23/2007 8:16:44 PM

Sorry to bump to the top yet again, but just in case anyone ever reads this while developing form scratch in 16:9, I realized my last post said "proper rez of 720 x 480." That shoulda been 864 x 480. Use images of that rez and they will:
- fill the Premiere workspace completely and exactly
- not be stretched when played back on a 16:9 tv.
- lose about 5-10% in each direction when played back on a 16:9 tv due to overscan

10/24/2007 10:23:38 PM