Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 1750)

Appendix C Working With Anamorphic 16:9 Media 399
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Rendering Items That Contain Anamorphic Media
There are several things to keep in mind before you render sequences that contain
anamorphic 16:9 media:
 When adding anamorphic 16:9 clips to an anamorphic 16:9 sequence, no rendering is
necessary.
 Any clips with the Anamorphic setting turned on in the Item Properties window will
be appropriately rendered in that format.
 If you’re using a sequence preset that has the Anamorphic option selected, all clips in
the sequence will be rendered in that format.
 If non-16:9 media is added to a 16:9 sequence or vice versa, the new content is scaled
to maintain the proper pixel aspect ratio and may need to be rendered prior to final
output.
Outputting Anamorphic Video to Tape
When outputting an edited sequence to tape using anamorphic video, you have two
choices, depending on what kind of equipment you want to play back from:
 Output as is, with the video appearing squeezed on a 4:3 monitor: This is the preferable
option if you’re planning on playing back your video on hardware that will
compensate for the proper aspect ratio, or if you’re planning on transferring to film.
High-end broadcast monitors can rescale for 16:9 at the push of a button. Some
specialty widescreen monitors, popular with home theater enthusiasts, will do this as
well. Some DVD players can letterbox or stretch anamorphic video on playback, so
you can keep your video in native 16:9 mode.
 Letterbox your video if you’re unsure how it will be viewed: If you’re unsure who is going
to be viewing the tape and you want to guarantee undistorted playback on a
standard 4:3 monitor, you can manually letterbox your video. This will require
rendering your entire edited sequence, so allocate some time for this process.
To letterbox an edited anamorphic 16:9 sequence:
1 Create a new 4:3 sequence, and open it in the Timeline.
2 Make sure that the Anamorphic 16:9 checkbox is not selected in the General tab of its
Sequence Settings window.
3 Drag your edited 16:9 sequence’s icon from the Browser to the Overwrite section of the
Edit Overlay in the Canvas to edit it into the empty 4:3 sequence.
The 16:9 sequence is automatically letterboxed to fit in the 4:3 sequence.
4 Render the 4:3 sequence, then output to tape.