Appendix 1

The Filmmaker’s Guide to Final Cut Pro Workfl ow
Figure A6.1 Aspect ratios
1.33 frame with the top and bottom masked off. Many of the new televisions now use a 1.78 : 1 aspect
ratio, which can be expressed as 16 × 9. A 4 × 3 video displayed on a 16 × 9 screen is dramatically
stretched horizontally.
When watching a letterboxed 4 × 3 movie on a 16 × 9 monitor, it is necessary to set the monitor to
zoom in vertically so the entire image fi lls the wide-screen (see Figure A6.2 lower right). This is
done by discarding 120 scan lines, 60 from the top and 60 from the bottom. This leaves a reducedresolution,
360-scan line image. The display will be scaled up, it will likely be a 1080i HD display,
but the image being scaled is still only a 360-line image. Notice also that because the 16 × 9 image
is not as wide as the 1 : 1.85 image, a small amount of letterboxing can still be seen on the full-screen
image. The scaling is done right in the monitor, not in any postproduction workfl ow.
If we want to keep the resolution as high as possible, we need to borrow from the anamorphic lens
idea. Like a projection anamorphic lens, the 16 × 9 television naturally stretches a 4 × 3 image to fi t
its wider size. All that is needed is to squeeze the image in production or postproduction.
In fairness to the fi lm shooters out there, this is not a true anamorphic process, which is an optical
process. But as it involves stretching the image in a similar fashion, it has been called anamorphic
and the name is here to stay.
Many 4 × 3 digital cameras have a 16 × 9 setting and shoot an “anamorphic” image. But, just as
with 16 × 9 monitors, they, too, achieve this by zooming in on the 4 × 3 chips, discarding 120 rows
of pixels and, therefore, resolution. You can fi t a 4 × 3 camera with a true anamorphic 16 × 9 lens
adapter and squeeze the image optically, and as long as the lens is good and set up correctly it works
well. However, many of these lenses are rather cheap and hard to use.
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