Appendix 1

Appendix 6: Aspect Ratios, Anamorphic Image, and Wide-screen
Figure A6.2 The frame at the top from Johnny Bishop’s “False Prophet” is 1 : 1.85 letterboxed on a
standard defi nition 480 scan line 4 × 3 screen. The frame in the lower left shows what happens when
4 × 3 video is displayed on a 16 × 9 monitor. The image is stretched horizontally. Images courtesy of
Phantom Mullet productions
The best solution is to use 16 × 9 chips in the camera. When native 16 × 9 video is displayed on a 16
× 9 monitor, it looks normal; but, on a 4 × 3 monitor, the image is stretched vertically. This stretched
image can be scaled vertically and letterboxed on the 4 × 3 monitor without loosing any signifi cant
image quality because all 480 scan lines are scaled and letterboxed. You can also shoot 4 × 3 on a 16
× 9 camera by zooming horizontally into the chips with no loss of resolution because all scan lines
remain intact. Virtually all high-defi nition and some standard defi nition are shot this way.
Whether the digital video was shot with an anamorphic lens, on a 4 × 3 camera set to 16 × 9, or shot
on a 16 × 9 camera, the 16 × 9 video is referred to as “anamorphic” in Final Cut Pro. 16 × 9 cameras
and 4 × 3 cameras set to 16 × 9 “fl ag” the recorded video as anamorphic 16 × 9. When captured,
Final Cut Pro also fl ags this media. There are 16 × 9 anamorphic settings in the sequence settings
and the capture settings. These should be set before capturing video or creating the editing sequence
in the time line. These can also be set with the “easy setup” feature. The fl ag can also be set in the
browser window by clicking in the anamorphic column.
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