The Pixel Proportion Showdown: "To squeeze or not to squeeze" That is the question (when creating graphics in Photoshop for use in a FinalCut Timeline) Important but annoying fact #1: 720x540 pixels (using square computer pixels) is an exact 4:3 Ratio BUT... NTSC DV achieves a 4:3 picture using 720x480 RECTANGULAR pixels, each one taller than it is wide! Important but annoying fact #2: re this pixel-dimension difference, FinalCut (at least as of v 6.x) still treats Single-Layer ("flat") image files differently than it treats Multi-Layer files saved in Photoshop's .psd format. That difference is the subject of the following tests: Fifteen versions of the same test file -- created in three different sizes (720x480, 720x540, and 720x540 resized to 720x480); and each saved in five different ways (Multi-Layer, Single-Layer, and as PSD, TIFF, and JPEGs) -- were imported into FCP, then placed on the same Timeline. SECTION ONE Five files: all created, saved, and imported at 720 x 480 pixels... 01-720x480_ML.psd 02-720x480_SL.psd 03-720x480_ML.tif 04-720x480_SL.tif 05-720x480_SL.jpg observations: ALL five images in Section One showed the vertical distortion of having had their original square pixels converted by FCP into taller, rectangular ones. This filled the 4:3 frame (on both the Canvas window and on the external NTSC monitor), but created the stretched effect which turned the circle into an upright oval. This happened on ALL the 720x480 files, regardless of whether they were imported into FCP as Multi-Layer files or as flat, Single-Layer files. SECTION TWO Five files: all created, saved, and imported at 720 x 540 pixels... 06-720x540_ML.psd 07-720x540_SL.psd 08-720x540_ML.tif 09-720x540_SL.tif 10-720x540_SL.jpg observations: Only the first image in Section Two, the 720x540 Multi-Layer PSD file, showed the vertical distortion seen in all the 720x480 files (whether single or multi-layer). It was also the only image of all the test files to be Scaled on the Timeline at other than 100% (88.89% in this one case). The other four 720x540 images in Section Two -- all of which are flat, single-layer files* -- displayed the graphics correctly, with no vertical distortion in either the Canvas window or the external NTSC monitor. * It appears that FCP can import Multi-Layer files in the Photoshop .psd format only, since all the multi-layer TIFFs used in this test, regardless of pixel size, immediately became flat, single-layer files once brought into FinalCut. SECTION THREE Five files: all created at 720x540 pixels, then re-sized to 720 x 480 before importing into FCP... 11-720x540->480_ML.psd 12-720x540->480_SL.psd 13-720x540->480_ML.tif 14-720x540->480_SL.tif 15-720x540->480_SL.jpg observations: The five images in Section Three, each created at 720x540 then re-sized ("squashed") to 720x480 before importing into FCP, all displayed correctly -- presumably from FinalCut having converted those square pixels into taller rectangular ones, thereby unsquashing the image. Interestingly, as in Section One, this pixel-stretching effect was seen on ALL the resized 540-->480 files, regardless of whether they were imported into FCP as Multi-Layer images or as flat, Single-Layer ones. Conclusions: Other than "This is nuts"? Well, in terms of maintaining the correct height/width ratio for graphics (going from Photoshop Elements 4.x to FinalCutPro 6.x), here's WHAT WORKED in this test: Anything created at 720 x 540, then squashed to 720 x 480 before importing into FinalCut. That "anything" can be a Photoshop .psd file (Single OR Multi-Layer), .tif, or .jpg. What ALSO worked (at least in this test), was ANY SINGLE-LAYER FILE (whether PSD, TIFF, or JPEG) created at 720 x 540, then simply brought into FinalCut as is. what DIDN'T work: Anything created at 720 x 480, then brought into FCP as is. That includes Photoshop .psd files (Single OR Multi-Layer), TIFFs, and JPEGs. What ALSO didn't work (and this was at least one thing I actually expected) was a multi-layer PSD file created at 720 x 540, and brought into FinalCut without being "pre-squashed" to 720 x 480. What seems to make sense: The only time a multi-layered Photoshop .psd file displayed correctly (regardless of what pixel size it was created at) was when it was "pre-squashed" in Photoshop before being brought into FinalCut. This had long been my understanding: that for MULTI-LAYER files (which import into FCP as nested Sequences containing multiple video tracks, as opposed to single-layer images of any format, which import as individual clips and use only a single video track when placed on a Timeline) a pixel height of 540 must be squeezed down to 480 (i.e. just under 90% of the original) in order for that same image to display properly within FinalCut and the rectangular pixels of NTSC. And what about larger files? This also means that if you're importing a multi-layered Photoshop file LARGER than 720x540 (to allow for panning and zooming), then the vertical dimension of that file needs to be re-sized to about 89% before importing into FCP. When FinalCut then converts those square pixels (which now contain a squashed image) into its tall, rectangular pixels for NTSC, the image will once again display in its correct 4:3 ratio. What's got me baffled though... is why the following two scenarios seem to generate exactly the same result: 1) bringing a 720x540 jpg image into FinalCut, then dropping same from the Browser into a Timeline; 2) taking that exact same jpg image, changing its dimensions to 720x480 in Photoshop Elements (so it now appears squashed from top to bottom), importing that 720x480 version (still saved as just a plain JPEG) into FCP, then dragging that new clip from the Browser into the same Timeline as above. Which is exactly what I did for the following two clips: Image #1: This picture was a 720x540 jpg; It came into FCP scaled at 100%, filling the entire canvas with nothing cropped, and with its height-to-width ratio perfectly intact. Image #2: This picture is the same 720x540 jpg, but re-sized to a 720x480 jpg before importing into FCP; It also appears on the Timeline scaled at 100%, filling the entire Canvas with nothing cropped, and with its height-to-width ratio perfectly intact (in all windows AND on the external NTSC monitor). So what gives? How does FinalCut know to take a flat 720x540 jpg (or TIFF) and have it fill the screen perfectly; while also taking the SAME flat jpg (or TIFF) -- squeezed in Photoshop to 720x480 -- and have it fill the same screen in exactly the same proportions, and again without any cropping or distortion? ...inquiring minds want to know! All comments, suggestions, and ideas -- bright or otherwise -- will be welcomed by John Bertram pixelpics@jbmg.ca (then we can start discussing the joys of computer vs. NTSC gamma settings Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.) mailto:jb@jbmg.cashapeimage_2_link_0