Final Cut Express chose wrong timeline!

[senseless]

I accidentally edited an anamorphic (pseudo wide screen) DV movie onto a non-anamorphic timeline. After burning to DVD and showing on a widescreen tv, the image is stretched out with top and bottom black bars.

Copying and pasting the edited clips from the original timeline to a new anamorphic timeline distorts the image even worse. What can I do?

 

[arjen92]

what you could try to do (and I might be wrong) is to place the sequence (not by selecting all the clips and dragging, but by dragging the sequence from the browser) into the proper sequence.
Now, if the image is not in the appropiate dimensions, right click on the imported sequence (the original sequence in your new sequence) and select information. Go to the motion tab and then distort. See if it's zero, if it is zero try -33 or 33 to see if that's better.

hope it helps.

 

[FSMBP]

Yeah, unfortunately your edited clips are letterboxed. So, placing them into a 16:9 timeline will just stretch them unless you do what arjen92 said.

The only true way, which would be a pain, is to take the Raw footage and re-edit the film in a 16:9 timeline. I actually had to do that once when I was learning Final Cut

 

[senseless]

Thanks guys; I'll try it. It would be nice if Final Cut would warn the user if the timeline doesn't match the clips. There are a lot of options to screw up.

 

[FSMBP]

Thanks guys; I'll try it. It would be nice if Final Cut would warn the user if the timeline doesn't match the clips. There are a lot of options to screw up.

It happens to the best of us.

But, the latest version of Final Cut Express, does ask if you want the timeline to match the clip the first time a clip is dragged to it (if it differs from the timeline's). However, if the clip itself isn't marked as "Anamorphic," then it assumes it's standard.

 

[CaptainChunk]

I'm a Final Cut Pro editor, but this shouldn't be any different. Try this:

1. Copy all the clips into a new sequence that has the appropriate settings. You'll probably see a colored render bar, but that's okay.

2. Group select all the clips on the timeline and Ctrl-Click the selection. Choose "Remove Attributes" from the contextual menu that pops up.

3. From the window that pops up, check the "Basic Motion" and "Distort" boxes and click OK. The render bar should revert to gray (native clips).

4. Now, double-check to see if everything is framed properly. If it looks good on the Canvas, it should export properly to go out to DVD.

Hope that helps.

 

[jla930]

I'm not sure if these links apply to your problem:

http://fcpbook.com/Video8.html

http://fcpbook.com/Video9.html