Rendering uncompressed widescreen

Tim Stannard wrote on 2/10/2008, 3:11 AM
I'm probably missing something obvious here, but I'm trying to render a very small project containing a logo to variety of formats - most importantly uncompressed avi to allow the alpha channel.
My project is 16:9
If I render and avi using the default PAL DV Widescreen template all is well (except, of course, I don't get the alpha channel)
If I render using the uncompressed template the alpha works OK but the image is squashed - ie a circle appears as a tall ellipse. I've tried various settings on the custom page but I end up either with squashed video or no alpha channel.
What's galling is I'm pretty sure I've done this successfully before!

Comments

farss wrote on 2/10/2008, 4:54 AM
Don't worry about the 'squishiness'!
Drop the file back into Vegas and change the media properties to 16:9 / Widescreen.
Or else just make certain when rendering that you've set the pixel aspect ratio correctly. It's one or the other that's mixed up.

Bob.
Tim Stannard wrote on 2/10/2008, 6:53 AM
Spot on, Bob. I never thought to look at the media properties (right clicking on the resulting avi when it's on the timeline).

When rendering...I set the PAR correctly for 16:9 (1:1.4568) but it appears that with uncompressed avi, this info is either not written to the avi or is not read (whereas with a normal PAL DV Widescreen it is)

I suspect it's not being written as my test files appear "squashed" in Window Media Player, VLC and Quicktime (again, those rendered using the PAL DV Template are fine in WMP though VLC & Quicktime appear squashed)
Unfortunately I can't see where in the file this info is held - GSpot doesn't show anything other than 1.25:1 (which is 720x576 the PAL aspect ratio) however I render and media properties identified by right clicking on the file within project manager doesn't show any a/r details at all as far as I can see.

This is no more than a minor nuisance in Vegas, but I want to produce output for others to use in their editing suites (it's a club logo)

Any further suggestions?
Chienworks wrote on 2/10/2008, 7:19 AM
You could render with a square pixel aspect ratio and set the frame size to match. For PAL Widescreen this would be (i think) 1049x576, or possibly 1024x576. Vegas says 1049; my calculator says 1024. However, i've noticed before that widescreen DV isn't really 16:9 and i'm sure the Madison programmers understand this a lot better than i do. Try a brief sample each way and see which one works.
Tim Stannard wrote on 2/10/2008, 9:47 AM
Well, square pixels and frame A/R of 1049x576 and 1024x576 certainly work - and thanks for the suggestion - but I would have thought this info would/should have been embedded in the file so that the viewing program could unravel it.
As I'd expected from past experience and 1024x176 was "correct" but didn't fill the frame which is, as you say, 1049x576. This isn't really an issue.
FWIW VLC couldn't cope with 1049x576 (it crashed) but was happy with 1024,as was everything else I tried.

And here's a crunch - one of my fellow editors is using a Mac. What format/pixel a/r & frame a/r does everyone suggest I deliver him for both 4:3 and 16:9 clips with alpha channel, so as to give him the most painless task (and consequently avoid me being on the receiving end of a "Mac's just work" rant. )?