I have searched the forums here on this subject, but could not find a relevant thread/answer.

The problem is as the title says: an imported Quicktime refersnce file format 16:9 becomes 4:3 format in Avid DVD. I have version 6.4.4, that came with the upgrade to MC 6.0.

I have checked Preferences and Project settings in Avid DVD, and clicked all the buttons I could find that seemed to have anything to do with format 16:9 or Widescreen, to no avail. I ran the .mov-file from MC in a QT player, and it showed 16:9, as exported from MC. Then why does Avid DVD not accept it as 16:9?

BTW, I do not get any start-project dialog-box at startup where one can set the project name, the tv-system type and the video format. Has this been taken away in the newer versions?

If this is not the right place to post this, please direct me in the right direction.

Gerrit , is the QT ref exported out as 16 . 9 , if it is , could you do a new try exporting as native

Hi, there is a setting under the File section I believe it is the Project Settings, but I am not at my sys... Anyway, you can select the 16x9 setting in there, but it will not take effect until you restart Avid DVD...

Good Luck!

Camilo

Ok Tomas... tried that. It gave me a ref-file that is 4:3 when played in a QT-player, whereas the previus ref-file which is set to 16:9 square pixels plays correctly in a QT-player. Both are imported as 4:3 into Avid DVD.

Camilo, I have been through both Project Settings and Prefernces, saved and restarted it. But still the same.

Just to clarify: I have also searched my system for *.dvd-dvi files on the C:\users folder, as well as under ...\my documents\my dvds folder and deleted all project-files. I have now only one project file which is in C:\users\...\temp\...

Restarting after making changes in the Preferences and Project Setings seems not to be taken into account after a restart, even I save before exiting.

Gerrit Geelmuyden:

Ok Tomas... tried that. It gave me a ref-file that is 4:3 when played in a QT-player,

This is quite normal with quicktime player , I guess you are working on an Sd project, all Sd projects are 4 : 3 initially, a flag tells the external player to treat them as 16 : 9 and quicktime can usually not handle that flag .

So, import your QT ref into Avid Dvd and set the properties as 16 : 9 or widescreen when having done that .

Tomas; I have already done that several times. It doesn't help.

On reading your response closely, it seems that you have gotten things the wrong way round (no ofense...): When I exported with Native settings, I got a real 4:3 video, which played as that in the QT-player. When I set the export to 16:9 square pixels, I get the 16:9 video I wanted, which played correctly as widescreen in the QT-player.

However, BOTH were imported as 4:3 videos into Avid DVD! Checking the properties of the imported file confirms this in Avid DVD.

I still miss the entry dialog-box that Douglas shows in one of his tutes (nr 46 in the first 100) where you get to set the project name, the TV Standard and the Menu Aspect. Is this something that is only in his older version, or maybe not at all in Avid DVD?

Ok, I found the New Project dialog-box: one has to go to File -> New to get it! How silly of me not to have seen that; I thought it came up automatically.

So, happy with that, I did just that; opened a new project, gave it a sensible name and saved it on the disk/folder where I want these things. Left Avid DVD, and restarted, opened the last saved project which had all the right settings, of course, and re-imported the QT-ref file.

Still it comes in to Avid DVD as a 4:3 movie!

I double-checked the settings for export from MC6, and they were 16:9 aquare pixels. As earlier stated this is confirmed by the fact that running the ref-file in a QT-player shows it as widescreen. The project in MC6 is filmed, captured and edited as a 16:9 project.

I then thought maybe it isn't installed correctly. So I uninstalled Avid DVD. However, when I wanted to reinstall it from the MC6 installation dvd, I could not find Avid DVD! Is it so that it is installed together with MC6? Does that mean that I must reinstall the whole MC6? What then happens to my ongoing project? It is vital for me not to loose that (a lot of work lost!) and I only have 10 days til delivery to the client!

I hope someone can help me.

If you download MC6.0.1 installator, Avid DVD is in the Production Suite folder along with Avid FX and Sorenson Squeeze. Maybe it's at the same place on your DVD.

In Avid DVD

- Click on your 4:3 title

- In Movie Attibutes / Movie tab: Display Aspect Ration Change it from 4:3 to 16:9

You need to make sure you select to make a widescreen DVD and not a fullscreen one (full screen is considered 4:3)

Then make sure the title has it's movie properties set to 16:9

Sylvain: thanks... I found it and reinstalled ok. I wonder why I didn't see it there when I searched the media. Maybe I need new glases ?

After re-install, I set preferences as before and imported the movie again. Now after I draged it to Titles, I could set it's attributes in the Attributes window to 16:9; this clearly defines the Display. It still didn't work. So I saved and exited Avid DVD and restarted. Opened the newly saved project, and now the imported movie comes up as 16:9 in it's properties and the preview window also shows 16:9. However, I notice that in the video properties Size is set to 720x576.

BUT: when I play it from the timeline, it plays as a 4:3 movie in a 16:9 screen with letterbox, and the people seem tall and very slim.

Pat: Yes I have made sure that widescreen is selected (I found out about Fullscreen the hard way...) and the title properties are set to 16:9.

I've gone back and double checked the export from MC, and all there is set to 16:9, as far as I can see. In the bin in MC, the Image Aspect Ratio column states 16:9 and the Pixel Aspect Ratio is 1,422. And the .mov qt-ref-file plays correctly as 16:9 in the qt player. Mind you... I don't rule out that I have missed something when I exported from MC. In any case, I need help.

I had the same problem with SD video from a Panasonic DVX-100 camera and tried many solutions. It must be a MC bug. The way around it I found is to change the format just before exporting as a QT ref. I set the format to 1080i, even though it is SD video, and now everything works fine in Avid DVD. Hope this is of any help.

When you export your QT Reference, do you select 16:9 instead of Native has the aspect ratio in the export settings?

Yes, I select 16:9 when exporting. Sometimes I also have to set 16:9 in Avid DVD for video, but then evrything is in the right ratio. I hope this helps you.

I have been working on this project on and off for the last 8 days, trying out what all you guys sugested. And finally I found out what was wrong!

First: thanks Fibs, I tried yous solution and it worked, but faster movements became all stripey! I also tried another project which was filmed in HDV. It too became "funny" in Avid DVD.

In the end I got the last project to work by setting all the properties and preferences as I wanted them, then save the project, then delete all the media (.mov and .aif files) from the project and saved it again. Exited Avid DVD and restarted. Now it worked for the HDV project. In other words one must set preferences and properties and save and then restart for these to take effect!

Then I tried this aproche again on the 16:9 SD project again. Now it worked partially: the video in the preview-window still showed the video in 4:3 letterboxed, even though the window itself now was in 16:9. The menues were shown correctly in 16:9, however.

Then I thought: could it be that the preview-window was tricking me? So I tried a short piece of the project, exporting fromMC6, importing into Avid DVD, setting menu and burning (via an .iso file).

And lo and behold: the video came out right!!! Even though the preview window showed the title in the wrong aspect ratio!

So to answer your assumption, fibs, that it must be a bug in MC: it actually is an error in Avid DVD: the preview-window shows the title wrong!!!

NOw that the project is finnished, I will upgrade and update to MC 6.0.1.1 and see if that helps.

Anyway... thanks to all for your help and suggestions.

EDIT: Just to clarify, the export from MC 6 is Pal 50i to a qt-reference-file. Import to Avid DVD has preferences set to 16:9 under the simulation tab (which only works during simulation, I suppose. This too, showed the wrong aspect ratio...), and under project seettings: check that it is set to widescreen. After importing the movie and draging it to Titles in the Project window, highlight the movie and go to the Movie attributes window, click the Movie-tab, and make sure that the 16:9 button is activated. After saving and restarting the project, I got the correct results, although the Preview-window/Title didn't show it correctly!