Does anybody know how to export a frame from a 16:9 timeline and make it stay in 16:9? All I seem to be able to do is export a frame and it lands as a 4:3 still.

That's odd. If you do an export in FCP as a still JPG, you should be able to open in in Photoshop as 16X9. How are you exporting? What are you doing with the export?

Just exported a frame from a 16x9 timeline and it exported 16x9. Maybe if you state your method of exporting the frame I could see if I can locate your problem?

I just went to export, scrolled down to still image and did the export, but it always comes out 4:3 distorted.

You could open it up in Preview and change the size from 1440x1080 to 1920x1080.

AFAIK if you are using an anamorphic HD format (like DVCPro HD or HDV) when you export a still it will be displayed as square pixels (so not 16x9). You'll need to resize the image in Photoshop or something.


-A

I think Andrew is right. Try changing the pixel aspect ratio in Photoshop to DV Widescreen. Or just resize it and up the horizontal pixels but not the vertical.

Yep, all exported DV will be 720x480 NTSC (or 720x576 PAL). And note that isn't 4:3 either (which would be 640x480).... it's 3:2. So regardless of whether you're exporting 4:3 or 16:9, the proportions will be wrong on a computer screen and you'll need to resize.

For a 4:3 image, just make sure the width is 1.33 times the height, such as 640x480. For 16:9 the width should be 1.78 times the height, such as 854x480.