Premiere Pro user on FCP
 

I've been searching about the anamorphic setting in FCP, and needed someone to confirm that all "anamporphic" means is 1.2 aspect ratio. (for SD 16:9 video). If not, please tell me the best way to import 16:9 footage from an xl2,(and what anamorphic means) thnx.

Wes,
I don't have an answer for you but one of the best places to get info like that is the Los Angeles FCP User Group forum which is VERY active.

http://www.lafcpug.org/

Basically anamorphic is just the computer displaying the pixels differently I'm not sure if the ration is 1.2 or not but to capture from your XL2 just use the easy setup for DV Anamorphic, if you've already captured not to worry just locate your clips in your browser and scroll through the columns until you find the one that says anamorphic and just place a checkmark in it.

The footage should import as anamorphic without any adjustment. Make sure you have the sequence setting set for anamorphic if that's how you want to edit, otherwise FCP will automatically letterbox the footage when dropped on a 4:3 timeline.

Thanks for the help. I now know how to correctly import my footage from my xl2. However, in after effects, would i use the widescreen dv composition settings at 1.2 aspect ratio? And, when you said dropping a 16:9 footage into a 4:3, it automatically scales it down to fit (letterbox); does this play back at full quality or does it need to be rendered first?

No rendering needed for the letterbox effect. AFAIK the widescreen comp setting in AE will work but there was a thread a while back about using custom dimensions in the export to Quicktime but I'm not sure.