Apple Final Cut Pro 6 User Manual
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Dimensions
This pop-up menu allows you to define the clean aperture size of your exported
QuickTime movie. For more information about QuickTime aperture modes, see “
QuickTime Aperture Display Modes
Depending on the option you choose, width and height fields may also appear. The
following options are available in the Dimensions pop-up menu:
 Current: The current dimensions of your clip or sequence in the Viewer or Canvas,
respectively. You should avoid this option in most cases because it’s difficult to set
precise dimensions by scaling the Viewer or Canvas window. This option disables the
“Preserve aspect ratio using” pop-up menu.
 Compressor native: The native dimensions of the codec selected in the Compression
Type pop-up menu of the Standard Video Compression Settings dialog. Not all
codecs have native dimensions. In this case, the dimensions set in the Current option
are used. DV, DVCPRO, and DVCPRO 50 have native NTSC and PAL dimensions of
720 x 480 and 720 x 576, respectively. IMX, DVCPRO HD, HDV, and XDCAM HD codecs
also have native dimensions.
 640 x 480 VGA, 320 x 240 QVGA, 160 x 120: These are multiples of the VGA image
dimensions with an aspect ratio of 4:3.
 352 x 288 CIF and 176 x 144 QCIF: These are multiples of the CIF image dimensions
with an aspect ratio of 4:3 (assuming a nonsquare pixel aspect ratio). CIF and QCIF
were originally designed for use in video conferencing and for compatibility with
NTSC and PAL video.
 768 x 576 SD: PAL digital video dimensions (assuming square pixels) with an aspect
ratio of 4:3.
 1280 x 720 HD and 1920 x 1080 HD: High definition video dimensions (assuming
square pixels).
 NTSC 720 x 480 4:3 and 16:9: Normal and anamorphic NTSC digital video for DV,
DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, and DVD MPEG-2.
 NTSC 720 x 486 4:3 and 16:9: Normal and anamorphic NTSC digital video complying
with the ITU-R BT. 601 specification.
 PAL 720 x 576 4:3 and 16:9: Normal and anamorphic PAL digital video complying with
the ITU-R BT. 601 specification.
 HD 1280 x 720 16:9 720-line high definition video dimensions.
 HD 1440 x 1080 16:9: Subsampled 1080-line high definition video dimensions.
 HD 1920 x 1080 16:9: Full-resolution 1080-line high definition video dimensions.
 Custom: Allows you to enter any height and width you choose. This is useful when
you need specific image dimensions or special aspect ratios such as 1.85 or 2.40.
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Tip: It’s a good idea to keep the frame width and height divisible by four if you’re using
MPEG-based codecs or Sorenson.