Apple Final Cut Express 4 - Manual (Page 1029)

Chapter 67 Exporting Using QuickTime Conversion 1029
XII
Preserve Aspect Ratio
When the “Preserve aspect ratio using” checkbox is selected, the aspect ratio of your
source movie is preserved by choosing one of three options. In the following examples,
a 1280 x 720 (16:9) high definition sequence is shown scaled down to 320 x 240 (4:3).
Important: These options do not take into account the effect of pixel aspect ratio
when determining what aspect ratio to preserve. For best results, always nest
sequences with nonsquare pixels into a sequence format with square pixels.
 Letterbox: Scales your clip or sequence video to fit proportionally in the clean
aperture dimensions of your exported movie. Black bars are added on the top and
bottom (letterboxed) or left and right (pillarboxed) as necessary.
 Crop: Scales and center-crops your clip or sequence video to fit in the clean aperture
dimensions of your exported movie.
16:9 letterboxed within
320 x 240 (4:3)
16:9 cropped
to 320 x 240 (4:3)