Apple Final Cut Pro HD (4.5): New Features - Manual (Page 114)

114 Appendix High Definition Video Fundamentals
Pan and Scan
The pan and scan method also crops 16 x 9 movies within a 4 x 3 frame, but the movie
can be cropped on a shot-by-shot basis. This is a more time-consuming approach to
converting 16 x 9 to 4 x 3, but it is often necessary when the original widescreen movie
was not shot with 4 x 3 in mind. This is often the case with older widescreen movies
shot prior to mass video rental and distribution, since the only viewing venue was in
movie theaters capable of showing the complete widescreen images.
In some complex scenes with multiple characters or centers of visual activity, you may
have to introduce an artificial camera move (a pan) to recenter the widescreen action
within the 4 x 3 frame. Unless this is done subtly, the viewer may be distracted by the
unnatural movement.
Note: Use the panning technique only when absolutely necessary, and make sure the
frame rate of the pan you are introducing matches the frame rate of the movie itself.
16 x 9 to 4 x 3
pan and scan
UP01022.Book Page 114 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 7:32 PM