NilsN

Hello all,

I dont mean to jump in the middle of the discussion but I will anyway.

Pixel aspect ratio is a thorny issue, Standard def television (NTSC) is always either .9 if the final display device is a Standard 4x3 television, or 1.2 if it is a 16x9 device. The resolution that you are discussing is NTSC DVD resolution which is why software is going to try to give it some sort of pixel aspect ratio. Jeff mentioned that the final display device will be a computer so square pixels are preferred. Generally these days people are doing animations at 16x9, which translates to 720x405 in square pixel land. At neoscape we often render at HD, 1280x720 or 854x480 (square) then squeeze to 720x480 with a PAR of 1.2, (although you can save render time if you go straight to 720x480 1.2) If we then need to boil out a quicktime we make it 720x405. 720x480 square pixel is not a standard size (it turns out to be 9x6). I hope I have not stirred up a hornets nest. I am sure that whatever you render it will be good, the important thing is to think of the composition of the shot and how it fits within the chosen aspect ratio (with the chosen pixel aspect ratio of course!).

Good luck to all the competitors, the work so far has been excellent!

-Nils
Neoscape