Setting aspect ratio of Photoshop screens in Vegas: 0.9 or 1.0?

[Alain2007]

I built a credit screen in Photoshop using the NTSC DV (0.9) template (720x480) and I am using Vegas 7 to create a composition with it. The output will be used on a DVD.

I am unsure if in Vegas, when right-clicking the media properties for this slide I created, if I should set the aspect ratio to 1.0 (square) or 0.9 (DV). It defaults to 1.0 when I drag the asset to the timeline but in Photoshop it was built on 0.9 ratio....

Anyone know the definitive answer to this?

[Cornucopia]

Yes, here it is:

If you're using CS, which I think you are, your 720x480 IS using .9 PAR, which is correct for NTSC tv. If you're not using CS, your 720x480 is incorrect and you'll have to zoom/crop to get the image AR to be correct in Vegas.

Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure you will HAVE to set all your image AR's to .9 while in Vegas, as Vegas doesn't read the AR setting inside the PSD file (at least Vegas 6 didn't, I assume v7 won't either). It may be possible, though, to temporarily change the default AR of imported pix.

Scott

[guns1inger]

Actually, in CS you can choose whether or not to use square or non-square pixels, and whether or not to use 4:3 or 16:9 non-square pixels, if you use the templates. If you just choose a custom 720 x 480 image size, you get square pixels by default.

If you do use CS templates then you will have to tell Vegas about the aspect ratio. If you use square pixels, then you don't, as Vegas assumes this anyway. This is why you can dump photos from a digital camera into the timeline and they come out the end looking the way they should.

[Cornucopia]

That's kinda what I was trying to say, but you said it better, guns1inger.

[Alain2007]

OK, so basically, if I use Photoshop to build a logo screen to stick at the end of a video, I can use the default 720x480 NTSC template (0.9) but I WILL have to 'force' Vegas to notice this in the media properties of this asset once it is on the timeline.

On the other hand, if I use square pixels in Photoshop, I should not need to tell Vegas anything - it will convert automatically to 0.9 ratio (as long as I am rendering to NTSC DV).

Hmmm......I believe that Paragraph 2 is what I had done originally but after testing it on television, it seemed that my circle logo looked more like an oval. (illusion??) At that point, I had proceeded to convert my CS file to 0.9, and once in Vegas I would set it to 1.0. I thought it looked fine but then I noticed I had missed one, and then became unsure as to which looked better...which is why I posted here.

[guns1inger]

If your circle became an oval then it is likely that you used square pixels in photoshop, as you surmised. If you use non-square pixels, photoshop CS allows you to work in wysiwyg mode so you see how it should be when displayed on a TV, but if you view it correctly, you will see the distortion from the non-square pixels. If you start out with square pixels then you will get distortion if you display on a non-square pixel device (i.e. you TV).

If you want to work in square pixels in an older version of PS, work with 720 x 540 instead and Vegas will assume it is 1:1 (square) and resize accordingly. If you use a non-square template, make sure you tell Vegas what PAR you are using.

[Alain2007]

OK, I think where I ORIGINALLY got confused it that I wrongly assumed the following about Vegas:

1. That if my project properties were set to NTSC DVD (0.9), then it would convert my square pixel assets to 0.9 PAR, without me needing to 'tell' Vegas that these particular assets are 0.9. (such as my logo screen). In other words, I thought Vegas would be 'smart' enough to detect the PAR of the CS assets, and that I wouldnt have to explicitely tell it, by right-clicking it and setting it accordingly.

So Guns1inger, I guess the rule of thumb to follow when setting the media properties (of an asset in the timeline) is to see it simply as TELLING Vegas 'Hey, by the way, the PAR of the asset I am using here is 0.9, so make sure you consider this when you render my project!"

Is this correct?

[guns1inger]

Still images don't have a pixel aspect ratio. That is a video construct. CS fakes it to make working with stills for video easier, but it is only within CS. Vegas always assumes square pixels on still image files, unless told otherwise.

[Alain2007]

OK, last scenario:

If I re-use the logo screen I created in CS (at 0.9), but this time my Vegas project will be rendered for Web, I assume I still need to set the media properties of this still image to 0.9 (because thats the format of the JPG), even if project properties are at 1.0 and progressive?

[guns1inger]

The general rule - always tell Vegas what you have, and what you want, and it will work out how to get there.

So yes, if your source in non-square, tell Vegas it is non-square. When you output to a square pixel format, Vegas will do the math.