A question about aspect ratios when editing

[GGuyZ]

Hi guys.

I'm somewhat confused with the aspect ratio issue. I am currently editing a home movie from different materials. The destination output is a PAL DVD(720x576), and it will probably be displayed on a 4:3 TV(It is possible that a 16:9 screen will be used though).

Should my 'workspace' have a canvas of 720x576 then? or should I use a different value like 640x480?

I don't want to finish editing, and find out that my footage is distorted when playbacking.

I would appreciate you help.
Best regards,
Guy.

[Nick Less]

I for one prefer to always work in 720*576, since i'm mostly outputting in that resolution, and i believe the best thing is to edit in the resolution you'll be outputting.

[Skelsgard]

720 x 576px is the standard for PAL DVD-Video, this is the Frame size.
4:3 and 16:9 are concepts and options of Display Aspect Ratio, the ratio to which the frame size will be adjusted when displayed.
So, yes, your canvas must be set to 720x576. The option to choose DAR should be somewhere in the encoder.

Cheers

[zambelli]

Good NLEs like Premiere Pro will let you define the pixel aspect ratio of both your project (output) and your media sources (input).

If designing bitmaps in a non-video program like Photoshop, you should design in square-pixel resolutions and then resize to 720x576 or 720x480. Use these resolutions:

DV NTSC fullscreen 640x491
DV NTSC widescreen 853x491
DV PAL fullscreen 768x589
DV PAL widescreen 1024x589

[krisq]

AFAIK Photoshop CS and CS2 can work on non-square pixels also.