Hey all, I always see in movies that they have an aspect ration of like 10:11 or something, and then I see the setting in Blender and it says like
X:4.000
Y:3.000
And I was wondering, what does that mean? How do you compare the two?
Like how would you set up blender to render in 16:9, I guess what I’m saying is I don’t really understand the difference between aspect ration and resolution.
Well, the aspect ratio is the ratio that is taken in by the camera (im not sure HOW tis works in blender but i know a little about normal cameras) The resolution is the output. So, if you have a square, and then take a picture with an aspect ratio of 1:1, then have an output of 1x2, then the image will be 1 units high, 2 long. but what you have taken i is not like that at all.
It can get a bit complex though…so id just fiddle around with it if i where you, its easy once you know it, but i barely know anything, just a quick insight.
The aspect ratio is used for non-square pixels. For a 16:9 just set the resolution numbers for that ratio, such as 1280 x 720 (numbers have a ratio of 16:9). There are a number of presets already that you can select from.
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:Manual/Render/Output_Formats
Non square pixels. For example, in computers is 1:1 because most computer monitors have square pixels. TV PAL. or NTSC have different ratio. If you don’t set up the correct radio, then you can see the movie strechy on TV but perfect in computers.
Read the documentation pointed above from Blender.org
16:9 means that if you take a computer screen or TV and divide its width/height of a screen you will end up with 16 equal units across and 9 same units vertical. So, 4:3 would mean 4 units across and 3 vertical. You can test this with a measuring tape.
1920 x 1080 pixels means that the screen is divided horizontally into 1920 small dots and 1080 vertical dots. If you have a good vision get close to your computer screen and you will notice small squares.
1920 x 1080 corresponds to 16:9 and so does 1280 x 720 (1920/16)*9=1080 and so does (1280/16)*9=720
Just to reinforce what’s been said already: in Blender the “Aspect Ratio” option is similar to what other apps call “Pixel Aspect Ratio” (the square or non-square stuff that has been mentioned already). In most instances you will work with a 1:1 (square) pixel aspect ratio.
The rule of thumb that I use is to always work in square pixels, and then – at the last moment – change it into a non-square ratio as needed. This means that any non-square-pixel-aspect footage needs to be made into square-pixel-aspect footage before tweaking it.
Here’s a real-world example, where I need to add graphics to some footage given to me for a video being edited at a resolution of x=720 by y=480 pixels:
There’s a lot about 720x480 online, and I easily learn that this uses a non-square pixel aspect ratio. I also learn that a square pixel aspect equivalent is x=640 by y=480 pixels (also 720x534, but I decide to use 640x480). So, before doing any graphics work, I scale the original footage to 640x480. Then I do all the graphics, compositing, etc, and end up with a great-looking 640x480 animation. I render it out, and then, just before giving it back to the client, I resize that animation to 720x480. On my computer monitor (which, as mentioned previously, uses a square pixel aspect ratio) the 720x480 video looks a little stretched horizontally, but that’s only because my monitor isn’t displaying the pixel aspect correctly. It will look just right on my client’s non-square monitors.
This stuff is a necessary headache for people who work a lot in production, especially in graphics or editing. But with the newer HD video pixel aspect is becoming less and less of an issue, as more and more of these use square pixels.
Thanks guys, very good to know.