Have you tried flipping your H264 file to something else. It might just be me, but I think of H264 as a transitional codec. Its so highly compressed it can cause problems in NLE's across the board.

No, I never took into account. Basically the people doing the filming are doing stringouts and then exporting them out as h.264 so i can then edit. Is there a better codec they should be exporting to for delivery to me?

1280 x 720 with square PAR is 16 x 9. It has nothing to do with your export format.

Ah I was udner the impression i should be editing in a sequence supporting the settings I'm going to be exporting out to =\. Didn't realize exporting takes care of all of that. Sigh. Oh well one more kink ironed out in the learning process.

Check the delivery specs from the broadcaster.

 

Even though it may be an SD (4:3) broadcast...it may be from  Full Height Anamorphic media  (FHA).

 

These are produced from 16:9 files.

Would you care to explain how that sort of workflow would go? Let me give you a bit of detail on how my entire workflow is going here and maybe you can point me to the roadbumps that could be smoothed out. The people doing the filming are doing the rough edits then giving that to me to edit. I don't know what type of camera or media they are shooting with, i have only been looking at the properties of the footage I get (h.264/Quicktime 1.0 PAR). Now then the other thing I'd like to know is how if I'm editing in a 16:9 sequence I can see 4:3 output int he program panel so I know wheremy margins are. Sorry if these seem like really stupid questions but hence the user name

If they're using PP for the rough cut, have them give you the original media along with the PP project file.  Then you can open that rough cut project and do the finishing.

 

If they're using Final Cut Pro or Avid, there are ways to open those projects in PP as well.

Jim, they are actually using imovie which has no export to xml that PP is capable of reading.. The only thing I havelearned of is the possibility of exporting it to FCP then exporting that out to an XML readable my PP.

They may simply want SD.  You need to ask as that determines how you proceed from here.

Hey Shooter, sorry I wasnt clear, but I do know their delivery spec, they just want a pop in and play DVD in SD, made in Encore or the like.

As for "original media" well i am just working with the exports they give me of the stringouts (Quicktime/h.264)

I have actually already done something for them in the past that worked fine at the station. It was also HD footage and I worked in a 4:3 sequence. Thats why i was confused with the tips in this thread telling me to use an HD seq. and then export out as SD (which like i stated above, i tried out and did an export and the bars come on top and bottom.. not pillars like you mentioned.. But what youre saying I believe is that if that export was shown on a widescreen TV then theyw ill see pillars AND top and bottom bars?)

But the dips to white are working properly in the 16:9 sequence which was after all the main focus of this post (all these other tips are bonuses though).

Hmm..

So.. if i edit in HD seq like you suggest then let Encore so the downsizing... Well when i export out of Premiere, then do i export as mpeg2? Because if I do that, i get top/bottom bars...

hey Jim, I know that will never happen, he cannot afford the $$ to have me sort through the hours (many) of raw footage to find what to best use to piece together, plus the person is very artsy/creative and particular about what stuff will even be in the initial batch of footage to possibly make it to the final cut. Also might you have anything to add to my question to Shooter a few posts up?