Expert: Andrew Ransavage - 9/4/2008

Question
After Effects has several wide screen formats to choose from. Which would you recommend, and which is most like the one used in a Hollywood movie?

Answer
Hollywood movies usually use a widescreen format that is wider than our HDTV standard. HDTV is 16x9 or 1.78:1. Movies use 1.85:1 or even 2.35:1. The higher the first number the wider it is. Essentially it's a matter of personal preference and your final delivery method. I use HDTV, mostly 1280x720. Remember that the presets in After Effects also affect frame rate and pixel aspect ratio as opposed to frame aspect ratio too. Let me know if you have any other questions...

Andrew