Pocket 6K: Anamorphic Workflow

The Pocket 6K has an anamorphic mode:

Here’s the thing.

The true anamorphic frame is larger vertically than the Pocket 6K sensor. So the Pocket 6K isn’t a true anamorphic cinema camera. In its anamorphic mode the sensor gets smaller.

The camera gives you the option to desqueeze your image so you can view it correctly. To know more about squeeze and desqueeze and all things anamorphic, check out the video below.

However, I recommend shooting 6K full frame and just cropping off the sides later in post production. You get a larger sensor area, and most anamorphic lenses will cover this extra area you get. The downside to this is you might need an external monitor to do the desqueezing so you can view a proper image. But if you’re shooting anamorphic, you’re most likely there anyway. It is what I would do.

The other advantage to picking full frame 6K is you can also shoot with other anamorphic ‘squeeze’ lenses, like 1.33x, 1.5x and 1.8x.

The crop factor in this mode (full frame 6K) is 1.4, so don’t forget to take that into account. (Crop factor in the 3.7K anamorphic mode is 1.6x)

If you are new to anamorphic shooting, then this video is the only resource you need:

Post production

If you pick 3728 x 3104 (3.7K 6:5 anamorphic) DaVinci Resolve will automatically use camera metadata to straighten out your frame. The problem is your project size might not be 3.7K (probably won’t be). But if you select media to scale to height as default, it will fill up your frame, as long as the aspect ratio is 2.4:1.

Here are the steps (DaVinci Resolve 16):

1. Go to Project Settings > Master Settings > Timeline Resolution and pick ‘DCI Scope 2.39’. Note: You can pick whatever you want, but if you’re new and you want that Cinemascope look, start here.
2. The Pixel Aspect Ratio is ‘Square’ (don’t pick Cinemsacope!)
3. Go to Project Settings > Image Scaling > Input Scaling > Mismatched resolution files and pick ‘Scale entire image to fit’.
4. Output scaling depends on your monitoring system. Typically, Match timeline settings is checked.
5. Click Save and close Project Settings.
6. Now import your footage.
7. Go to the Edit page and click on your footage on the timeline.
8. Under Video > Transform > Zoom, uncheck the toggle and set X to 2 and Y to 1. This makes 6:5 (1.2) x 2:1 (2) = 2.4:1. If you strictly need 2.39 to 1, then set X to 1.99. I would just pick 2.
9. Now you should see a correct image.
10. Do this for all clips.
11. When you export your project, make sure the output format is also 2.39:1 DCI 4K and that’s all you need to do!