Pixel Aspect Ratio probably means nothing to most people, up until it all goes south in a project. Get it right and you may breeze through life blissfully unaware. Get it wrong, and your footage and graphics can look chunky, distorted and just plain wrong.

If you would like to know more about the pitfalls of square vs non-square pixels and a host of related information, here’s a handy reference. After Effects gurus Chris and Trish Meyer of Cybermotion have shared Part 1 of a Pixel Aspect Ratio primer over at Artbeats (PDF). They cover the background details on the sometimes confusing array of resolutions and ratios in digital video, and offer a few AE specific tips as well. Stay tuned for Part 2 where they will dig a little deeper into the topic.

(GeniusDV has a related post on creating images in Photoshop for Video.)