16:9 to 4:3 letterbox; how?

Hello,
I have a video project in 16:9 format that I want to post to Youtube. As they only support 4:3 aspect ratio, I have to export the video letterboxed. Here is what I do:
File/Export/Using Quicktime Conversion
I use Quicktime format, go to settings/size and change Dimensions to 640x480 as this is the preferred resolution when posting videos to youtube. I check the Preserve aspect ratio using Letterbox. In Compression type I use MPEG4 Video.
The result is squeeshed 4:3 with little bit of pillarboxing.. What am I doing wrong?

Tip: No matter what you do it is typically going to look crap, well at least I haven't found the magic settings that YouTube's Flash convert likes to keep the quality.
Try the MPEG-4 presets 320x240 2400bps then select aspect to letterbox which keeps the 16:9 look and feel, but still not sharp and some artefacts. Elgato presets also work but blurred and some artefacts. These both look great on the computer but again crap on YouTube because of the wacked out encoding and dimension processes going on at their end.
Here is a couple of links for reading;
- http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/youtube_compressorgary.html
- http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/07/16/help-key-how-to-optimize-your-video-for-you tube/
As you can see I am yet to be happy with YouTube's quality
Message was edited by: peterjohndean

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Combining cropped 3:2 and 16:9 footage in 16:9 sequence, how letterbox?

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iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4) 2.1 GHz FC Studio

Tá fáilte romhat.
Did you create a 16:9 project in DVDSP? If you did and your material looks stretched vertically in the DVDSP viewer, make sure your asset is flagged as 16:9.
You won't see any letterboxing in DVDSP or in DVD Player as they will just display a 16:9 format screen.
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16:9 sequence problem

I just put two sequences together and exported them both for the web.
I noticed in the clips that one has a letterbox around it and is not in the correct aspect ratio, which should be 16:9.
The other sequence that was exported is 16:9 with no letterbox, how it should be.
I tried changing the sequence setting for the incorrect one and it just squeezes it more! I also tried copying and pasting the wrong sequence into the other and that didn't work either.
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Adjusting the scale works, but I'd have to adjust EACH clip, and there's tons of cuts.
Asuming you haven't done rescaling on some clips you can adjust all clips at once:
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Still bad video quality

even is catalyst cs 5.5 two of my problems do not resolve.
bad video quality in fullscreen. i have some videos for offline view (768x576 @ 2600 kbps) but still fullscreen view is messed up, all blocky, not proper video interpolation. in vlc or any other player the flv file looks fine!
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Hi
as example
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Now burned as an NTSC iDVD project
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This way should work the other way around too.
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Most modern NTSC DVD-players can't playback PAL
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Search the forum.
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Hello
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How are you making the menus, using a template or other item?
How are you burning the DVD? Sounds like something else may be going on. This is a SD DVD and not a HD DVD? Can you open up the VIDEO_TS folder in Apple DVD Player and does the project work properly, including all the buttons?

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Guys. Let's not get confused here.
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There are no special setting on Apple TV to get rid of the black bars. You may be able to change the zoom settings on your actual big TV.
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I have a Canon GL1 camera that records in SD 4:3 format. When I make a DVD my DVD player coupled with my 16:9 HDTV stretches the video to fill the screen and distorts everyone (they look broader). I think a letterbox format would present a more normal view but I don't know the best way to do this. I don't see any control on my DVD Player remote to select letterbox. Do I set up FCE 3.5 to make the letterbox, or do I do it in Compressor 2 which I have as a stand alone application or do I set it up in DVD Studio Pro 4 which I also have as a stand alone application?
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SD material would look pillarboxed. Black bars on left and right. If the DVD is being created correctly then the problem is in the TV set. There should a control for how it handles SD material. If there isn't, it's possible it only has a stretch function. You should look at the manual or google your TV model.

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I imported widescreen DV video via FireWire into Adobe Premiere Elements 8, but it displays with letterboxing (black bars on top and bottom). How do I get rid of this? The frame size is not editable in Project Settings.

Unfortunately, PrE does not allow one to make changes to a Project, once it has been setup. You will need to setup the Project to match your source footage, your Assets, 100%. Otherwise, issues will ensue.
If needed, the free utility, G-Spot can be used to determine the attributes of the footage. Frame Size, Frame Rate and PAR is very, very important.
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Hunt
PS - even PrPro has just added the ability to "change horses in mid-stream," because it uses Sequences, which are like mini-Projects within a master Project. Before CS4, even with the Sequences, one had to get the Project Preset correct, before starting. Now, one can just do a new Sequence with new Presets, and Copy/Paste the mis-matched footage into it.

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You have a lot of mixed messages here, but the most critical is "they said they only want it in 16:9 HD".
Basically you'll deliver 1920x1080 or 1280x720 depending on the station.
The reference to "have it formatted for 4:3 and 16:9" likely is for title graphics. This is called center-cut safe, keeping graphics inside a 4:3 title safe area within the 16:9 image. Center-cut safe is almost always a requirement for broadcast since the image can be viewed in several different ways depending on the station and receiving television settings (which are out of your control).
A 16:9 HD image will automatically letterbox on a 4:3 television IF the owner of the TV has set it up to do so (typically the default). Neither you nor the TV station has control of how the owner/viewer sets up a TV. A 16:9 HD file can not be created to automatically letterbox, that is a function of the TV.
Now, one situation that may change all these interpretations of your mixed messages is delivery in Europe. I believe Europe prefers a 16:9 image squeezed into a 4:3 anamorphic format that when displayed on 16:9 TV is widescreen and on a 4:3 TV is letterboxed. The main point of confusion between that possibility and your statement above is the 4:3 anamorphic can NOT be High Def.

How to avoid letterboxing & pillars in output of slide show as wmv movie in Premiere El 10?

I have created a slide show with both stills (using pan and zoom) and videos. Both in the Preview monitor in Premiere and in the exported movie I get letterboxes and pillars (black lines top and bottom, and on the sides). I know there is a lot going oh here, but here are a few relevant details.
Premiere 10 - (64-bit)
Running Win 7 Home Premium
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Any help would be very much appreciated.
This is my first post in the forum. I did search the previous discussions, as I'm sure this has been discussed befor, but found nothing.
Please forgive if I'm in the wrong poace or any other stuff like that.
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Thank you both for your replies - very helpful.
This was/is an attempt to put together a demo for a project, to be shown on a computer. - by someone who obviously did not know what he was doing, namely, me.
Can you tell it was my first attempt?
Yes, the preset was DV 48kHz, which is apparently 4:3, right?
The tiny video is what I was given to work with (from VideoBlocks) Maybe not a good idea to even try. The still images were various sizes and I resized them to 1000x750, on a recommendation from someone on how to get good 4:3 resolution. So that was not such a good idea either.
Since then, I have tried a couple of experiments.
BUT, I just tried a new video with images resized in Photoshop to 1280x720, with the preset at DV widescreen and output at 720p HD. Hey - it is almost a success. The letterboxes and pillars are negligible - about 1/8 of an inch. Thank you both so much.
So would you insist on higher quality video to work with? I have until next Wednesday. Lots of time. Sounds like there is not much hope for using the 320x240 video.
Thanks very much for your suggestions and patience.

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16:9 to 4:3 letterbox; how?

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