4:3 project to letterbox/16:9

Creating new demo reel for director, he had 4:3 clips which I loaded in FCP. He wants dvd to show in letterbox on CRT and 16:9 in HD screen. Edit is simple but I can't find the right settings for creating above. Tried Compression 16:9 & 178 but it came out 4:3 squeezed in. Also tried thru Streamclip and it was 16:9 stretched. What's the best way to do this, I could take 4:3 squeezed and distort?

You'll need to edit in a 16:9 timeline and scale the 4:3 clips until they fill the frame. Since you'll be upscaling the 4:3 footage you'll loose quality though, and if you watch that on some 42" screen it might not exactly be what you want for a demo reel.
Jim Makichuk wrote:
What's the best way to do this, I could take 4:3 squeezed and distort?
Do not distort the clips .... especially for a demo reel. Just scale them.

Similar Messages

Help! Rescue project from "letterbox" to real widescreen.

I have started a project with the wrong settings in "easy setup". This means that instead of 16x9 widescreen, I get the "letterbox" (black fields over and under the frame) in 4 x 3. I have a lot of work behind me, and hope it is possible to change the project to real widescreen. I changed the settings in easy setup after I had started, but that seems to be too late, it doesn't have any effect.
The setting I'm told I should have chosen in easy set up is "DV-PAL 32 kHz Anamorphic". What I chose, was ""DV-PAL 32 kHz", that is without "Anamorphic". I'm quite new to Final Cut, so maybe I haven't understood this right anyway. But still, I need my work changed to real wide screen, and hope it is not too late!
Could something be done in the exporting-process, after I have finished the project? I have iMovie ´08, if that's of any help, or could any other application be of use?
Please help!
Thanks a lot!
sverremac

No, you don't remove the attributes before you copy. You copy first and then you paste.
And then you remove attributes. You said you added a clip to the new timeline. That's wrong. You have to remove the attributes before you can add more clips.
Copy the clips from the wrong sequence. Paste into the new sequence. Select all the clips and use remove attributes.
Your bad sequence should look like this:
After it's in the new sequence it should look like this:
DV PAL Anamorphic are NOT the correct settings for the right project. You need to use the 720p25 preset. Your media is HD not standard definition.

Project is letterboxed on the stage all of a sudden?

Hi
I'm working on an iOS AIR project in Flash Pro cs6.
I was doing my normal thing, and then all of a sudden, the display is squeezed in with about an inch of black on the left and right sides.
I'm guessing I've pressed a key that's chnaged something globally, but I have no idea what.
Anyone know what can set this off? My publish settings are full screen, 640w x 940h, and I didn't change anything in my code when the change happened.
Cheers

Same here, until the effect you described happened to me

Why 16x9 is letterboxed on my HD TV

I don't understand why my SD 16x9 projects become letterboxed on my HDTV after they are burnt to DVD?
Why don't they use the full screen?
Am I doing something wrong or is that the way they are?

Are you setting you DVD Player or TV to force letterbox?

Turning Letterbox back into Anamorphic

Hello everyone. I've been working on a 16:9 SD project and I'm afraid I've edited myself into a corner. My producers wanted to see the project in letterbox format as we were editing the material together. However the final form of the video will be full screen anamorphic to be played back on a 16:9 plasma screen in a booth. So now that I'm almost finish with the project, how can I export it in full screen anamorphic for the DVD? Is there a easy (or even semi easy) way to do this or have I really screwed myself & have to assemble the edit from scratch? Thanks in advance.

Sounds like your footage is 16:9 anamorphic. If so, DON'T scale up your letterboxed clips. They will suffer a significant quality loss. it is easy to convert the sequence and video clips to anamorphic with just a feww clicks.
duplicate your sequence
change the settings of that sequence to anamorphic - your video will now appear letterboxed within the 16:9 frame - don't worry
select all the video clips and choose "remove attributes" from the context menu -remove basic motion and distort - if the clips had previously been ID'ed as anamorphic, they will all go back to full frame anamorphic. voila!
You might have to reposition any titles or still images, etc, but all your video will be able to resized in this way/.

Letterbox effect

I want to produce a movie in a widescreen aspect ratio although the original footage was (foolishly) shot in 4:3. I am therefore looking to use the Letterbox effect to crop the tops and bottoms of each clip. That's OK but there are, however, a lot of clips and I also want to include some transitions and titles.
Does anyone know if there is a particular sequence I should use for this? I presume: letterbox...transitions...titles. Is there a way which will cut down the amount of rendering necessary?
Also, is there a way to keep the letterbox settings between editing sessions? The only way seems to be by measuring the screen - hardly high-tech!
Peter Weldon

Hi P,
I would:
finish whole project WITHOUT letterboxing
export to tape
reimport (now, just one big clip)
add effect
go for a walk, in the next bar, spend some days off Waikiki Beach et al.
besides:
if you want some more "film look" have a look at JES Deinterlacer that adds to the final project a deinterlacing, which looks grrrreat in combo with widescreen.

IMovie is making 4:3 video 16:9 automatically?

I am importing .dv files into iMovie from a firestore, the video is 4:3 but iMovie is automatically making them 16:9 and I can't seem to make them revert to 4:3. I can't seem to find any setting that I am able to change to import them as only 4:3.
Any suggestions?

I am importing .dv files into iMovie from a firestore, the video is 4:3 but iMovie is automatically making them 16:9 and I can't seem to make them revert to 4:3. I can't seem to find any setting that I am able to change to import them as only 4:3.
If the DV files display as 16:9 in a 16:0 project and letterboxed in a 4:3 project with content for either distorted ("short & stubby"), then the DV anamorphic flag was improperly set at some point in your workflow. There are no adjustments to be made in iMovie '08 as the anamorphic flag controls the aspect ration for both preview and output while the "Current Size" setting controls the aspect ration of your thumbnails.
Basically, you have two options here. If the "Current Size" setting is 4:3 (e.g., 640x480 or 768x576 or you re-set the dimensions to your correct 4:3 standard dimensions), then the DV files can be opened and edited in iMovie HD in the correct aspect. Otherwise, the only way to correct the problem for editing in iMovie '08 is to change the anamorphic flag. Unfortunately, to do this you normally have to re-compress the file using the correct NTSC or PAL standard and aspect setting.

Want to trash iMovie!

What a waste of money and time; this program is the absolute pits! Do I stand alone on this? It takes forever to 'letterbox' a simple 30 minute movie and the final quality leaves a lot to be desired. As a dedicated Mac man I find this very disheartening. I wish I'd not bought it.
Can anyone recommend another program (that actually works) for editing & dvd-ing my digi-cam footage on my Mac?

Hello MacDog,
why do you need your footage to letterboxed? If you have widescreen footage, create a widescreen project - no letterboxing will occur.
Letterboxing (and pillarboxing) occurs only if you import 16:9 footage into a 4:3 project or vice versa. iMovie then letter/pillarboxes in order to prevent distortion. Note that automatic letter/pillarboxing can be turned off in iMovie Preferences.
Can anyone recommend another program (that actually works) for editing & dvd-ing my digi-cam footage on my Mac?
Well, iMovie/iDVD actually do that - out of the box - and have worked for me for more than two years now .... and I sell the DVDs.
If you want pro-level editing you can look at Final Cut Express HD, but beware the learning curve is steep. For pro-level DVD authoring have a look at Final Cut Studio, but here the learning curve is even steeper .... and you're looking at a $$$$ purchase.
hope this helps
mish

16:9 letterboxed project questions

This is my first 16:9 project and it's a little confusing...
My source footage is cropped to 16:9 aspect ratio from 4:3 but it's not anamorphic, it's only letterboxed. The frame size came out to be 720X404 when cropped and compressed with Compressor. Is that right? can I use this .m2v file in DSP or I HAVE to use anamorphic for widescreen SD DVD. My source footage is in a single field MJPEG A format rendered out from Final Fut Pro with a 4:3 aspect ratio letterboxed to 16:9.
I made a test burn, just dropping it on the first play and setting the track to 16:9 letterbox, I set everything to 16:9. It played the right way on 2 different computers, letterboxing it on 4:3 monitors and playing full screen on the 16:9 monitor, but it didn't play back the right way on a portable Panasonic player with a 16:9 screen. It letterboxed it and even with the wide screen setting on the machine kept the letterbox, so it got squeezed.
What I would like is to play back letterboxed on 4:3 systems including the menu, and to play full screen on 16:9 systems automatically. I don't want to make different versions of the menu for the different aspect ratios.
How would I do this? Do I make my menus in 853X480 and import it to DSP. I'm making the menus in After Effects and Photoshop.
please help.
David

Yes it is the continuation of the same project, but that post was already check as resolved, so I opened a new post.
Yes there is a reason with working Motion JPEG, the film was deinterlaced with a special plugin and processed with other effects also, as a matter of fact the whole timeline is for some reason in Motion JPEG.
What they are giving me is a 720X480 4:3 aspect ratio master in Motion JPEG A format, single field and letterboxed. They had to letterbox it to adjust the different shots to it. The source material for this project was a mess, all different cameras, some letterboxed, some not, some progressive some not... It's a real challenge to make them look somewhat similar. That is why was processed with many plugins. The whole thing is rendered out to one big file.
I took this material to Compressor and tried to make a .m2v file, cropped out the letterbox, set the size to 720X480 anamorphic but for some reason it didn't stretch it for me but made a file with a 720X404 size.
I'm using FCS 2, DVDSP 4.2.0, Compressor 3.0
I really appreciate your help
David

Letterboxing when using 16:9 footage in 4:3 project...

Hi,
I have a project here that is DV-NTSC-720x480-4x3.
Now when I import footage that is 720x480 / 4x3 it is displayed properly e.g. this file:
Codec : MPEG-2 Video
Codec profile : Main@Main
Codec settings/Matri : Standard
Bit rate : 9800 Kbps
Bit rate mode : CBR
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display Aspect ratio : 4/3
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Chroma : 4:2:0
Interlacement : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.946
When I try to import footage that is 720x480 / 16x9, PP Pro automatically does a Pan & Scan on the footage e.g. on this file:
Codec : MPEG-2 Video
Codec profile : Main@Main
Codec settings/Matri : Standard
Bit rate : 8000 Kbps
Bit rate mode : CBR
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display Aspect ratio : 16/9
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Chroma : 4:2:0
Interlacement : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.772
Regarding this automatic Pan & Scan for 16:9 footage (in a 4:3 project) I have a few questions...
1. Am I right assuming that the pixels are "stretched" when doing a Pan & Scan on imported 16:9 footage (in a 4:3 project) ?
--> meaning: the quality is worse than using letterboxing ?
2. How can I apply letterboxing on 16:9 footage imported into a 4:3 project ?
--> I read the manual and it states that u can adjust that with the Motion properties Scale & Position but is there an automatic solution in PP Pro ?
--> I've adjusted the Scale to 75.5 % (which looks okay) but what is the correct percentage ?
3. Where can I change settings in PP Pro to put all 16:9 footage (in a 4:3 project) automatically in letterbox format ?
As always, thanx for your help in advance !
Mike

This is what I would do...
First my question is: are you working in HD or SD?
Second, make a new sequence. (make sure it prompts you to select what sequence you want). If you're working in SD (standard definition) select DV NTSC 48khz Anamorphic. This basically means, that you're working in 720x480 SD but with 16:9 ratio.
If you're working in HD. make a new sequence selecting: HDV - 1080 60i. HDV aspect ratio, by default, is already 16:9.
Thats all you should have to do. Don't distort each clip one by one. You'd be wasting time.
Oh, i just realized another thing. How you Captured the footage! This is crucial. If the footage is 16:9...how did you capture it?
let me know...
mo

Importing letterboxed clips to a widescreen project

Hi all,
I have just started playing around with iMovie and have a load of my Dad's video which has been recorded on a Panasonic DV camera with "Cinema" mode enabled (It shoots in 4:3 but adds letterbox to simulate 16:9).
What I really want to do is import these clips to a widescreen DV project and have iMovie crop the letterboxing off and essentially zoom in to the widescreen picture in the middle, creating a proper widescreen movie (obviously the quality will not be perfect as you will be stretching the video in the middle but the aspect ration should be correct).
I have looked all over for a way of doing this but have yet to find anything.
Any help much appreciated.
Jon

within iMovie, what's the easiest way of saving them all separately outside of the project so that I can batch convert them all with Streamclip
No need to save them outside iMovie.
Just quit iMovie. Then with MPEG Streamclip drill into the iMovie project (select All files in the open file dialog) and choose /Cache/Timeline Movie.mov as an input. (That feature was suggested by an iMovie user (cough, cough)).

How to export a 16:9 project with QT to 4:3 Letterbox?

Hello, my problem refers up to the export out of iMovie '09 with QuickTime.
If I want to export a 16:9 project with QuickTime for a Amazon review in 4:3 format, I thought, I must select the option "Receive aspect ratio using" - "Letterbox".
I expect a 4:3 film with bars as the result. And here lies my problem:
Whether I select the option, or not, the result is always a increased movie and cut on the left and on the right.
I tried now also the other options: " Adapt size" produces a 16:9 film without any bars.
"Cut" behaves as " Letterbox" and cuts of the left and the right of the picture
(I'm using the german version, so some of the options maybe named otherwise)
Can it be, because of a further attitude? E.G. that " prepare for Internet-streaming" is selected?
What am I doing wrong? Thanks for any help in advance.

Once you have one re-sized, "control+click" the clip > Copy > Select the rest of the images in the timeline > "control+click" on one of them > Paste Attributes > check basic motion > OK
That should ease the pain a bit.

Can I convert/export a 16:9 project to a letterboxed 2:1 movie?

Can I convert/export a 16:9 project to a letterboxed 2:1 movie?

Enter your Chapter Markers.
Export the Timeline as QuickTime Movie.
Al

Premiere Pro project setup and exporting 16x9 to 4:3 letterbox

I need to export a 16x9, 720/30p CS3 project, for final viewing on a 4:3 projector in letterbox. *This project is about to kick off with a VERY short deadling and the shooters keep changing their mind about whether they're going to shoot in 720/30p or 720/60p. I need to plan for both to be safe. How will this effect things in my original 16x9 project setup if they give me both 720/30p and 720/60p video? And what about exporting for letterbox viewing in 4:3 if this occurs? I mean, if I start a project in 720/30p with CS3 and they bring me 720/60p video as well as 720/30p video, will I have to start a new project and start editing everything all over again, and vice versa? Also, how will this effect my final letterboxed 16x9 product? **I also have to provide this to the customer in 16x9 DVD format.

Sorry, but you are at the wrong forum. The Premiere forums are here:
http://forums.adobe.com/community/premiere
This one is only for discussions on the forums themselves.

19:6 anamorphic recording vs. default project setting and letterboxing

Setup
- MB Pro
- Canon DV cam MVX25i
- TV widescreen model (SONY)
Goal
- Make DVD's (from footage taken with the camera) which provide the best quality when played on the TV set in widescreen mode.
Method
- I have taken all footage as 16:9 recordings (when I play from the camera directly to the TV quality looks great) The camera is doing this in an optimal way (from what I read anyhow) by squeezing the stuff into a 4:3 format (theirby not loosing resolution on the CCD).
- Now I am trying to make a DVD by importing stuff with iMovie HD and later on make a DVD with iDVD.
Problem
- Whenever the camera is connected the project iMovie makes is DV-PAL (in a 4:3 format)
- When importing clips they are squeezed (as expected)
- Then (if the option is selected) iMovie is letterboxing those clips. So bars at the top and the bottom. NO GOOD!
- If you then view this full screen you get bars at the sides (because the 4:3 project is shown on the widescreen of the portable) and bars at top and bottom (due to letterboxing).
- I didn't bother to take this in iDVD.
So THE question: how to make iMovie do the following:
- Start out with a DV widescreen project
- Import clips from the camera and stretch those (because these are 4:3 and squeezed)
As a sidenote:
Does anybody know how iDVD writes a widescreen project to DVD is it going to letterbox thas as well or is he doing the anamorphic approach (like it is done on the better quality DVD's)
Macbook Pro 2Gb 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo Mac OS X (10.4.8) Canon MVX25i DV cam

HOW TO MAINTAIN 16:9 ASPECT FROM IMPORT TO BURN
This is the way I do it. There is no compulsion on you to do it my way, but this works (for me). I started this method before iMovie and iDVD were upgraded to 6.0.3, and because not all elements of the various iDVD themes (particularly the pre-iDVD 6 ones) are consistent in keeping to 16:9 throughout the process. I have for years shot in nothing but 16:9 widescreen, partly because it looks better (IMO), partly to future-proof my videos for the increasingly popular widescreen TVs. Living in the UK, I use PAL (25 fps). Wherever you see a reference to PAL in the following you may substitute NTSC (30 fps) in the various settings mentioned, the basic idea is the same. I still use this method, and take these steps, regardless of whether it is always necessary. Worst case scenario: it would have worked anyway. Best case scenario: it works perfectly where it otherwise wouldn’t!
The object of the exercise is to ‘fix’ all constituent parts of the project (video, titles, theme, effects, even audio!) in the desired 16:9 aspect to avoid producing a DVD where the movie is in 16:9 and the menu is in 4:3 or where other irritating surprises lurk in your project, which you only discover after burning a coaster!
First go to http://www.mydvdedit.com/index.php?lang=english and download myDVDedit. This is shareware although the download is free. Send the guy a few dollars/euros, he deserves it. While you are there, read all about it. Now install it in your Applications Folder. You will need it later.
You have finished your iMovie project with music, transitions and so on, and saved it to you Movies Folder. Before you started the project you naturally set it DV Widescreen.
Open iDVD. Give the project a name, and save it as Widescreen if it didn’t default to the same aspect as your iMovie project. Now import the iMovie project into iDVD, choose a theme (any theme you like, even if it prefers to stay at 4:3) and save the project. Do what you would normally do to the theme and its drop zones. Save the project.
Now save as Disk Image on your desktop. Leave it there for the moment when it has finished/appeared.
Open your Movies Folder. Create a new folder. Name it PROJECTNAME – TS FILES (where ‘projectname’ is the name of your project!). Close the folder. You can of course call it anything you like, but htis aids identification.
Now double-click the disk image on your desktop. It contains two folders: AUDIO_TS (which is empty, but please pretend that it isn’t) and VIDEO_TS. Drag and drop these to the folder you created in your Movies Folder. (This takes a moment).
Click on the AUDIO_TS folder and go to Get Info in the file menu. Right down the bottom is where you have to change the permissions. Under ‘Ownership & Permissions’ change this from Read Only to Read & Write. Click the small triangle next to Details, scroll down and click on Apply to enclosed items. You will be asked for your root password. When this has completed (fairly fast, as that folder was empty!), click on the VIDEO_TS folder and do the same. This takes a moment longer, as that folder is full of goodies with which you should not otherwise interfere! Close the Projectname-TS Files folder. You have now allowed yourself to change the properties of the contents of those folders, which leads us to the next all-important step.
Open myDVDedit. Go to File and open the projectname TS Files folder. By all means stare at it shock and awe, but don’t bother finding out what it can do, except for the following:
Top left you fill see a list of files. Lower centre you have a large window. On the vertical menu to the left of that, click IFO.
In the window at the top left, ignore ‘First Play’ (if there was anything to correct in that, myDVDedit will have done so and told you).
Click on VMG Menu en (English). Now the whole thing springs to life.
Set Coding Mode to MPEG-2
Set Standard to PAL
Set Aspect to 16:9 (not any of the other options)
Now save the file.
Click on VTS Menu 1 en (English) and repeat as above.
Click on VTS 1 and repeat as above.
You have now permanently ‘fixed’ the entire contents of the TS folder (the disk image) in 16:9 aspect. Close myDVDedit – you won’t need it again until the next project!
If you have Toast 7 Titanium, open it. ‘Select DVD-Video from VIDEO_TS’. Choose Select from the main Toast window and select your projectname-TS Files folder. You are now ready to burn! You can set the burn speed (2x recommended) before the burn commences. Allow Toast to verify the burn before you eject the DVD-R disk.
If you don’t have Toast 7, then I assume you can burn the projectname-TS Files folder (disk image) via Disk Utility. I say ‘assume’ only because I have never tried it that way.
Either way, you now have a DVD which will play as 16:9 widescreen on any TV set, even the old ones where you can’t ask it to letter-box.

4:3 project to letterbox/16:9

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