4:3 video to letterbox

I have some 4:3 video and some 16:9 letterbox video. I need to add the letterbox boxes to the top and the bottom of the 4:3 video to make it look like it was shot that way. I know I will loose my framing and whatnot but that is somewhat acceptable. I was thinking about just throwing a black matte over the video cropped appropriately at the top and bottom. My question is - what size does it have to be at the top and bottom to make it line up with other letterbox video?

OK. let's build the alpha channel first.
In Photoshop, select File > New and choose the appropriate 4:3 frame for your local TV Standard, fill color should be white.
Repeat the above and choose the widescreen variant this time. Press Shift and F5 keys together and fill with black.
Choose the Move tool. Press Shift and drag the black widescreen frame onto the white 4:3 frame. This will center the black frame exactly.
Press command and T to get Free Transform mode. Click the Lock Aspect Ratio button in the Transform toolbar at the top of your screen:
In one of the numeric boxes next to the Lock Aspect Ratio button, enter 75.4 and press Return twice.
Go to Layers > Flatten Image. Select the Magic Wand tool and click the white area at the top of your picture. Right click and choose Add to Selection in the white area at the bottom.
Open the Channels pallette and click the Save as Selection Button:
Click the eye next to RGB so that only the alpha layer is visible.
Now we need the black fill for the mask. Choose Layer > New Layer. Press Shift and F5. Fill with black.
Go to the Save Dialog. Change the file type to TIFF. Uncheck "Layers" but make sure "Alpha Channel" is checked on.
Import into FCP. The mask should composite automatically on V2 when you drag it to the timeline or press F12, leaving the 4:3 video clip underneath, which can be reframed to your taste.
Have fun and good luck with your project.

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