Imported 16:9 DV footage won't automatically Letterbox

Hi All,
Hope someone might be able to assist regarding my little dilemma in iMovie 6.0.2 please.
I'm using an iMac (Intel) with 2Gb RAM - 250Gb HDD, with 125Gb free space.
- I have recorded footage in 16:9 format on my miniDV camera
- The new project in iMovie was selected as "DV Widescreen"
- Connection being used to import is Firewire.
- Footage has been imported ok, size is 17.9Gb
- However iMovie just doesn't want to automatically letterbox the clips that it I have imported.
The footage was imported in one effort (basically just let the camera play)
I have never been able to get iMovie to automatically letterbox any of the footage that I have as described above bar my first attempt at using iMovie (trial and error)
I have several other tapes of footage all in 16:9 that have been letterboxed and I want to keep it the same. I will be joining different clips of each project to make my movie.
The dilemma is I know of a way that will automatically letterbox the footage that I have imported, but that will mean that I need to be in front of the computer. I will have to stop the import somewhere midway, iMovie will then automatically letterbox and then I will have to repeat for the remainder of the footage on the tape.
The above takes far too long. I have many tapes to go through and want to be able to have everything imported so that I can pick and choose clips, edit and then convert to DVD. The plan was to import during the evening and wake up with the footage imported and letterboxed.
Can someone tell me if there is an option with iMovie that will allow me to letterbox the footage after it has been imported?
Cheers
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.7)

The viewfinder on the camera is 4x3, hence the black
bars.
It seems that iMovie is not reading the flag from the
camera that should tell it the material is 16x9. It
thinks it is 4x3- that is why it is adding the
pillarboxing (to make it "fit" in 16x9).
I don't know your camera- but I've never had any
problems with our 2 Sony's in 16x9 mode. Do you have
the "Automatic Dv Pillarboxing and Letterboxing"
checked in prefrences? Maybe you could try a test
import with the "opposite" setting and see if that
makes any difference. You might also try setting up
a 4x3 project to see if the material imports into
that with proper letterboxing. Are you using the
same camera you shot with to load the material? One
time, we loaded a friends tape, but through our
camera and iMovie did not pick up the flag
correctly.
G5 ambient light
Mac OS X (10.4.7)
Automatic DV Pillarboxing and Letterboxing is checked in the preferences.
I am using the same video camera that I used to record to import the footage.
I have recorded something in 4:3 and 16:9 to test and everything is fine.
I just need to know if I am able to Letterbox the footage that I have imported in my first post manually as iMovie isn't doing it automatically.
Seems to me that there is a flaw within iMovie, where if the footage is too long and or the imported file is too large it won't Letterbox correctly.
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Similar Messages

16:9 Footage won't import

Hi guys,
I just tried to import some 16:9 footage in Encore 1.5 and it told me that it can't import it and something about the aspect ration should be standard pal dimensions.
The only option I see for adjusting the aspect ratio for a project is in edit preferences and there is a preview aspect ratio setting there which is already at 16:9.
I don't know what to do as I can't even begin my DVD unless it will let me import my 16:9 footage and I can't find any settings that will allow me to fix whatever this problem might be...
Any assistance greatly appreciated :)
thanks,
Grant

Thanks Neil, don't worry, we're not transcoding the Xvid and agree that would look horrible :) It's a tga sequence we're left with which I think makes for a cleaner and professional workflow (he's using Maya)
It's trying to get a workable render from that that has been our problem so far but we're playing with settings in Adobe Premiere/encoder which has come up with new problem:
We now have a good quality 16:9 file that imports as an asset into Encore. It plays back perfectly in Encore in a timeline but if I use the footage as a menu, which I intend to do with one clip then it puts letter boxes either side of the footage. I check 16:9 in the properties but I don't understand why encore will play the widescreen footage and display it properly in a timeline but not in the menu...
any thoughts would be great,
Grant :)

Aluminum PB Won't Automatically Sleep

I posted this before, but said Titanium when I meant Aluminum. So I've posted again with the correction.
My 15" Aluminum Powerbook won't automatically sleep any longer. This seems to coincide with my upgrade to 10.4.2, or perhaps the recent AirPort upgrade. (I'm not totally sure.)
While the computer will not actually go to sleep automatically, the screen, however, will go black -- but the sleep light doesn't actually come on..
To fix this, I have tried:
1) Resetting P-RAM (command-option-P-R)
2) Resetting Power Manager (battery out, AC power out, hold power button for 5 seconds)
3) Disconnectting AC power and removing battery for 30 min. to reset computer internals.
4) Repairing Permissions
5) Booting up, don't start any apps, and waiting for sleep.
No matter what I do, the computer will not automatically go to sleep.
Any help appreciated.
Best,
Mark

I've been having this problem for a while now; in fact, perhaps since after 10.4.2, I would reckon.
This is quite an important thing, as I do a lot of work on site with my Powerbook, and it is very inconvinent when I run out of battery. However, bringing this up on these message boards can give people the impression that you just don't know what the "Energy Saver" function of System Preferences can do!
Does anybody have any tips for identifying processes that run in the background? I've been looking at the terminal command top, but not really finding anything. It does tell me how many processes are running, however.

Trouble importing HDV mini DV footage from my Sony HVR Z7U into FCP 6.0.6

Cannot import HDV mini DV footage from my HVR Z7U camcorder into Final Cut Pro
I can Import the footage as an NTSC 720x480 signal.
One consistent answer is to make sure that in camcorders menu settings that the IN/OUT REC - iLINK SET is set to off.
No Luck, no communication with FCP in that mode.
That being said when cameras ilink is on I can import 740/480 NTSC video, not HDV.
Here’s where I’m at now
The video was shot in 1080i 30p onmini DV. With my Sony HVR Z7U Ican only import the video into FCP as a NTSC 720x480 signal. It looks great butnot in HDV?
I believe I have tried most every setting in my FCP audio video settings to import the HD footage into FCP. FCPseems to only recognize the camcorder in the NTSC mode.
Example - In FCP Audio /Video Settings
Sequence Preset - HDV 108030p
Capture Preset    - HDV
Device Control     - HDV FireWire Basic
Video Playback   - Only gives none or NTSC choices(I chose Apple FireWire)
With the setting above and Sony’s ilink off- window alert reads…
“Device is not connected or the capture preset is not set up correctly. You may still log offline clips. This might also happen if you play DV footage in an HDV device.” The camcorder viewer reads the digital footage as 1080i 30p. So it’s not shot in DV footage.
With the iLink on - I get the same window alert. Unless I capture in NTSC
For me FCP will only log and capture the footage when the Capture and Device Control Presets are set to a NTSC format and the camcorder ilink is on. Hence an NTSC 720x480 signal is imported. Not HDV?
Come on, I know this a common problem and I must be missing something very simple. Please Help! Many thanks.
Gary Boland
FCP 6.0.6
Mac G5
Someone mentioned using log and transfer. I use this with all my Compact Flash HD videos. I have found no info for importing HDV from mini DV in log and transfer with a (my) camcorder.

Gary, this is the Final Cut Pro X forum. You might try the other forum for FCP. Still, I have the Z5U Sony which is nearly identical to your camera except for the zoom as I recall. I think we have the same menu system. I see to recall there is a menu option that sets the output file format. Also you can set it to record in SD as well as I recall. I read my files in from tape to FCP X easily ... in high def. Best wishes.
stephen

My iPhone 5 won't automatically send iMessages (enabled in settings)

My iPhone 5 won't automatically send iMessages to other peoples' devices who have iMessages enabled, unless they send an iMessage to me first. My phone automatically sends SMS only, and does not automatically detect if other people have iMessage capability. My iPhone 4 on the same apple ID did not have this problem, even after I updated the software to iOS 6.
I have enabled iMessages in my "settings", as well as checked only my phone number in the "receive at". My boyfriend also has an iPhone 5, but he is able to send iMessages to other people who have iMessage.

Hi Friend,
* Check in Settings>>Messages>>Send and Receive, if your mobile number or Apple ID is selected at all. In my iPhone 4S for example, I am using my mobile number to send iMessages, instead of Apple ID.
* Double check in Settings>>General>>Mobile is turn on. If yes, double check in "Mobile Data Network" (sorry, maybe I wrote down the wrong name because my device is not in English : )) if you have filled the with the network carrier information. If everything are blank, you will not able to send/receive iMessages without WiFi connection.
* Check also in Settings>>Notifications>>Messages, if "Show iMessage Alerts From" is "All" option selected.
Good Luck...

MacBook Pro won't automatically connect to my Time Capsule for WiFi

My 2012 MacBook Pro (non-retina) won't automatically connect to my Time Capsule for WiFi. I had issues with my Comcast router before, and i reset my time capusle a few times, is that th reason why now everytime i wake my macbook up it dosent automtically connect?

Yes.. wireless after sleep or reboot is a problem. See the info from Tesserax.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/wireless/airport?view=documents
Unable to connect after sleep .. you will see it in the list.

Iphone won't automatically re-connect to wi-fi; have to re-enter password each time

I just "upgraded" my wi-fi router to a Netgear WNDR3400. Everything seems to be set up fine, and I'm able to connect with our various iphones, ipads, and AppleTV. But our iphones won't automatically re-connect to the network after the connection is lost, and we have to re-enter the password when we re-connect.
Kind of stumped here.
Jim

These didn't work, but oddly enough what worked was choosing "other" network, typing the name of my network in (even though it already showed up in the list of networks), indicating WEP encryption, and typing the password in.
Disconnected a few times and was able to automatically connect.
Kind of odd if you ask me.
Jim

IMac won't automatically connect to Wi-Fi.

iMac won't automatically connect to Wi-Fi. I can connect manually using "Network Diagnostics". After I select my router the connection is made. How can I make it automatic again? I only have a medium/low expertise. Software is Mac OS X v10.7.5.
The problem all started when I let Nintendo do a computer share in order to connect to a Wii U. The tech was into so many things I couldn't keep track of them. I have tried everything I know to fix it but to no avail. I even let Nintendo try twice to correct this...no luck.

Hello, how do you fetit to connect?
Make a New Location, Using network locations in Mac OS X ...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2712
Instead of joining it from the list, click the WiFi icon at the top, and click join other network. Fill in everything as needed.

I updated my 4s to IOS 8 and now it won't automatically connect with my Ford SYNC. I have to turn the phone off and then on again for it to connect.

I updated my 4s to IOS 8 and now it won't automatically connect with my Ford SYNC. I have to turn the phone off and then on again for it to connect.
Why is this? My husband's 4s is still on IOS7 and it still connects automatically.

I do not know if this will help.
For a limited time Apple will allow you to downgrade to 7.1.2. Hurry do not wait.
See brownox second post here:
Are there known problems with hdmi screen display and iOS 8?
and
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2014/09/17/downgrade-ios-8-to-ios-7/

When using a youtube playlist I made it won't automatically go to the next video when using firefox but does with chrome,so what's wrong?

When I play my youtube video playlist it won't automatically go to the next video as youtube is set to do.I have to manually start the nexrt video.What is wrong?If I use the chrome browser it works just fine,so it must be a problem with firefox.Anyone have any ideas?

I suggest you to upgrade Firefox to version 7 and post back to us
* getfirefox.com

I can't make my iphone 4 forget the hpsetup network which keeps showing up at work. My phone won't automatically connect to my company's wireless network.

I can't make my iphone 4 forget the hpsetup network which keeps showing up at work. My phone won't automatically connect to my company's wireless network. I have to reselect it everytime I come to work.

Settings/General/Reset - Reset network settings will "forget" all WiFi networks so you can select them again.
If the problem with your company network is not solved by doing this, are there multiple sites that have the same network name for the company network? Or is it the default network name for the router type (e.g., DLINK, LINKSYS, etc)? If so, this is what is causing the problem and there is no solution other than convincing IT that it is a bad idea to have duplicate network names.

Mail won't automatically apply rules to messages in "sent" folder

The title says it all. Is this a bug? Mail lets you set rules for items in the "sent" folder, but apple won't automatically apply the rules like it will for all other mail. You must highlight your "sent" messages and click "apply rules." This is quite annoying. Am I missing something.
Thanks,
Jake

Once you send an e-mail it gets time stamped, from what I know this timestamp can't be modified. I too have received e-mails with the wrong timestamp. In some mail clients such as Yahoo Mail and Gmail what will happen is that you will get a new message notification but the email won't be at the top of the inbox but rather somewhere down the list. This happens as e-mails are sorted by their timestamps when they arrive to your inbox.
Hope this helps!

What is the best workflow procedure for importing DV SP 16x9 footage into FCP7 and then exporting the best quality 16x9 to standard DVD so that it looks great (or at least good) on a 50" Samsung LCD TV ?????? Please help! anybody?? Thanks!

We are using a Sony HDV-Z7U camera for acquisition. We recently recorded an event using the camera's non HD capabilities. We set the camera to record "DV SP" 16x9 settings on both Mini-DV tape and CF card.
To import the DV SP footage into FCP7 we chose the "DV NTSC anamorphic" setting in the log and transfer settings window. After a successful transfer from the CF card (the CF card held approximately 83 minutes) we checked the size of the file and found it to be 16 Gigs! Why so big? An 83 miniDV tape shot in SD should easily fit on a standard 4.7 gig MPEG2 DVD.
We need to burn DVDs of this show - we sent it to compressor and got horrible quality.
What is the best setting to use in FCP7's log and transfer settings window to import DV SP 16x9 standard def. footage and what is the best method for exporting for outputting this footage to DVD that preserves the original quality of the DV SP footage?? Anyone? Many thanks

> Why so big? An 83 miniDV tape shot in SD should easily fit on a standard 4.7 gig MPEG2 DVD.
No it doesn't. DV is 13GB per hour.
In any case, a Video DVD uses the MPEG 2 codec, not DV.
>What is the best setting to use in FCP7's log and transfer settings window to import DV SP 16x9 standard def.
DV NTSC anamorphic.
>what is the best method for exporting for outputting this footage to DVD...
Use the Compressor DVD preset "Best Quality 90 mins".
>...that preserves the original quality of the DV SP footage?
Not going to happen, you are compressing by a factor of 1:4. Shooting as HDV would have given you better quality material to start with. DV is at the bottom end of the scale.

*** Settings for importing down-converted HDV footage

Working with a Sony Z1U with HDV footage. Have printed HDV footage to tape and now want to import it as SD footage in order to go to DVD. In the settings on the Z1U, do I choose the "squeeze" or "letterbox" option? I think squeeze, but I want to double check. I want this to fill widescreen tv's and appear letterboxed on tubes.
Thanks in advance!

you will probably get better help on this topic at the creativecow.net forums

MacBook won't automatically sleep

My MacBook won't automatically sleep anymore. If I close the lid or command it to sleep, it will. But it will no longer automatically sleep. I've tried tons of fixes and searched for hours on the internet, but still have not found a solution. I seem to have noticed that this starting happening after I installed Windows XP via Bootcamp, so I'm guessing that the problem is related to that. Any ideas?

This is for a Mac that won't sleep.
Here is KB article HT1776 with their tips.
Mine follow;
USB devices and hubs often cause Macs to not sleep or wake quickly from sleep (notably HP printers and scanners, HP all in ones, and Cannon scanners). Disconnect all USB except for keyboard and mouse and try. If it sleeps, add one back at a time testing after each one to find the culprit.If you've set your Mac to receive faxes, it may not be able to sleep. It might also have a damaged preferences file.
If you use your Mac for faxing, open System Preferences. click Print & Fax, click the Faxing tab, and uncheck the Receive Faxes On This Computer box.
If that doesn't work or you've never faxed on your Mac, go to Finder/Hard Drive /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration and delete the com.apple.PowerManagement.plist and com..apple.AutoWake.plist files (if your Mac asks, type your admin. password).
If the latter file isn't present in the folder, go to user name(probably your name)/Library/Preferences, delete the com.apple.systemuiserver.plist file, and reboot your Mac.
Hope this helps!
P.S. One member here reported this (Michael Gleason);
"I have had this problem with my IMac G5. It is surprisingly irritating. LaCie's Silverkeeper backup software was the cause. By default it gave itself permission to wake up the computer to check if a backup was needed. Do you have this or a similar program installed which has scheduled activities including wake-up permissions as an option?"
Dave Hamilton provided this link, xlr8yourmac.com, to a member, which addresses failure of deep sleep with some users that updated and added new FireWire and USB card.
Also, here is Apple KB article TA2469 about PCI cards and sleep.
tomhorvat adds this; After few days of messing around I found out that I had desktop background (wallpaper) set to change every 1 minute.
After unchecking "Change picture..." in system preferences (under Desktop/Screen saver), my powerbook went to sleep all by itself.
Tristan Currier noticed this; "I have a Canon printer(shared) and my imac would not sleep. I opened up printer/fax in system prefs and noticed it said the printer was in use when it was off. Opened up the printer queue and noticed about 7 pending documents. Deleted them all and now it sleeps.
Check the printer queue!"
Allan Jones says "sometimes there is Network activity: launch System Preferences > Energy Saver > "Options" tab and uncheck "Wake for Ethernet network administrator access."
Good Luck!  DALE

Imported 16:9 DV footage won't automatically Letterbox

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for