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NTSC-DV to NTSC-DV Widescreen
I know that this has been discussed in the past, but apparently I still am confused, so please bear with me. I have NTSC-DV 4X3 footage that I plan to edit, with the final product to be put on DVD. I really want this footage to show full screen on current HDTVs (16X9) without any letterboxing, as if it originally was shot in 16X9. Is this possible, and if so, what hit on quality will I take? There are so many switches in Vegas Pro 12 that I do not know where to begin. Do I edit in 4X3, then convert when I render, or do I edit with an NTSC-DV widescreen template and switch each clip to a widescreen aspect ratio? Do I change any aspect pixel ratios? Should I instead have DVD Architect handle the 4X3-to-16X9 conversion? I want the best bang for the buck, if it even would work at all, so I am all ears. What is suggested as the best method with the best output, given the circumstances? I await advice so I do not waste my time editing up the wrong creek without a paddle…
Rich Kutnick
VIDEO IMPRESSIONS -
8 Replies
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[Rich Kutnick] “I really want this footage to show full screen on current HDTVs (16X9) without any letterboxing, as if it originally was shot in 16X9. Is this possible, and if so, what hit on quality will I take?”
Yes it is possible and you will take a huge quality hit because in order to get 4:3 into 16:9 you will have to throw away 1/4 of your vertical resolution and then scale what is left up by 5x to make it HD.
Boris FX has a plug-in called BCC UpRez that can help with this process. I show ou how to use it in this tutorial.
[Rich Kutnick] ” Do I edit in 4X3, then convert when I render, or do I edit with an NTSC-DV widescreen template and switch each clip to a widescreen aspect ratio?”
You want to set your project up for DV Widescreen and then crop all of your 4:3 footage to match the 16:9 project while being careful not to crop peoples heads off.
[Rich Kutnick] “Do I change any aspect pixel ratios?”
No that will distort the video. You want to crop instead.
[Rich Kutnick] “Should I instead have DVD Architect handle the 4X3-to-16X9 conversion?”
No, this will just stretch the video to 16:9 or produce letterboxing. The only way to make 4:3 into 16:9 is to carefully crop each scene while making sure that you don’t crop out too much of the important parts.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
What John said and yes, you have to do it clip by clip. Actually, often you also have to keyframe within the clips unless you specifically shoot the video with 16×9 in mind.
It will look worse since the cropped footage will now be scaled up even more to fill the whole widescreen TV but it will still probably look better to most people than the old 4×3 ratio with masks on the sides.
I remember working in consumer electronics retail when DVDs first came out. People were constantly bitching about the “Black bars” on the top and bottom of the screen and hated widescreen. Now it is vice versa.
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Thank you Mr.John Rofrano,its help me too.
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Thank Mr.John Rofrano,its help me too.
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I have another thought about these processes. What if I just work in native 4X3 and render as such, but check the “Stretch video to fill output frame size (do not letterbox)”. I experimented with this, and so far I am not cutting off any heads. If this does occur, though, couldn’t I go back and adjust the pan/crop in Vegas for the offending clips? This process gives me a full 16X9 playback and the slightly softer video is hardly noticeable.
Rich Kutnick
VIDEO IMPRESSIONS -
I wanted to revisit this thread and update all of you on how I have resolved this shoot in 4X3, edit and burn DVDs in 16X9 dilemma–thanks to VASST’s excellent plug-in, Event Tools, on a per-event basis I utilized “Match Selected Events to Project Aspect” on each clip, and voilà my original 4X3 images now are in 16X9 without any apparent distortion. My project properties are set to NTSC DV Widescreen, and while there is a small bit of cropping everything does look proportional. Great plug-in, John Rofrano…and to think that I had this plug-in at my disposal when I posted my original inquiry!! It was right there staring at me…couldn’t see the forest for the trees!!
Rich Kutnick
VIDEO IMPRESSIONS -
That’s great news Rich! I’m glad our plug-in helped you out and thanks for getting back to the COW with the results. That’s what makes these forums more valuable for people looking for an answer in the future.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com
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