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Adding black bars to 16:19 Footage?
I have been given some footage as a QT movie (DV-PAL) which has been shot anamorphically. However, as a QT movie it has not been rendered out as such – that is to say it fills a full 4:3, 720×576 window (but looks noticeably wrong). I have no problem in outputting the movie in true anamorphic ratio (setting the sequence to 16:9 and making the frame size 720×404) BUT my client is delivering the final video to the web where it has to fit into a pre-set template that is set to 4:3 ratio. So…
What I need to do is basically make the video appear anamorphic in a 4:3 frame size by adding those ubiquitous black bands at the top and bottom. So far I have reduced the aspect ratio in the ‘Motion’ tab of the footage in question to -36. It seems to do the trick, but is this best, professional practice for adding the black bands? Or is there a better solution?
Many Thanks,
Dan
G5 DP 2.5; 4Gig Ram; Blackmagic Decklink Extreme; 23″ Cinema HD Display; Sony HR Trinitron PAL monitor with SD card; 500 Gig Lacie Big Disk Triple Interface; FCP HD; DVDSP3; After Effects 6.5; Photoshop CS; Illustrator CS; plus many others
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5 Replies
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Oops – 16:9 should be the more accurate title
G5 DP 2.5; 4Gig Ram; Blackmagic Decklink Extreme; 23″ Cinema HD Display; Sony HR Trinitron PAL monitor with SD card; 500 Gig Lacie Big Disk Triple Interface; FCP HD; DVDSP3; After Effects 6.5; Photoshop CS; Illustrator CS; plus many others
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Drop the 16:9 footage into a FCP 4:3 timeline and FCP will automatically add the black bars for you.
Ed -
The trouble with what I’m trying to do is that the source footage actually fully fits the 4:3 timeline EVEN though it is anamorphic.
G5 DP 2.5; 4Gig Ram; Blackmagic Decklink Extreme; 23″ Cinema HD Display; Sony HR Trinitron PAL monitor with SD card; 500 Gig Lacie Big Disk Triple Interface; FCP HD; DVDSP3; After Effects 6.5; Photoshop CS; Illustrator CS; plus many others
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Dan,
All anamorphic footage is 4×3, the distortion is what makes it work. I do what you are trying to do all the time. Ed is correct, you edit in a 16×9 sequence and when done, drag that sequence into a new 4×3 sequence and you’re done. Sometimes FCP needs a little help, when you drag your footage into a 16×9 timeline, you need to open it in the viewer and change the distort tab o to zero, and it will fill the frame.
This article is teriffic.
https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/understanding_16_9.html
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Thanks guys – I understand now – didn’t realise you had to drag the sequence in.
Dan
G5 DP 2.5; 4Gig Ram; Blackmagic Decklink Extreme; 23″ Cinema HD Display; Sony HR Trinitron PAL monitor with SD card; 500 Gig Lacie Big Disk Triple Interface; FCP HD; DVDSP3; After Effects 6.5; Photoshop CS; Illustrator CS; plus many others
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