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4/3 letterbox(16/9)
Hello,
Im working on a project(for dvd), filmed by different cameraman(including myself).
I made clearly that that it had to be shot in 16/9.
Now i noticed that a lot off shots where shot in 4/3. Because of that i tought of using a letterbox and use all 16/9 shots in the same project, so i have a complete 4/3 project.This might be a pretty dumb question, but i dont realy know iff a letterbox 4/3 image can be vieuwed on a widescreen tv(i dont any) in 16/9, so it scales the letterboxes out of vieuw.
I dont want that the client see a 4/3 with letterbox on there flatty.Do you think i should scale the 4/3 footage to 16/9(did it but looks terrible) and work further in 16/9 project?
What should i do? What should i do?
It a pretty big project…Grt
T.
Peace
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12 Replies
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Anything you do will be a compromise, and that’s a judgement call that none of us can make for you. What does the client want? What does the story dictate?
I’ve blown up a lot of 4×3 to 16×9 in FCP with very good results. By the time it goes to DVD you won’t lose very much.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Post-production Supervisor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles -
i think the idea of crating a letter-boxed 4/3 master is a pretty good one.
last time i tried blowing up 4/3 to cut in with 16/9 footage, and then reducing it back to a letterboxed version for 4/3 broadcast, the 4/3 was noticeably poor quality.
so i made a special 4/3 version of the program instead.
this was before FCP had it’s “Motion Filtering Quality” optionsmy guess is that most TV out there are still not widescreen, but the number is growing fast.
you may have a better idea of what your audience will haveon a widescreen TV, the image would be a 16/9 box-within-a-box.
most Widescreen TVs would be able to zoom that up.
but i couldn’t comment on the qualitynick
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Hey the Mister T,
I pity de fool who shot 4×3 when you told them to shoot in 16×9.
I suggest you fire that cameraman but first make them reshoot due to their mistake.
Good luck,
Tony Salgado
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Hey the Mister T,
I pity de fool who shot 4×3 when you told them to shoot in 16×9.
I suggest you fire that cameraman but first make them reshoot due to their mistake.
Good luck,
Tony Salgado
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“Do you think i should scale the 4/3 footage to 16/9(did it but looks terrible) and work further in 16/9 project?”
T,
Yes, I’d suggest to stay in 16:9 form many reasons, looks better and you’ve
got less clips in 4:3 anyway.Here is a great solution for you, a tutorial by Jude Cotter (Faking it: Making 4:3
footage work in 16:9 projects)https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/faking_it.html
Cheers
Mick
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I agree. Making everything 4×3 is essentially like dumbing down the entire project to the lowest common denominator.
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but it WILL LOOK BETTER on a 4/3 display.
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Tony couldn’t have said it better. Since we have been doing HD downconverts, we have discovered that less than 40% of the video people out there have any idea what the difference is between anamorphic 16×9, letterbox and 4×3.
We just had one of our feature films go into distribution. The producer brought me a list of deliverables and there were requests for variations of widescreen, letterbox and full screen, none of which made sense. When I talked to the producer, I asked for the distributor’s contact info so I could get it straight. He was tight lipped and and didn’t want anyone ruining the deal. (Rookies!) I took a guess and we’ll see what happens.
Anyway, back to the downconverts, and when we hire shooters, we have a chart that shows the three options and explains them. They sign off before any work is done and camera ops who get it wrong do not get paid and can be held liable for any costs involved.
As for the question at hand, good luck on “fixing it in post”. You could file a claim against the camera guy’s insurance. He does have insurance, right?
Steve Wargo
Tempe, ArizonaIt’s a dry heat!
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[Steve Wargo] “Since we have been doing HD downconverts, we have discovered that less than 40% of the video people out there have any idea what the difference is between anamorphic 16×9, letterbox and 4×3.”
Wow! Makes me glad to be working here in the UK – 16×9 has been standard on our productions for years now, and all the camera ops seem to have a good grasp of how it all works.
That 40% figure stuns me!
-Simmie
2 G5 – Kona LH
3 G4s – Cinewave
1 xbox360, 1 PSP, 1 PS2 & a Gamecube
https://www.speak.co.uk -
This is due to the fact that Americans don’t like change. And, the fact of us having to change from 4:3 to 16:9 is absolutely painful and confusing to those who don’t care.
The lesson here…. Use strong words (explainations) and crayons.
_______________________________
Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
http://www.schazamproductions.com
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