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4:3 vs 16:9
I am editing on Avid Newscutter at a network that broadcasts 16:9 and we constantly get 4:3 footage which we compensate for with “fuzzy bars”. The problem is I don’t know of any way to know for sure that the footage is 4:3 other than by eying it. Is there a way I can be certain what footage is 4:3? In Final Cut, 4:3 footage comes in as 4:3. In Avid, the footage is stretched to fit to 16:9 and sometimes it isn’t easy to tell which format it actually is.
Thanks
Steve Rogalinski
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4 Replies
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I deal with this all the time. I’m also at a network that deals with 4×3 footage in 16×9 pieces. The fact that both Media Composer and Newscutter stretch 4×3 media to fit the 16×9 frame is one of my few real pet peeves with Avid. Just leave it as it is, with black sidebars. I’m a professional, I’ll make the decision on how to handle it.
Regarding how to tell if it’s right or wrong, there is no “easy way.” The simplest way is to just switch your client monitor between 4×3 and 16×9 and make your best guess as to which is right. Look at faces, obvious circular objects, etc. and go from there. I wish I had a better answer for you, but as far as I know, there simply isn’t one. Oh and be careful you don’t take something that is already correct and squeeze it into Anamorphic. Good luck.
M. Scott Cole
Senior Post Production Editor
60 MINUTES
CBS News, NYC
sc6@cbsnews.com
mscottc@comcast.net -
Surely its not as simple as that. Both 16:9 and 4:3 PAL SD footage have dimensions of 720×576, so how is Avid supposed to know if it should stretch it to 4:3 or 16:9?
Andrew McKee
Editor/Colourist
Avid Certified Instructor – MC5.5
Apple Certified Trainer – FCP7
Pixelwizard.net -
In most cases, SD 16×9 and 4×3 footage have different pixel counts. And in all cases, HD and SD are completely different. Yes, there are anamorphic situations where SD 16×9 is squeezed into a 4×3 raster. So it’s very easy for an edit application to leave media in it’s native aspect as it’s put on a timeline, allowing the editor (person) to make that choice. At the very least, the method of handling this issue should be a choice for the editor to choose in the settings for the project.
Choices I would envision would be
A) Do not Scale to Fit.
B) Scale to Fit without changing Aspect Ratio
C) Scale to Fit changing Aspect Ratio.M. Scott Cole
Senior Post Production Editor
60 MINUTES
CBS News, NYC
sc6@cbsnews.com
mscottc@comcast.net -
This is already done (sort of) in MC 5.x.
Select your project aspect ratio as 16×9.
Make sure you have the Reformat column visible in your bins.
Select Pillarbox in the reformat column. Stuff that is 16×9 gets left alone. Stuff that is 4:3 gets pillar boxed.
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