AMA Linked Vertical Video from iPhone

[Shane Ross]

Tell whoever shot the video vertical to stop doing that. It’s wrong. Only works on YouTube, and even there, is very hard to watch. Only kiosk TVs in malls are vertical. Shoot horizontal.

But if they keep sending it, then you’ll need to prep the footage in other ways. Import into After Effects into a project with proper TV dimensions, and then render it out and export with black on the side, as DNxHD and import that. Not sure if converters like Sorenson Squeeze or MPEG STREAMCLIP will allow you to do that.

Shane
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[Nathan Mcalpine]

Thanks for your response Shane. Now, your opinion on what’s right and wrong as far as shooting is pretty irrelevant. The footage I get is the footage I get.

That is a bummer that I can only use footage that has “proper TV dimensions.” I can import whatever I want into FCP or Premiere. I wonder why Avid can’t handle alternate ratios… I import still images fine that are an assortment of dimensions.

I guess I’ll just mark that one up as a ‘con’ for Avid and bring these clips into AE for export.

Thanks again!
Nate

Nathan McAlpine
FCP and now Premiere Editor

[John Pale]

FCP and Premiere have “multimedia” editing roots. Avid is primarily a broadcast/film editor and only works well with standard video formats. That’s just how it is. Not really the best tool for custom or non-standard sources. If you have access to FCP or Premiere, I’d recommend using either over avid for this kind of work.

Another problem you may face , is that the iPhone and other phone camera shoot VARIABLE frame rate. You’ll need to convert to a fixed frame rate, while fixing the orientation in another program

[Shane Ross]

[Nathan McAlpine] “That is a bummer that I can only use footage that has “proper TV dimensions.””

Avid was designed with very specific needs…Film and TV production. Period. Meant to be used with film and video cameras that shot standard formats. Many cel phones do not…and when held vertically…not at all.

[Nathan McAlpine] “I can import whatever I want into FCP or Premiere.”

Then use those for this task. Not all NLE’s are the same, they all have strengths and weaknesses. Know them, and use the appropriate solution to the given problem.

Problem: Some doofus shot vertical video.

Solution: Use FCP, FCX or Adobe Premiere Pro.

[Nathan McAlpine] “I wonder why Avid can’t handle alternate ratios…”

Because it was specifically designed to work with film and broadcast video formats only.

[Nathan McAlpine] “I import still images fine that are an assortment of dimensions.”

Actually, when you import stills, Avid creates media that matches the frame size and aspect ratio of the project. Shot 8000×4000 pixels…or 1000×400, 300 DPI? Avid will import and make 16:9, 1920×1080 (if those are the given settings), and 72DPI. NO zooming in on that…and the image will be distorted. Unless you choose an option that won’t distort the image, in which case it’ll be framed by black. But still to low res to do anything with. Thus why you use Pan & Zoom, or Moving Picture.

Stills aren’t video…Avid imports those differently.

[Nathan McAlpine] ”
I guess I’ll just mark that one up as a ‘con’ for Avid and bring these clips into AE for export.”

Exactly.

Shane
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[Michael Phillips]

Go to properties in MoviPlayer, and change display from portrait to landscape and save. AMA link, then apply a DVE to make it portrait again.

Michael

[Shane Ross]

Don’t you come in here with your quick and logical solutions, Michael!

(nice solution)

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Nathan Mcalpine]

That was easy, thanks Michael!

Thanks for the feedback guys, but again, I’m trying to put Avid through multiple test so I can see if I want to purchase it or not. I already have FCP and Premiere so that’s not really the point here. I’m sure most Avid editors don’t just switch to another NLE when they’re given random phone footage.

I’m going to throw some RED footage into the mix next to see how that performs.

Nathan McAlpine
FCP and now Premiere Editor

[Michael Phillips]

🙂

MC is a mishmash of workarounds. But I will stay away from quality issues and effective resolution when working this way unless it is for green screen shooting of people and tall things to be composited in, etc.

Michael

[Michael Phillips]

Arbitrary resolutions and performance of all codec types will not be Media Composers strength when compared to Premiere Pro. AMA will allow linking to many camera formats, but despite what Marketing might say about instant editing, your mileage will vary based on codec type, amount of hours, length of each clip, etc.

Michael

[Daniel Frome]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt9zSfinwFA (youtube video that you will enjoy)