Aspect Ratio

[Michael Phillips]

with the latest release, go to REFORMAT category of effects, and drop either the 16:9 letterbox on it or the pan & scan effect. If letterbox, either drop it on the entire sequence if everything is 16:9, or on individual clips. If you don’t want letterbox, drop a center crop. If you want control over which part of the image will remain part of the image, then use the pan & scan tool. Select source 16:9 anamorphic and target 4:3. And then move the grid to your desired position – zoom, and keyframes also available.

[Dave Schweitzer]

And if you have an older version of AXP, you could try the RESIZE effect – in the IMAGE category of the EFX Palette. I used to set mine at 100Wid to 73Hgt and it would look great, although I’ve since learned technically 75 is the proper setting. Another thing to consider is the possible need to mask the top and bottom edges of video because you may now be seeing field switching or VITC/UBIT info along the top edge. The field switching is especially evident if you’ve got a slomo on the clip. Simply Crop a couple lines off the top and/or bottom with the RESIZE effect adjustments and it’ll do the trick. You can also set the color of the letterbox, something that can come in quite handy. Finally, you may get a better quality image by clicking the HQ button in the RESIZE effect adjustments – but it’ll force a render and this particular render may take a long time.

Good Luck!

Dave