“Bleeding” an image (?) as a Last Resort

[Stephen Mann]

Post a screenshot.

Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com

[Mike Kujbida]

Kelly, are your project properties (File- Properties) set to 720 x 486?

“…the image I’m using is the top-most layer.”

Open Pan/Crop for each event on this layer, right-click and select “Match Output Aspect”.

[Bob Peterson]

I’ve had this happen when the still image aspect ratio is a bit off. When that happens, the image leaves either vertical or horizontal gaps that underlying layers can show through. There may be a calculation to find the exact pixel dimensions needed for a particular video resolution, but I usually resort to a bit of trial and error to find a precise setting. I adjust pixel dimensions in Photoshop until I find the setting which works.

[Kelly Griffin]

Yeah, well, I’m just baffled why if project settings are 720×486 and an image is 720×486 how they don’t fit EXACTLY.

I’m going to check Mike’s “Match Output Aspect” setting, but I could swear I looked at that as well…

Harumph,

–Kelly

[Kelly Griffin]

Hey Mike, yes, project properties are at 720×486. Letterbox image is also 720×486.

But, I’ll try what you suggest and hope for the best, thanks.

–Kelly

[Matt Crowley]

As a quick alternative to making a still image letterbox mask, you can use the Checkerboard media generator to make the mask.

Just drop a Checkerboard media generator onto your top track, and set the parameters like so:

Width: 1
Height: 0.75
Edge Blending: 0 Horiz and Vert
Color 1: transparent
Color 2: Solid black
Grid Position: X=0, Y=0.125

Save that as a preset once you’ve tested it, and stretch it out to the duration of the project.

Those settings also work for PAL – basically any 4:3 to 16:9 letterboxing I think.

[Kelly Griffin]

That’s a cool idea, Matt, and I’ll try that.

But, I guess my bigger issue is just understanding why I’m getting what I’m getting when I’ve never encountered it with other programs before…

–Kelly

[Tyson Onaga]

720 x 486 = 1.48
640 x 480 = 1.33

Have you tried creating a 640 x 480 project, nesting the 720 project inside of it, and putting a 1.48 pan/crop event at the beginning, and then render?

[Kelly Griffin]

I tried Matt’s suggestion and got the exact same results. I may try Tyson’s idea for approval renders, but I should have been clear earlier that I get the same issue with 720×480 MPG2 renders. Everything’s perfect with 720×486 MOV renders, but I just can’t figure out W-H-Y this is happening. No matter what I’ve tried, Vegas wants to take my letterbox image and shrink it about five or six pixels on the left and right, making the underlayers show through.

So (I guess), back to my original “bleeding” idea… How can I make a top and bottom black strip that goes wider than 720 (and stays that way during a render), bleeding out past the actual frame size so that fullsize MPG2s and 640×480 WMVs will look correct?

Thanks… sorry if I’m exasperating to anyone.

–Kelly

[Matt Crowley]

Kelly, have you got “Adjust source media to better match project/render settings” enabled in the project properties? If yes, then disable that and try the renders again. This option re-frames (crops) some source media to fit the render settings, and seems to only affect some video events for me, not stills – that might explain why you see some media showing through the mask edges.

Alternatively, try enabling the “Stretch video to fill output frame…” option in the render dialog. That will prevent extra letterboxing by cropping the output video slightly as necessary when you render to a format that’s different to your project settings. There’s a slight quality hit due to the resize, but that’s probably OK for approval/proof videos.