cropping photos for wide screen

[Mike Velte]

My math (720 * .9 * 1.33(PAR) says 853 x 480, but I would not crop it in PS. I would create black bars in the titler to overlay the still, allowing you to reposition the still for best exposure.

[Redgum]

Or if the still has enough resolution simply crop it with the motion filter.

Redgum Television Productions
Broadcast & Corporate Documentaries
Brisbane, Australia

[Joe Landau]

Mike,
Thanks.
I’m a novice video maker so pardon my ignorance.
I was always under the impression that to import photos into Prmeiere, I had to use PS to convert them to 720×480 @ 72 dpi (or for vertical yyX480 @ 72 dpi). Always! That’s what I’ve been doing.
So, when I moved to widescreen I assumed that I must first bring my photos to 72dpi and crop them to fit the wide screen (assuming no motion).
Which of the above assumptions is right/wrong?
What is the real scoop on bringing photos into Premiere? widescreen or not.
Thanks
Joe

[John Baum]

You can bring photos of any size in. just don’t bring them in at a larger size then you need as Premiere’s performance takes a big hit if you start adding even just a few large stills.
Using stills larger then your project size allows you to do pan and scan effects on them. The main reason you would import a picture larger then frame size.

[Amit Zinman]

I actually use Microsoft Office Picture Manager for cropping and resizing jobs. Why you might ask? It’s that fastest tool around and you don’t have to do the math yourself, it does it for you. Also, free with Office 2003.