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problems letterboxing 16×9 footage
I have just finished editing a project that I shot on a Canon XL-2 in 16×9 mode. I imported all of my footage as anamorphic, and set up my sequence settings by checking 16×9. Now, I want to letterbox everything before I export it to make sure it plays correctly on all monitors. I set up a new sequence and left the 16×9 box unchecked, specifying that it will be a regular 4×3 sequence. I copy my original 16×9 sequence and pasted it in my new 4×3 sequence, and almost all of the footage letterboxes appropriately. However, a couple of the clips remain 16×9 and will not letterbox. Any ideas on what could be going wrong with these two clips that won’t letterbox?
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8 Replies
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You have sort of the right idea. If you stick to this method you have to open up the motion tab of each clip and twirl down the distort parameter. Change the aspect ratio to -33.33. The trick is you have to do this for each and every clip.
The easiest way to do what you are doing is to set up a regular 4:3 timeline (anamorphic is unchecked) and then drag your 16:9 sequence into the 4:3 sequence. You are nesting the 16:9 inside the 4:3 sequence. This should take care of all of the distorting for you. If not, single click the one long single clip in the timeline and hit return to load it up in the viewer. Select the motion tab and change the distort aspect ratio to -33.33.
Jeremy
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I think that I’m doing exactly as you are describing. The problem is that just a few of the anamorphic clips in the timeline won’t letterbox even after I drag them into my 4×3 timeline. All but two behave exactly as they should. Any idea why this would be?
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I described two ways, which way are you using? Are they video clips or text?
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I’m using the second way you described, dragging the original 16×9 sequence into a 4×3 sequence. They are video clips.
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Okay, now you should double click that long sequence (the nested 16:9 sequence) so that it opens up a new timeline. Now go to those two offending clips. DOuble lcik on each one and see what their distort tab is set to.
Write me back when this is done.
Jeremy
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Thanks Jeremy, not at my machine right now, but I will do this later and respond.
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Ok, but just to be redundant, your original post says you copied and and pasted the clips from your 16:9 sequence into a 4:3 sequence. What you really want to do is drag the 16:9 sequence icon from the browser into the 4:3 sequence.
Good luck
Jeremy
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Just stepping into this post for a moment. Last week I needed to take a show that was edited in 16×9 animorphic and make a letterboxed version for the client. Tall, squished, animorphic people confuse him. Anyhow, I created a new sequence, DV50, nonanimorphic for this version. I dragged the original sequence icon onto the new 4×3 sequence and it would not letterbox, no matter what I did. It seems that there are times when this works just fine, times when it doesn’t work at all and times when most of the clips, but not all will distort. It all seems pretty inconsistant to me. Perhaps there is a “trick” to ensure proper distortion to the letterbox format when working with a 16×9 original sequence? I ended up applying a -33.33 distort value to “force” it to letterbox and rendered it out. I was working under a deadline and simply had to get the show out for the client. So, why is this process so inconsistant or is it just my workflow?
Just wondering about stuff on a Monday morning while getting the first cup of joe into me…
Tom
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