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Request – How do I output my 4:3 capture to 16:9?
I’m converting yet more old VHS tapes, using a Canopus ADVC 100 and a Sony SLV E1000. Between, I am using a Panasonic ES10 in pass through mode which does a wonderful job with everything else I convert.
Sony SLV E1000 > Panasonic ES10 > Canopus ADVC 100 > FCP X
Please see the attached image: 9149_screenshot20150816at9.32.jpg.zip
Due to some kind of HTSC / PAL issue, the frame size is what you see there.
it’s basically a slightly flattened (horizontally) image of what would be full frame 4:3 image if stretched vertically. Which is fine.
BUT I don’t want to artificially stretch out the image in FCP X, I’d actually rather wind up with the slightly flattened image as my full frame as it’s somewhat approaching 16:9 which is better for watching on screens these days.So what is the best way to tell FCP to not simply crop the bottom bars out, but to output the final, cropped video to 16:9 or as close to it as the captured video allows?
All I know how to do is crop and reposition – what else do I need to do in order to output to 16:9?
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10 Replies
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Sorry, but you have a 640×480 pixel image.
To put it into a 16×9 raster without pillarboxes of some kind REQUIRES scaling. No alternative. You just don’t have enough horizontal pixels (or vertical – if that hash at the bottom of the frame is some weird capture of the vertical interval) Period.
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Thanks.
Is the transform function the best way to do this?
In a 16:9 timeline you can use the transform controls to fit the frame as wished:
https://support.apple.com/kb/PH12604?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US (google it if you are region blocked from this US page)Or is the best thing to do now is stretch the image to fill the 4:3 frame after all….?
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Put your 4:3 footage in a 16:9 sequence and stretch it or scale it as you see fit. You either stretch it and distort the image, or you scale it up proportionately and lose image from the top and/or bottom, or you don’t scale or stretch and have black bars on the left and right. Those are your options. The sharpest, distortion free image will be to have the pillar boxing bars on left and right. IMO, scaling it up would be overly soft (you’re essentially blowing it up 300%) and stretching is just, distorted.
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Bret is spot on. pillar boxing takes the viewer a few minutes to adjust to and then if the content is interesting, who carers.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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Thanks all. As the image looks strange with the large black area underneath, I have to do *something* with it, so i’ll try both scaling to a full 4:3 *and* cropping / upscaling to 14:9 or 16:9.
Again, is the transform function the best way for me to do this…?
Or will creating a 14:9 or 16:9 sequence automatically do… something?Trial and error this weekend will no doubt answer many questions…
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If you really want to convert your fuzzy 4:3 video to 16:9, drop it in a 16:9 HD sequence and scale to taste. I don’t understand why you’d want to stretch it to fill the screen and distort the image, but in any case the transform controls are how you’d do it, yes.
I would probably just convert it to proper 4:3 and save the drive space. Modern TVs already have the fit to fill option if you really feel like stretching it.
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That helps, thanks Bret!
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I have tried simply centering the image without resizing, and even at maximum quality “master file” huge file size settings, the output video is much softer and evidently degraded from the raw digitized video.
Given that when I centre the image in FCP I am not rescaling anything, and the image size is unchanged, is there any setting I should be checking to make sure the output file is not compromised in its image quality? I was very surprised to see how much softer than the raw file the output centred video was….
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The act of putting a 4:3 SD image into an HD sequence alone is by default a 225% scale increase. Even if FCP X calls it 100%. That’s just a proportional ratio.
But you shouldn’t lose quality, played back at the same size that is.
What are all your settings?
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I’m way too late …. the problem is also the playing vcr is set to the wrong tv system
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Bedankt, Thanks,
Eric-Jan van den Bogaard,Haarlem, Netherlands.
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