Aspect Ratio

[Pete Waterman]

Hi All
I know there will be a simple anwser to this!
Aspect ratio I am putting togeter a slideshow of photos I want it to be widescreen!
I have gone into settings/preferences/edit in the section for image I have "Keep Aspect Ratio"
After selecting some images dropping them into the timeline if I put them in the main track (top) the Aspect Ratio is keeped
Now if I put the same images in any overlay track the Aspect Ratio is changed!
Is there a way to have the Aspect Ratio keeped when putting images in a overlay track or do I have to manually set Keep Aspect Ratio?
Thank in advance
Pete

[lata]

Hi Pete

If your images are using the aspect ratio 16:9, lets say they are 1024px x 576px then the images will fit to screen without any borders.
--------------------
Overlay Track
Place an image in the overlay track, this shows as a smaller version.

Right click the image on screen and select Fit to Screen, Then repeat and select Keep Aspect Ratio.

Right the image in the timeline and select Copy Attributes
Shift + Click to select all images, (select last image)
Right Click and select Paste Attributes, all images will resize as first image.

----------------------
Keep Aspect Ratio is what you should use, from preferences (f6) Edit Tab--Use Fit to screen for overlay, may help provided the images are 16:9, otherwise they will be distorted to fill the screen.

-----------------------

Changing the background colour may help in identifying the video frame (F6--General tab), change back to black before rendering.

[Pete Waterman]

Thanks for the reply Lata
So there is now way to set it to auto set the Aspect ration in the overlay tracks?
That suprises me!

[lata]

Hi

When you add a clip to the overlay track it will be displayed as a smaller version, this will be in proportion, displaying using the correct aspect.

You can resize the clip within the preview screen, dragging the corners will keep the image in proportion.
Dragging the edge will stretch the frame, right click and select Keep aspect Ratio

You can Fit to Screen, but your clip has to be the same shape as the screen otherwise it will distort.
And thats the main problem, using clips that are a different shape to the video screen.

If you crop your images to the aspect ratio of the video frame, 16:9 or 4:3 then you simply use fit to screen, and will display correctly

[Kenneth Veal]

“If you crop your images to the aspect ratio of the video frame, 16:9 or 4:3 then you simply use fit to screen, and will display correctly “
So, …..how do I crop images to the A/R of the video frame, is there a way to keep the A/R of stills taken on my digital still cam that may not be 16.9 that will display on a 16.9 TV without distortion and borders? I ask because I have been trying to sort this in the Paint Shop Pro forum without success in spite of loads of help.Do images have to be in the correct A/R before they are imported in the project?

[Pete Waterman]

As you say you will have to crop them rather than resize them!
As far as I'm aware most camera (std)shoot in 4:3 A/R
I don't know about PSP but in Photoshop Elements when you click the crop icon, a set of commands are displayed along the top, select the mode & fixed ratio enter 16 in the width & 9 in the height then crop to where you want the image cropped! you will lose some of the image
You cannot batch crop due to the loss of image some images you will want to keep the top of the shot some the bottom etc
Within VS you can fit to screen & keep A/R That way you can possession the image just how you want it!

[Kenneth Veal]

How do I change the A/R to 16.9 for images to go in the main video track using only Video Studio to do this

[Pete Waterman]

you set you project properties to 16:9
project properties/edit
project option/general
display aspect ratio 16:9/4:3
I think this is what you mean??

[pvreditor]

So, …..how do I crop images to the A/R of the video frame, is there a way to keep the A/R of stills taken on my digital still cam that may not be 16.9 that will display on a 16.9 TV without distortion and borders?

At least some digital cameras allow you to preset your images for a 16:9 aspect ratio. My daily camera (which I use for both video and stills) is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20, and it has a setting for either 4:3 or 16:9 stills. When set for 16:9, the stills work perfectly in VideoStudio x4, without any cropping or panning. This camera is called the ZS20 in the US, and I think it is the TZ20 in Europe and elsewhere. There are probably other cameras that can be set for 16:9, as well.

FWIW, this camera takes surprisingly good HD video (AVCHD). In fact, my opinion is that it takes better video than still images.

Bob Kovacs
http://www.bobkovacs.com

[lata]

Hi Kenneth

Assuming your project properties are set to 16:9

If you place an image in the top timeline, with the clip selected, you may have a black border
choose the Attributes tab (below the library)

Tick Distort Clip
Right click preview screen
Fit to Screen, will fill the screen but also distort the image
Right click and select Keep Aspect Ratio, will correct the distortion, the screen will be full, some image details will be lost, the amount depending on the original dimensions.

------------------------------

Using an image editor..............

Cropping the image using PSP

Set the crop tool to use Inches
Set the Width to 16
Set the Height to 9
Tick Specify Print size

Drag the cropping panel to select the area you want, crop the image and save.
Import to VS

[Kenneth Veal]

My Workflow

project properties are set to 16:9 ( via settings-enable widescreen) VS Pro X5 Ultimate
keep image aspect ratio is selected ( via settings-pref-edit tab –under image)
If you place an image in the top timeline, with the clip selected, you may have a black border
choose the Attributes tab (below the library)
1 Select distort clip ( via options-attribute tab)
2 Right click preview screen -select fit to Screen, ( the image distorts)
3 Right click screen - select Keep Aspect Ratio .( distortion corrected –( image
full screen -some image details lost, the amount depends on original dimensions.)
--------------
Some of the images do not have a black border, does this mean they do not need altering?
Non landscape images appear to end up looking like landscape but I can live with that when not too much of the image is lost
----------------
“Overlay Track
Place an image in the overlay track, this shows as a smaller version.
Right click the image on screen and select Fit to Screen, Then repeat and select Keep Aspect Ratio.
Right the image in the timeline and select Copy Attributes
Shift + Click to select all images, (select last image)
Right Click and select Paste Attributes, all images will resize as first image.”
Can I use the above commands for images in the main video track?
----------
In PSPro X, after setting the inches to 16 W + 9 H a marquee displays over the image that is about one sixth the size of the image.Cant find "Tick Specify Print size" anywhere .Without ticking that the values alter as the handle is dragged and therefore do not kepp to 16 +9.

[Ken Berry]

While dragging the handle, have you tried holding down the Shift key? That usually constrains the expansion to the original aspect ratio i.e. in this case, 16:9.

[lata]

Hi Kenneth

Sorry for any confusion.
You do not have to "Specify a Print Size"

When you drag the corner to re-size make sure you are using the "cross-hair" curser.

Although the sizes change they will keep in proportion using a 16:9 aspect ratio.
The print DPI will remain as 72, but thats not a problem.

The final image will be using 16:9 aspect ratio.

If you were to tick Print Size, the 72dpi would change and the 16:9 remain as is.

[lata]

Kenneth

Did you not raise this question on the PSP forum

viewtopic.php?f=56&t=46329

[Kenneth Veal]

Shift and drag works, thanks Ken.But it does loose a lot of the image.
Lata-When I asked
“How do I change the A/R to 16.9 for images to go in the main video track using only Video Studio to do this”It was because after asking in the PSPro forum
viewtopic.php?f=56&t=46329
“Have been advised in the VideoStudio forum to crop images to 16.9 to fit the video.How do I do this in PSPro X.”
(The above post followed advice here to get the images sorted before importing into VS).
It all got very involved(for me anyway) including using scripts etc to batch convert lots of images, and, as I mentioned previously in this forum, inspite of loads of help I could not sort it out.If you want you can visit
http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic. ... 72#p249172
to see what I mean
So that is why I am asking how to crop images that would already be in VS.

I am starting to wonder if all the hours I have spent over this 16.9 image issue is really worth while. Perhaps I should just let viewers fiddle with their TV remote controls whilst watching the DVD.
But, I think shift and drag is good if I can use the commands below for images in the main video track to be all the same A/R
Place an image in the video track,
Right click the image on screen and select Fit to Screen, Right click again select Keep Aspect Ratio.
Right the image in the timeline and select Copy Attributes
Shift + Click to select all images, (select last image)
Right Click and select Paste Attributes, all images will resize as first image.”