wide screen format 16:9 vs 4:3

rgualtieri · Post by **rgualtieri** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 7:24 pm

having issue, where, if my project is saved as 4:3 it looks great but if i select 16:9, my pan and zooms are all out wack....its starts off ok but as soon as it hits an image that is on portait, i get black boxes on ether side and even for the following lanscape photos. this is happening on the final save. When viewing from ulead VS all is well. (and yes, i've used customize in pan and zoom and cropped my start point and end point correctly) this is only happening when i choice to save my final project as 16:9 ratio.

Any ideas would be greatly appreiciated!!!!!!

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:23 pm

Hi

Welcome to the forum

When you insert a still image into a 16:9 frame, to fill the frame the image have to be 16:9 ratio. (for instance 1024 PX x 576 PX is 16:9 ratio)

When you insert a still image into a 4:3 frame, to fill the frame the image have to be 4:3 ratio.

If your images are from a digital camera it is likely that they are 4:3 or near enough.
These will fill the frame of a 4:3 video, if you view these in a widescreen project they will show in the middle with black borders left and right.

You cannot simply change the project aspect ratio and expect the images to fit the screen
If you were to select ¡¥fit to project¡¦ option for your images, they would be distorted but fill the screen.

Ok Portrait Images are taller than wide, VS will fit the vertical keeping the horizontal in proportion, the unused portions of the screen left and right will have a black border.

Go to File Preferences and change the background colour, Now--any black borders are unused portions of the preview screen, coloured areas are part of the screen and will show after rendering.

View my quick guide to A look at Widescreen from the link below.

rgualtieri · Post by **rgualtieri** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:24 pm

thanks for reply.....and for the helpful tips, i think i also found my problem, my project properties were set to 4:3 ratio....not realizing my whole project is now saved with this setting...is there a way to change this setting.

I ran some tests by creating a new project with 16:9 selected before starting a project...and now when i'm in pan and zoom, customize, the cropping box is truly a 16:9!!!!, (i like your trick about changing the background color....really helps out)

SO now my question would be....can i change the setting in my project or does this have to be selected prior to starting a new project?

Also....i now understand the concept...but when you're customizing the pan and zoom, with the crop box set to 16:9, would it really matter if the original picture is 4:3, landscape or portrait? The way i see it, as long as the whats in the crop box has no black..your good to go. would that explain why it still looks a little stretched.

thanks Again Trevor ...very helpful!!!!!

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:19 am

Hi

You can set 16:9 as the default aspect from the start splash screen
If you don¡¦t see this screen go to File Preferences and tick ¡¥Show Start up Screen
Close and Re start VS
¡K¡K¡K¡K..
Images
It doesn¡¦t matter what the sizes of the images are, VS will fit the image to the nearest edge, then fill the other with the background colour.
But if you want to fill the screen then the images have to be 4:3 or 16:9 ratio.
¡K¡K¡K¡K.
If you are using Pan and ZOOM then it may be best to increase the sizes to say double the frame size.
¡K¡K¡K¡K
If you have ¡¥Keep aspect ratio¡¦ set then the images should be in proportion.
I do not understand why they ¡¥still looks a little stretched¡¦