Question about Preview window and 720x480 output

[Eggplanto]

I downloaded the trial version of VideoStudio Pro X3 and I'm stuck on a few things-

1- All of my video is from a digital camcorder and is in 720x480 format. I setup the project on the start page to "widescreen 16:9" and whenever I drop a video clip onto the timeline, my clip in the Preview window is tiny (as shown in image). I have to stretch it out to fill the white frame. Is there a way to configure it to automatically fill the entire screen? (Why would it think you would want to show a tiny, resized version of your video?)

2- Is "widescreen 16:9" the correct format to configure a 720x480 videa project or is that setting only for HD? When I don't select the widescreen box I get the 4:3 sized window and that is definately not what I want because my video doesn't fit that size.

3- When I configure the project for "widescreen 16:9" (and stretch out the video clips to fill the square), then export the file, the video appears scrunched up into 4:3 format even though I chose "DVD/NTSC MPEG2 (720x480, 29.97 fps)". If you have native video in 720x480 format, what is the correct way to export the project so that it remains 720x480?

Thanks

small size video

vsp.jpg (31.47 KiB) Viewed 1063 times

[Ken Berry]

Welcome to the forums!

In your photo, you will note the words directly above left of the image, which say "Overlay Track #1". This means you have put your video not in the main timeline -- the very top track -- but in the first overlay track. And overlay tracks are there for, well, overlays! Moreover, they appear small since, for many people, having overlays over their main video are really only to fill a portion of the screen chosen by them. If, however, you want the overlay to fill the entire screen each and every time you use one, then in Settings > Preferences > Edit, tick the box which says "Use Fit-to-Screen as default size in Overlay Track".

All standard definition NTSC DVD videos use 720 x 480 as their maximum size. Although this does not appear to have the 16:9 ratio, it achieves it by using non-square shaped i.e. rectangular pixels. So definitely make sure you select 16:9/widescreen in your various settings, both for Project properties and as output settings.

[Eggplanto]

Thanks a lot for the quick response and setting me straight! It looks like VideoStudio X3 can do everything I want to do with video editing so I'll go ahead and buy a copy. Thanks again.