crop 4:3 video to be 16:9

TubaDad · Post by **TubaDad** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 2:56 am

Is there a way to crop out the top and bottom of a 4:3 video clip to create a 16:9 clip?

I have some 4:3 shot, that's all the camera will do, that would look great if I could crop off the top and bottom and leave the middle in 16:9 format. Is there a way within UVS that this can be done? If not UVS, I am game for other suggestions as well.

THoff · Post by **THoff** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:04 am

There is a Cropping filter in the Video Filters section that you can use, but as all of the UVS filters, it is hard to customize because the dialog doesn't permit adjustments to be made easily and accurately. You'll need to drag the cropping box manually to select the portion you wish to keep.

TubaDad · Post by **TubaDad** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:19 am

Thank you Torsten. I had a feeling there would be something in there.

I think I have figured out how to work with it, now I will just have to play and see how it comes out. The video is of a HS Band concert and looks great clipped.

Thanks again.

TubaDad · Post by **TubaDad** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:55 am

I did some testing and the cropping cuts what I am trying to hide, but when I try to save the clip to a 16:9 format is letterboxes the left and right, just like it would normally do to a 4:3. So the final product actually ends up looking like a smaller version of the 4:3.

I don't know if that explaned it well. I guess the only other way to explain it is that the cropping tool just hides what it doesn't show, and does not really crop it.

I'm getting closer, just not there yet.

rwindeyer · Post by **rwindeyer** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 7:04 am

TubaDad wrote: I guess the only other way to explain it is that the cropping tool just hides what it doesn't show, and does not really crop it.

(my opinion) I think you're right. You still have a 4:3 project; it's just that the upper and lower parts of the screen are black.
Unfortunately I don't know of a way to do what you want - maybe someone else will..

TubaDad · Post by **TubaDad** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 9:28 pm

Thanks for the reply Ron. The more I messed with it the more it confirmed what I thought. It is still 4:3, and all attempts to get it into a 16:9 project just added the letterbox additions to the left and right. It just ended up looking like I was trying to sho something that was too small for the screen. I'm not going to give up, but I sure could use some additional help.

bop · Post by **bop** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 12:58 am

i just tried to do the same as you, and it seemed to work in vs8, i used the cusstomise filter button at the bottom of the fiter you can adjust the verticale by a percentige i set mine at 80 0/0. the problem is it slowly zooms back to original size at the end however that is fixed by sliding the slider? under the original veiw screen and setting the percentile to the same as the start of the clip i hope this is what you need and it makes sense to you

i am going to render my movie ''same as project'' before aplying the filter so that way i will have only one clip to apply the filter to rather than every clip in the movie then continue to folow recomended procedure as norm

THoff · Post by **THoff** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:12 am

The zooming is the result of having unmodified crop settings on the second key frame.

The filter is always applied between a start and end key frame, and each key frame can be customized independently. If you only customize one, UVS will interpolate the settings for each frame in between the keyframes so that the video appears to zoom in.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:31 am

Place your video on the overlay track and resize it as required.
(you can drag off any unwanted bits)

bop · Post by **bop** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:51 am

i haven''t experianced it but havn''t there been posts about the overlay beeing of a lesser quality?

TubaDad · Post by **TubaDad** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:22 am

Bop, I ran into the filter problem and corrected that exactly as Torsten described. I have the whole 60 minutes cropped the way I want it, but it still leaves it as 4:3.

I will have to try what SJJ describes. I have used the overlay track before and did not even think of using it to trim. I will find out if it results in lower quality.

I'll keep plugging and posting my results. I know there has to be a way to do it, it can't be much different than taking a 16:9 clip and just using the middle. I haven't done that either, but I see that all the time on TV.

Thanks for the suggestions.

THoff · Post by **THoff** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:32 am

If all you want to do is convert the file from 4:3 to 16:9 rather than giving it a widescreen appearance by cropping the image, then the answer might be simpler than you think.

Go to Share -> Create Video File, select Custom, specify MPEG as the file format, click Options, enable non-square pixel rendering, click on the General tab, and specify the aspect ratio as 16:9.

bop · Post by **bop** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:37 am

or if that doesnt work as thoff wrote but it should, crop the clip/s and share as 4:3 not 6:9 as if you share as 6:9 it adds the side crops as you originaly stated i''m not sure if it was obvious but leave the horizontal at 100 %

Brian

TubaDad · Post by **TubaDad** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:40 am

Torsten, I have tried that and it just adds the blanks to the left and right and fits it in the middle. What I want is the picture to reach edge to edge on 16:9, and my throw away area is the top and bottom. I just tried this with using the overlay track and it looks like it wants to work, but I am going to have to try and burn a test clip to see if it is successful.

That has looked like the most promise yet, but I am still skeptical about the quality until I can render it.

TubaDad · Post by **TubaDad** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 3:00 am

Brian, On the cropping filter I have been leaving the horizontal at 100%, I have cropped vertical to 50%, just to make the change dramatic. I just can't fill the screen from left to right with the picture when I go to a 16:9 format project. I am running a test on the overlay track right now. It is rendering slowly, but we're getting there. At the current rate it looks like it will take it ~25 minutes to render my 3 minute clip. That gives me a little concern with my 65 minute video. But I'm just testing the theories right now. If nothing else I am learning more and more about UVS 9.

Right now I have a 4:3 project saved using the cropping. It looks pretty good on a standard TV. But move it to a widescreen TV and it looks like it has a big black fram all the way around it. Good thing I don't deal with many 16:9 TVs. I just want to see if I can fill the 16:9 TV with the project. I want to tank everyone for their recommendations so far, I am trying everything offered.