Wrong aspect ratio for some images when rendered

[JSH]

Basically some of the images are distorting when the project is rendered. I have listed below the steps to replicate the issue. However what I don't know is whether it is just this particular Instant Project Template or a more general issue. I am brand new to VS so I have not done many projects. When I first came across it I used the template I mention below but I thought it was something I had done. However the issue can easily be replicated as below.

1. Create new project using instant project Project-03.vsp.
2. make no changes whatsoever
3. watch the behaviour of the first set of photos in the timeline so you know how they should look.
4. share. Select MPEG 4. and accept default 'MPEG-4 AVI (1920 x1080, 25p, 15mbps)
5. watch result video - ignore the fact that some of the images on the timeline do not render at all - that is a separate bug that has been reported.
6. see that the first set of photos render as squashed images - looking like 4:3 aspect ratio instead of 16:9. note that the second set of images are fine.

The other thing is that when you go back to the project and play it on the timeline the images are also distorted there. However if you close VS and open again the issue goes away.

If you render the same project using MPEG-4 AVC (3840x2160, 25, 40mbps) the issue does not occur.

[lata]

Hi
No problem with aspect ratios
What are your project properties?

Yes I do see the missing clips, those using Basic Motion as you say a known issue whether Corel are taking note is another matter?

[JSH]

ok that is good to know. my settings are below. Looks like that might be the issue. I am not sure why it would be ok on other MPEG format though.

[lata]

Hi
The actual Instant Project will have been created using 1920 x 1080 (16:9 ratio) the clips being resized and animated
Using the template on a 1440 x 1080 timeline will cause some size issues.

Besides 1440 x 1080 and Mpeg2 types are anamorphic this stretches / resizes to use 16:9 ratio even though the size calculates as 4:3
Mpeg2 720 x 576 standard Pal can be either 4:3 or 16:9

As a side note most templates have been created using NTSC standards and using Pal could cause some quality issues, most templates nowadays only use images, but where video was used it was noticeable on some templates.

[JSH]

Hi
The actual Instant Project will have been created using 1920 x 1080 (16:9 ratio) the clips being resized and animated
Using the template on a 1440 x 1080 timeline will cause some size issues.

Are you able to advice what would be the best timeline setting?

[lata]

Hi

As Pinnacle the timelines generally reflect the video properties, I believe PS does it in the background where Video Studio uses the Show Messages prompting use to match the first video inserted to the timelines.
The timelines then use the same frame size and frame rate as the video file, for Pal 25 / 50 fps.

On the Share tab we have the option to choose “Same as project settings” or “Same as first clip” which are useful to render using the same properties as our video files, retains the best quality and faster renders.
Of course there are many other options in share to render our projects to other formats.