Combining 4:3 and 16:9 within one timeline

I'm on v6.0.1, working on a small film that spans several years - hence some of it has been shot on 4:3, and some on 16:9. I need to combine the two different aspect ratios within one timeline. There won't be a proper "online" - what's in my timeline will be the final version.

At first I thought it would be best to make it all 4:3 on the basis that 16:9 is a larger screen area so I would effectively be "cutting off the sides" of the 16:9 frame (as opposed to zooming in on 4:3 until it fits the 16:9 frame, thereby losing top and bottom and suffering considerable quality loss). But that plan doesn't work because, in my 4:3 sequence, I have to zoom in on the 16:9 media in order for it to fill the 4:3 frame - so I'm suffering quality loss in any case.

Does anyone know if there's any solution to this, or will I have to suffer quality loss whatever I do? All the media has been captured already onto a Lacie drive by someone else and there's no way that I'd have time to redo it - although I can't work out whether that would be a solution or not??? (I'm doing this for a charity for very little money). I'd be really grateful for any help.

Many thanks, Connie

How is the final being displayed? When you say "film"...are you going to transfer to a print?

There is no easy answer to this without seeing the footage. It all depends really...how bad is the 4:3 footage? If it could stand a blow-up with Instant HD I might go with that. Then again, if the framing is way out of whack after letterboxing, that won't work though.

You can always centercut your HD but again...the framing during shooting comes into play.

Lots of variables. I need more info.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Joe, I think her statement here means her 16:9 footage isn't HD, but anamorphic 16:9 on SD:

> in my 4:3 sequence, I have to zoom in on the 16:9 media in order for it to fill the 4:3 frame - so
> I'm suffering quality loss in any case.

> thought it would be best to make it all 4:3 on the basis that 16:9 is a larger screen area

This is a wrong perception, unfortunately, if I understand your situation correctly. Shooting anamorphic 16:9 on an SD format doesn't give you a larger image; it gives you a smaller one. Because anamorphic 16:9 SD footage is meant to be crunched down vertically to a smaller screen size (around 720x405 pixels). The image is wider, not larger.

The way to match 4:3 SD footage and anamorphic 16:9 footage without quality loss is to edit both inside a 4:3 SD sequence and letterbox the 4:3 footage to match, so you end up with letterboxed 4:3 footage. It's going to be a blowup to convert either one to match the other.


www.derekmok.com

Derek,

I envy your mind reading skills, my friend. That's the last thing I was thinking about. I have to start collecting box tops so I can get me one of those mind reading helmets

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Thanks, both of you. I now see I didn't give nearly enough info - sorry about that (yes, it's SD... and also PAL). But I think Derekmok has the solution for me. Really appreciate it.

I'm not sure whether this should stay as the same thread, or whether I should start a new one.

But anyway, my latest problem is that when I apply a widescreen matte to my 4:3 material, it's not working on shots where I've already applied a move, or adjusted the framing (eg lowered someone's head in the frame so that it fits 16:9 framing). It doesn't seem to make a difference whether I apply the matte before or after applying a move or re-position - the result is that the matte is in the wrong place. It's a bit hard to explain, but if I have lowered the position of the frame (expecting the resulting black at the top to be hidden by the matte/letterbox when in place) then I find that, after applying the matte, I've got a too high letterbox at the top of the frame, and none at the bottom. Logically I can see why this might happen, but what is the solution please? I want to apply the letterbox equally top and bottom (obviously!), even if the original top of frame has now been re-positioned. Many thanks in anticipation

> It doesn't seem to make a difference whether I apply the matte before or after applying a move
> or re-position - the result is that the matte is in the wrong place.

conniex, you need to use the other methods outlined in the FAQ I sent you. You are currently using a Widescreen Matte filter, but unfortunately, the filter is part of the clip and will be affected by motion parameters.

You need to use a widescreen matte overlay, which is its own clip on top of the entire timeline. It will stay put no matter what motion parameters you put onto the clips underneath.

Either that, or edit without the letterbox, then nest your timeline into another Sequence and add the Widecreen Matte filter.


www.derekmok.com

I see what you mean. That's brilliant - thanks very much derekmok.