Premiere 6.5 widescreen problem - can't get black bars, footage squeezed at DVinfo.net

Ronald Lee · November 13th, 2007, 03:31 PM

Hi,

Yes, I know Premiere 6.5 is a blast from the past. But it's a program that I like to use, works well, many of us still use it and it's simple.

I have asked this before here and actually figured it out, but now I forgot! I'm sure someone will know how to do this (sorry, haven't checked in here for a while).

I have some footage shot in widescreen (16x9) in 780x480 NTSC. When you export this footage it comes out at squeezed, unless I capture the video at widescreen (meaning the pixels) and I export it first at 854x480, put it back into Premiere and then render as DV 0.9 as a help file from Adobe said to do.

HOWEVER, I know I got the solution from here before. I can't remember what it was or how to do it. I did a search on all my posts here and the solutions presented don't work.

I seem to recall there may have been a 'transform' filter or something that I used? I can't remember.

So the question is, how do I take this 16x9 aspect footage, put it into premiere, and have it spit out a letterboxed 4x3 with the video content looking right?

Thanks.

Russ Holland · November 13th, 2007, 04:02 PM

right-click the clip in the project, chose "interpret footage" and chose your desired aspect ratio. Closest thing to your transform filter.

I think. This is how it's don't in after effects 6.5 (again, a blast from the past)

Russ

Ronald Lee · November 13th, 2007, 04:08 PM

Thanks. Tried that. Didn't work. It still spit out a squeezed image in 4x3 export in both exporting in DV NTSC and DV NTSC Widescreen.

It made it look fine on the time line though, not that it made any difference in the export.

Russ Holland · November 13th, 2007, 04:15 PM

ok, try double clicking the video in the preview window (the one linked to the timeline) and you will get transform controls with handles in each corner. Try scaling the footage down so it fits in your 4:3 window with black bars at the top and bottom. Then render out as 4:3.

Ronald Lee · November 13th, 2007, 04:20 PM

Yes, I did find that, through the Video Effects window --> Distort --> Transform.

I can apply the transform filter to the footage and then change the horizontal height to get the right aspect in letter box.

But I've found two different suggested values to do this with, on the net. 75% and 83%. Which is the right one?

Russ Holland · November 13th, 2007, 04:35 PM

I took test footage recorded in 16:9 720x576 aspect ratio 1.422 and drop it into a 4:3 project in Premiere, then scale it down using uniform scale to 75.5% the footage touches the sides of the monitor area and leaves black bars at the top/bottom.

I exported to avi as a test and it was still 16:9 in a 4:3 project.

Try that.

November 13th, 2007, 03:31 PM	#1
Ronald Lee Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 435	Premiere 6.5 widescreen problem - can't get black bars, footage squeezed Hi, Yes, I know Premiere 6.5 is a blast from the past. But it's a program that I like to use, works well, many of us still use it and it's simple. I have asked this before here and actually figured it out, but now I forgot! I'm sure someone will know how to do this (sorry, haven't checked in here for a while). I have some footage shot in widescreen (16x9) in 780x480 NTSC. When you export this footage it comes out at squeezed, unless I capture the video at widescreen (meaning the pixels) and I export it first at 854x480, put it back into Premiere and then render as DV 0.9 as a help file from Adobe said to do. HOWEVER, I know I got the solution from here before. I can't remember what it was or how to do it. I did a search on all my posts here and the solutions presented don't work. I seem to recall there may have been a 'transform' filter or something that I used? I can't remember. So the question is, how do I take this 16x9 aspect footage, put it into premiere, and have it spit out a letterboxed 4x3 with the video content looking right? Thanks.

November 13th, 2007, 04:02 PM	#2
Russ Holland Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Burton on Trent, UK Posts: 193	right-click the clip in the project, chose "interpret footage" and chose your desired aspect ratio. Closest thing to your transform filter. I think. This is how it's don't in after effects 6.5 (again, a blast from the past) Russ __________________ Sony Alpha a57 \| RODE VideoMic \| Adobe Premiere CS5 Manfrotto 785b \| Manfrotto 718b

November 13th, 2007, 04:15 PM	#4
Russ Holland Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Burton on Trent, UK Posts: 193	ok, try double clicking the video in the preview window (the one linked to the timeline) and you will get transform controls with handles in each corner. Try scaling the footage down so it fits in your 4:3 window with black bars at the top and bottom. Then render out as 4:3. __________________ Sony Alpha a57 \| RODE VideoMic \| Adobe Premiere CS5 Manfrotto 785b \| Manfrotto 718b

November 13th, 2007, 04:35 PM	#6
Russ Holland Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Burton on Trent, UK Posts: 193	I took test footage recorded in 16:9 720x576 aspect ratio 1.422 and drop it into a 4:3 project in Premiere, then scale it down using uniform scale to 75.5% the footage touches the sides of the monitor area and leaves black bars at the top/bottom. I exported to avi as a test and it was still 16:9 in a 4:3 project. Try that. __________________ Sony Alpha a57 \| RODE VideoMic \| Adobe Premiere CS5 Manfrotto 785b \| Manfrotto 718b

November 13th, 2007, 04:08 PM	#3
Ronald Lee Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 435	Thanks. Tried that. Didn't work. It still spit out a squeezed image in 4x3 export in both exporting in DV NTSC and DV NTSC Widescreen. It made it look fine on the time line though, not that it made any difference in the export.

November 13th, 2007, 04:20 PM	#5
Ronald Lee Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 435	Yes, I did find that, through the Video Effects window --> Distort --> Transform. I can apply the transform filter to the footage and then change the horizontal height to get the right aspect in letter box. But I've found two different suggested values to do this with, on the net. 75% and 83%. Which is the right one?