Hi guys, got an interesting question and could use some help here in a big way.
I've been working on a project for the last month using a canon gl2 shooting in 16x9.
While loading some tapes after a particularly grueling shoot over two days last week I noticed that everything I had shot in the previous 48 hours was shot in 4x3.
It is impossible for me to get the actors and locations again so I am left with little option. Re-shooting, re-casting or re-anything is out of the question.
Honestly, this is a fun project for me and I'm fine with fixing it in post regardless of result.
So here is the situation;I want to resize my 4x3 using the crop function.
I know that this is going to distort my image but I am okay with that. I just need to know if anyone has any experience doing this and if so what are the EXACT percentages on the cropping sliders that I would need to match it up with my 16x9 stuff.
Any help in this area would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for the help!

You can use the crop function or you can resize the footage under the motion parameter. Someone may be able to recommend one over the other to get the best quality result, but there may not be a difference.

You may want to consider running the footage through After Effects because of the myriad of tools available there. Again, someone may be able to get specific about the benefits and drawbacks.

I don't resize video hardly at all, but I did have to resize footage from one in-car camera at a recent race as it was 4:3. I just changed the parameters in the clip's motion function and it came out fine. I'm not concerned too much about the lost resolution since it was shot through a windscreen so some is lost there.

I don't know how artistic your project is but you might be able to use some cropped boxes to cover your skinny shots, but only if the presentation is conducive to it.

Here's what I mean about cropped boxes: http://vimeo.com/1240445 It's a completely different type of piece from what you're doing but the technique might work.

Jason, if you have 16x9 project, the easiest thing to do with your 4x3 footage is to scale it by 135 per cent. This setting scales 4x3 and fills a 16x9 frame, in PAL anyway. But running it through InstantHD in either PPro or AE might yield much crisper image.

If you're editing with FCP, just capture the clips in a 4:3 setup, then when you drop them into your 16:9 timeline, FCP will automatically resize with the correct proportions, and you'll have to use the Motion tab to move them around so you don't crop heads, etc.

thanks so much guys! another save from my boys on dvinfo!