I just upgraded to CS4 and I am still getting used to the new layout and look of everything, so bear with me here.

I have some recently imported footage shot 4:3, I want to edit it in 16:9. I prefer that look better.

What is the best way to get it there, stretch or crop? I would prefer to stretch it to 16:9 so I do not lose anything, I did not film it other wise I would have taken not of it being 16:9 before hand.

Would stretching look the best? If so what wold be the best way to do that?

Thanks

Your best bet is to letterbox your footage as opposed to stretching it horizontally to fit the 16:9 aspect ratio.

Stretching will make the footage look...stretched. You don't want to crop because you'll lose alot of information.

Letterbox is your only option.

To avoid potential confusion, when 4:3 goes to a 16:9 frame, it's "pillarboxing".

If you seek to fill a 16:9 screen, then my choice is cropping. Stretching never looks appropriate.

If there are critical areas of info near the boundaries, then you will need to pan the image as needed.

I figured the easiest was was letter boxing in the title maker. I already had the pre-layed out template so I just dropped it in.

Thanks for the feedback
Brian