16:9 mode on GL2

[Rob Lohman]

There have been a ton of posts on this already and I answered
a lof of them, please use our [url=http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/search.php?s=]Search[/url[ to find those
(use words like letterbox etc.). Thanks.

With that being said, there is another advantage to doing it in
post. You have the ability to vertically frame your footage.
Sometimes it's hard to shoot exactly within the 16:9 lines when
shooting, or you find out in post that it looks a bit better when
the picture is slightly higher or lower. With adding bars in post
you can still move the footage underneath the bars up & down.

[David Ho]

I agree with what John says. I usually have the guidelines because I usually crop it during post. and the guidelines help me see if I need to edit my pans or what not to match the ratio.

[Jon Jensen]

I shot a documentary in widescreen on a GL-2, and have finished post in Final Cut Pro 3, yet it is not widescreen on my television.

I am wishing I did not shoot in 16:9.

I have read everything about this thread, yet I continue to deny that my project is scrapped. I know it works, because I've accidentally shot in 16:9 and seen the bars on a 4:3 TV.

Can anyone offer me a positive solution to this mess?

[Bryan McCullough]

More information is needed.

How are you viewing it on the TV? DVD? VHS? Straight from the computer?

Your project isn't scrapped. Not yet.

We can figure this out. (Though I don't know anything about FCP, in Premiere I could help more.)

[Ken Tanaka]

I echo Bryan's request for more information. You haven't told us enough about your process or problem to enable much constructive advice.

You say you shot your project in 16:9 mode. How did you capture the footage in FCP?

[James Chesterton]

If you used the in camera 16:9 mode and are viewing your project on a 4:3 TV then the picture will appear sqaushed horizontally. It will appear normal on a widescreen TV. The TV will not compensate for the picture by adding the black bars, the bars will only be present if they are added in post or if you shoot anamorphically.

I posted a topic about cropping in the effects forum with a similar querie. Not entirely sure how you can rectify this.

[Jon Jensen]

Well OK. I've shot on GL-2 in 16:9. Everything has appeared squashed in the viewfinder, but my edits have appeared in widescreen in FCP 3.0. So naturally I figured (I was told from a colleague) that when I printed the final cut to tape that FCP would encode it as being shot in 16:9.

That is true, FCP does encode it when printing a final cut to tape. Yet on a TV (a regular TV), it still appears squashed. I trust on a widescreen it would appear as I shot it in letterbox. But who has a 16:9 TV?

So, when I imported files from the tape (remember, shot in 16:9), there was no need to tell FCP to capture in anamorphic...the program saw the 16:9 encoding from the tape.

The only different thing I did was enable my FCP sequences to be anamorphic.

I have found one "solution" since I first posted the question, but it is rather makeshift. When you've shot in 16:9 and capture in FCP, don't work in a 16:9 sequence. Work in a 4:3 sequence (you'll have to render EVERYTHING) and it will appear letterbox on even a normal TV when printed to tape.

Any better solutions are VERY welcome, because I still will have to re-edit the WHOLE project.

[Kevin Lee]

It is as simple as the one "solution" you have described. The word to remember is "anamorphic".

You're shooting "anamorphic (squished) 16:9 footage on a 4:3 frame and not 16:9 footage on a 16:9 frame.

[Boyd Ostroff]

OK, take a deep breath, relax, everything is behaving as it should. There is nothing wrong with your project. It makes no difference how you capture the footage in FCP. Checking the "anamorphic 16:9" box only serves to purposes: it enables a flag that tells FCP, other software and widescreen TV's that your footage is anamorphic, and it changes the aspect ratio of the canvas and clip windows within FCP. Even without this flag your footage will look correct on a widescreen TV. And with or without the flag it will look squashed on a 4:3 TV, that's just the way it works.

It sounds like what you're really interested in is letterboxing your material for 4:3 TV's. That's something completely different and there are two simple approaches. Possibly the simplest would be to burn it to a DVD and be sure you have things set properly for 16:9. In this case the DVD player itself will perform letterboxing for 4:3 TV's yet it will display properly and fill the screen on a widescreen TV.

If you don't want to go this route then just create a new emtpy 4:3 sequence in FCP. Now drop your entire completed 16:9 sequence into that. FCP will automatically letterbox it to fit the 4:3 window. This will require rendering the new sequence, but after that you'll have both a letterboxed version plus your original 16:9 anamorphic version.

[Joel Ruggiero]

I know this has been talked about but I need a straight forward answer. I am doing a movie trailer for Hamlet for English class. I was going to do 16x9. Is it better for me to shoot normal 4:3 with 16x9 guides and do the actual cropping in post or shoot in 16x9 straight from the cam. Need help fast because I will be shooting tomorrow.

[Cliff Elliott]

Hi Joel, you are coorect we have just covered this in another section, but the direct answer is shoot 4:3 framing in 16:9 using the guide lines in the XM2 (GL2).
Then crop to 16:9 in post production.

I have been doing this for years now and it works well.

Something that may be of some use, I run the old Canopus DVRaptor card and as a result I downloaded a free piece of software from Canopus called Video Tools, this piece of software has a built in 16:9 letterbox effect which works well.

Regards, Cliff Elliott

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

I agree basicly with Cliff, but I would add that if you intend playing the material back on a widescreen set, then I would shoot the original in 16:9 anamorphic. It really all depends on the platform on which the final product is to be viewed.

Robin.

[Joel Ruggiero]

We are going to play it on a normal TV we just want the "Letter Box" look. I will be editing with Premiere Pro. THanks for the help

[Miguel Lombana]

<<<-- Originally posted by Joel Ruggiero : I know this has been talked about but I need a straight forward answer. I am doing a movie trailer for Hamlet for English class. I was going to do 16x9. Is it better for me to shoot normal 4:3 with 16x9 guides and do the actual cropping in post or shoot in 16x9 straight from the cam. Need help fast because I will be shooting tomorrow. -->>>

Which software are you talking about? Power Tools for the Raptor? I also have a Raptor, an RT2Max to be exact and I think that I'm familiar with the effect, however it's nothing more than crop bars, alpha channel setup for matting out the top and bottom of the screen.

If there is anything on their site that actually takes 4:3 and shifts it to 16:9, let me know! That's what I'm looking for and I'm aware of DV FILMMAKER but I'm not interested in paying for something that only does 1 little thing.

THanks in advance

[Charlie Durand]

Hey there,

I recently purchased a GL2. I have been using my JVC GR-DVP3U for years but always knew I was missing a lot in the video quality department.

I love the GL2. Great video quality and lots of neat features.

One thing I have a question about is the 16:9 mode. Basically, what does this do?

Am I getting a wider image or are the tops and bottoms just being hacked off the 4:3 image to make it appear 16:9?

I've tried doing some test shots to compare. It seems I'm seeing more in the 16:9 shots but my tests were pretty basic and I wanted to run this by others and find out what's really going on.

Thanks!

Charlie