How do I crop 4:3 footage to 16:9? at DVinfo.net

Paul T Anderson · May 16th, 2005, 10:16 PM

Hi there

My camera only shoots in 4:3 - I want to crop the footage to 16:9.

How do you do it in FCP 4.5?

Thanks
Paul

Patrick Jenkins · May 16th, 2005, 10:24 PM

You could either make a 720x480 letterbox matte image in Photoshop w/ 16:9 dimensions for the center frame, or once you've got your composition finished just put it in a 16:9 timeline and rescale it to fit AND have proper perspective (chopping off the top & bottom).

The two results get you different forms of 16:9 (letterboxed 4:3, also 'realish' 16:9). I'm not really sure which you are going for.

Paul T Anderson · May 16th, 2005, 10:27 PM

HI!

Thanks for the quick reply

I want to crop the top and bottom of the 4:3 image so it fills the entire 16:9 frame.

I want the aspect ratio to be 1.78:1

I just can't figure out how to rescale it to that in FCP

Bryan McCullough · May 16th, 2005, 10:33 PM

Do you want the frame to be anamorphic or letterboxed?

Paul T Anderson · May 16th, 2005, 10:36 PM

Anamorphic

Dave Perry · May 17th, 2005, 05:37 AM

Drop the footage in an anamorphic timeline and enlarge the frame size 33%. This will give you the proper width to fill the screen and cut off the top and bottom of your footage. It also allows you to frame the shot up and down if needed.

Boyd Ostroff · May 17th, 2005, 08:41 AM

Another simple way to get this would be to go to the distort property on the motion tab in the viewer. change the y-coodinate of the top left and right corners to -320 and change the y-coordinate of the bottom left and right corners to 320. Then change the clip's property to anamorphic.

Different routes to the same destination. But try each, when I tried this awhile ago I found a quality difference under FCP 3. I think it involves the scaling process and/or the order in which the actions are performed.

Paul T Anderson · May 18th, 2005, 02:44 AM

Thanks for the replies

Whats the easiest way to enlarge the frame by 33%?

Thanks

Dave Perry · May 18th, 2005, 06:20 AM

Double click the clip in the timeline to open it in the viewer then select the Motion tab and set the Scale to 133.

May 16th, 2005, 10:16 PM	#1
Paul T Anderson Tourist Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 4	How do I crop 4:3 footage to 16:9? Hi there My camera only shoots in 4:3 - I want to crop the footage to 16:9. How do you do it in FCP 4.5? Thanks Paul

May 17th, 2005, 05:37 AM	#6
Dave Perry Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Roanoke, VA Posts: 796	Drop the footage in an anamorphic timeline and enlarge the frame size 33%. This will give you the proper width to fill the screen and cut off the top and bottom of your footage. It also allows you to frame the shot up and down if needed. __________________ Dave Perry Cinematographer LLC Director of Photography • Editor • Digital Film Production • 540.915.2752 • daveperry.net

May 18th, 2005, 06:20 AM	#9
Dave Perry Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Roanoke, VA Posts: 796	Double click the clip in the timeline to open it in the viewer then select the Motion tab and set the Scale to 133. __________________ Dave Perry Cinematographer LLC Director of Photography • Editor • Digital Film Production • 540.915.2752 • daveperry.net

May 16th, 2005, 10:24 PM	#2
Patrick Jenkins Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Maryland, USA Posts: 382	You could either make a 720x480 letterbox matte image in Photoshop w/ 16:9 dimensions for the center frame, or once you've got your composition finished just put it in a 16:9 timeline and rescale it to fit AND have proper perspective (chopping off the top & bottom). The two results get you different forms of 16:9 (letterboxed 4:3, also 'realish' 16:9). I'm not really sure which you are going for.

May 16th, 2005, 10:27 PM	#3
Paul T Anderson Tourist Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 4	HI! Thanks for the quick reply I want to crop the top and bottom of the 4:3 image so it fills the entire 16:9 frame. I want the aspect ratio to be 1.78:1 I just can't figure out how to rescale it to that in FCP

May 16th, 2005, 10:33 PM	#4
Bryan McCullough Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Richardson, TX Posts: 842	Do you want the frame to be anamorphic or letterboxed?

May 16th, 2005, 10:36 PM	#5
Paul T Anderson Tourist Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 4	Anamorphic

May 17th, 2005, 08:41 AM	#7
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,800	Another simple way to get this would be to go to the distort property on the motion tab in the viewer. change the y-coodinate of the top left and right corners to -320 and change the y-coordinate of the bottom left and right corners to 320. Then change the clip's property to anamorphic. Different routes to the same destination. But try each, when I tried this awhile ago I found a quality difference under FCP 3. I think it involves the scaling process and/or the order in which the actions are performed.

May 18th, 2005, 02:44 AM	#8
Paul T Anderson Tourist Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 4	Thanks for the replies Whats the easiest way to enlarge the frame by 33%? Thanks