How to post a widescreen video on the web without showing widescreen bars? at DVinfo.net

Jeff Ray · March 9th, 2006, 03:58 PM

Hey guys,

I just completed a music video today and I'm ready to put it up on the internet for all to see. I'd like to have the video "cropped" I guess to where you can only see the video, and not the widescreen bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Suggestions?

Christopher Lefchik · March 9th, 2006, 04:36 PM

How you do this depends on whether or not your video is anamorphic 16:9, or 3:4 to which you added black bars. If it is anamorphic 16:9, you can render out to Web video using a size like 480x288, which would give you a 16:9 image (with no black bars); the 480x288 size would be good for 300kbps to 500kbps+ streaming video. If you have a 3:4 video masked with the black bars, however, you are going to have to crop it to remove the bars, either in your video editor or the encoder, if the encoder offers such a function.

Colin Jones · May 22nd, 2006, 09:16 AM

If you own QuickTime Pro ($30) you can use a mask to set the size/aspect ratio of the movie clip. I have done this in the past making a 4:3 clip letterboxed. QT player will size the window to the size of the mask thereby removing any black bars.

Colin

Christopher Lefchik · May 29th, 2006, 02:42 PM

Just an update to my original post. I believe my 480x288 size is incorrect. The right size is 480x270.

For a convenient reference, here are three different sizes that can be used for streaming 16:9 wide screen video.

640x360
480x270
320x180

If you are embedding the video in a Web page, you also need to add in the height of the video plugin's playback control bar when specifying the size of the video in the plugin's code. For the QuickTime plugin add 16 pixels to the height (i.e., the large 640x360 video would then be 640x376). For the Windows Media playback control bar add 45 pixels. I’m not sure if any pixels need to be added when embedding RealMedia files or not. I do know the height of the RealMedia playback control varies with the size of the video.

March 9th, 2006, 03:58 PM	#1
Jeff Ray Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 49	How to post a widescreen video on the web without showing widescreen bars? Hey guys, I just completed a music video today and I'm ready to put it up on the internet for all to see. I'd like to have the video "cropped" I guess to where you can only see the video, and not the widescreen bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Suggestions?

March 9th, 2006, 04:36 PM	#2
Christopher Lefchik Trustee Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: US Posts: 1,152	How you do this depends on whether or not your video is anamorphic 16:9, or 3:4 to which you added black bars. If it is anamorphic 16:9, you can render out to Web video using a size like 480x288, which would give you a 16:9 image (with no black bars); the 480x288 size would be good for 300kbps to 500kbps+ streaming video. If you have a 3:4 video masked with the black bars, however, you are going to have to crop it to remove the bars, either in your video editor or the encoder, if the encoder offers such a function. Last edited by Christopher Lefchik; March 9th, 2006 at 06:13 PM.

May 22nd, 2006, 09:16 AM	#3
Colin Jones Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Portland OR Posts: 77	If you own QuickTime Pro ($30) you can use a mask to set the size/aspect ratio of the movie clip. I have done this in the past making a 4:3 clip letterboxed. QT player will size the window to the size of the mask thereby removing any black bars. Colin __________________ http://www.thecameralens.com An online photography gallery with techniques, resources and downloadable wallpapers http://www.optikvervelabs.com Home of virtualPhotographer. A photoshop plug-in for one click photographic effects.

May 29th, 2006, 02:42 PM	#4
Christopher Lefchik Trustee Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: US Posts: 1,152	Just an update to my original post. I believe my 480x288 size is incorrect. The right size is 480x270. For a convenient reference, here are three different sizes that can be used for streaming 16:9 wide screen video. 640x360 480x270 320x180 If you are embedding the video in a Web page, you also need to add in the height of the video plugin's playback control bar when specifying the size of the video in the plugin's code. For the QuickTime plugin add 16 pixels to the height (i.e., the large 640x360 video would then be 640x376). For the Windows Media playback control bar add 45 pixels. I’m not sure if any pixels need to be added when embedding RealMedia files or not. I do know the height of the RealMedia playback control varies with the size of the video.