A double dose of editing querying

[Josh Bass]

1) Can you output in anamorphic if you didn't shoot that way? It's been asserted that shooting with an XL1s in camera anamorphic mode will yield you less resolution than shooting in 4:3 and letterboxing, but let's say you don't know exactly what the final intent of your product will be, or what sorts of devices it will be viewed on. Is there a way to output it so that it looks letterboxed on 4:3 screens, but fits correctly on 16:9 ones at the same time, but still acquiring in 4:3 (using the viewfinder 16:9 guides for framing?)

2) Ok, you've shot, you've edited, and now you're color correcting. Let's say you have a clip, called John CU, for instance. It's cut up, interspersed with medium shots, other people's CUs, etc. Color correction settings in my experience, are not the same for all shots, even when in the same location under the same lighting conditions (John's wide shot will have different settings in terms of the color balance/color curves/whatever if it is to match his closeup, even though they're both in the bedroom under the same lighting setup). So, let's say I find a setting I want for his CU, is there a way to "ripple" it so that it alters all the shots from that original "John CU" clip, without me having to go to each separate event and set it myself? Also, without putting the John CU clip on a different video track? And, without affecting the other shots that don't come from the John CU clip?

[Gary Kleiner]

2) Apply the filters to the clip in the media pool.

Gary

[Edward Troxel]

If the clips are all separately captured clips, Gary's suggestion to apply to the Media Pool will work perfectly.

If multiple segments are within one captured clip, you still have some options. One option is to put all similar scenes on the same track and apply the color correction to the track. You can also apply color correct to a single event, copy that event, and the "Paste Event Attributes" to all similar events.

[Josh Bass]

I'm sorry. . .what do you mean "multiple segments?" Do you mean like if I captured a wide shot and close up of the same scene in one clip?

[Edward Troxel]

I meant, for instance, you captured several different things on one tape and then simply captured the whole tape into a single file. The entire file, in this case, would not need the same color correction - the individual segments of the file would need to be treated differently.

[Josh Bass]

OK, got it. What about the first part? The anamorphic question?

[Rob Lohman]

Basically you need to stretch your video and then cut off the parts
that are without the normal resolution. What happens if you
export a Vegas 4:3 project by using a 16:9 template for the
export settings?

[Joe Sacher]

To go from 4:3 to 16:9, I set the project to 16:9 and use the pan and crop window. If you right click on the image in pan and crop and select match output. Then I move the pan and crop up or down to get the best possible framing for the 16:9.

[Josh Bass]

Okay, it seems to work if I 1) change the properties of the project to NTSC DV widescreen, and 2) go into pan crop and right click and select "match output aspect". I then render, and reset the project properties to NTSC DV, and when I view the clip I've just rendered, it appears letterboxed. Now, does that mean it works, for sure? I tried it on a regular TV after printing to tape (didn't select widescreen for the print to tape, though), and it letterboxed on there too. Does this mean it'll conform to a 16:9 screen, since it letterboxes on a 4:3 screen? Or should I test that too? I don't really have a way to do so.

[Rob Lohman]

The only device that will conform 16:9 correctly for a 4:3 screen
is a correctly set up DVD player. Your camera should output
the plain 16:9 signal which should look "weird" on a normal
4:3 screen.

If you outputted with a 4:3 template when printing to tape it
has obviously exported it incorrectly. You should've used the
16:9 template since you are exporting in widescreen.

You say "and when I view the clip I've just rendered, it appears
letterboxed". On what are you viewing the clip?

[Josh Bass]

As I said, I viewed on a regular TV via my camera's VCR function, and also on my NTSC monitor.

[Josh Bass]

Let's go back to the part about changing all events from a certain clip again.


Let's say I've ALREADY color corrected, the tedious way, and I want to change all THOSE clips in one or two easy steps. . .any way to do that? It seems if you apply your FX to the clip in the media pool, it ADDS them to whatever FX are already on the events in the timeline, rather than simply altering them--so if you have a color curves setting already applied to an event, and then you go to your clip in the media pool and apply that setting, it'll add them together, making it cumulative. Do I make any sense?

And as for the 16:9 thing, I guess what I'm trying to figure out is: how do the TV stations do it? Let's saying you're watching one of those shows that's broadcast in 16:9. On a 4:3 TV, it just letterboxes, but if someone has a fancy 16:9 TV, it conforms to it, right? Or am I a dumbass and the TV stations are sending out two different signals, one for 4:3 and one for 16:9? That's it huh? I guess what I'm thinking of is film festivals, mainly. Some have 16:9 projection screens, and I'd want my stuff, if it makes into the festival, to look as decent as possible, by conforming to their screen, rather than doubly letterboxing. I guess I should just make two versions of each film, one in true widescreen, and one 4:3 with the matte.

[Gary Kleiner]

> Let's saying you're watching one of those shows that's broadcast in 16:9. On a 4:3 TV, it just letterboxes, but if someone has a fancy 16:9 TV, it conforms to it, right?<

On my widescreen TV, I have to change the display. It's not automatic.

Gary

[Rob Lohman]

16:9 broadcast is a complex system and basically has nothing
to do with how the DV camera or DVD player work. Basically I'm
thinking you are just exporting it incorrectly (use the widescreen
template, not the 4:3 one).

Which camera do you use?

Your not making much sense with the FX question (at least not
to me, sorry). If you copy an event you can then right-click on
another event and choose past event attributes if you want to
copy the FX settings to another event.

[Josh Bass]

Using an XL1s to shoot. So what you guys are saying is, there's no way to make widescreen conform except on a correctly calibrated DVD player? What can I do for a film festival with a 16:9 screen?


I'm sorry, let me try again with the FX. Okay, if you ALREADY have FX applied to a clip, pasting the attributes from another clip ADDS the results of the FX, it doesn't simply alter them. Here's an example: If I want to add brightness (let's say I decide that on a clip with no FX, +.05 Brightness (under the brightness and contrast plugin) looks good). Now, I copy the clip that I've added the brightness to, and paste it on another event (or on the clip in the media pool, for that matter). Now, instead of simply altering the brightness setting to .05, it's going to ADD .05 TO WHATEVER'S ALREADY THERE. It considers what's already applied to a clip to be the 0 point, even if in reality it isn't.

So what I'm asking is: is there way to override that, so that the FX on already messed-with clips are altered to the correct settings, and don't just have the new values added to previously applied material?

Wasn't trying to shout above, just don't know any other way to emphasize words.