Help! Remove black bars from original video.

Aric_Fleet

Newbie Location: Long Beach, CA, USA Joined: May 29, 2014 21:16 Messages: 3 Offline

Solved by

May 29, 2014 22:03

I am attempting to edit a video for a friend. The footage was shot on an old MiniDV camcorder. The sensor was 4:3 ratio, but the footage was shot in Widescreen mode, so black letterboxes were added to the top and bottom (and sides) of the footage. When I import the files, they are recognized as 4:3 aspect ratio (which, technically they are). When I right-click in the timeline and attempt to alter the aspect ratio, it stretches the footage, which I DO NOT WANT. Can I "clip" the top and bottom off of the video to make it conform to the desired 16:9 ratio? ANY help would be appreciated!

JL_JL

Senior Contributor Location: Arizona, USA Joined: Oct 01, 2006 20:01 Messages: 6091 Offline

May 29, 2014 23:44

Not sure I understand entirely, you might try

1) Start with a new project
2) Set project aspect ratio to 16:9 by Edit > Aspect Ratio 16x9
3) Import clip and move clip to the timeline
4) Right Mouse button click on the clip in timeline and try "Set Clip Attributes" > "Set Aspect Ratio" > and then select the 16:9 ratio

See if that works for you.

Jeff

Kyle 40

Contributor Location: Cumbria Joined: Sep 06, 2013 14:14 Messages: 467 Offline

May 30, 2014 10:03

Hi Aric_Fleet the old styl mini DV camcorders used to just mask the image top and bottom, to try and produce a wide screen effect. You are correct in that the video is still 4:3, you really need to crop the image rather than adjust the 4:3 to 16:9
Check out this excellent PDToots video for some ideas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lsn369hlk8

cheers

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at May 30. 2014 10:03

I just want to edit and make pictures, walk my dog and go fishing.

Aric_Fleet

Newbie Location: Long Beach, CA, USA Joined: May 29, 2014 21:16 Messages: 3 Offline

May 30, 2014 19:59

Kyle 40,

Thanks for the help. You are correct. I DID finally manage to alter the zoom so that my original DV footage, which was cropped to simulate widescreen, would fit in the project 16:9 window. Huzzah!
Now if only I didn't have a crappy, cropped SD image to work with.... but I don't suppose there's going to be any solution for that

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

May 31, 2014 10:19

Quote: Kyle 40,

Thanks for the help. You are correct. I DID finally manage to alter the zoom so that my original DV footage, which was cropped to simulate widescreen, would fit in the project 16:9 window. Huzzah!
Now if only I didn't have a crappy, cropped SD image to work with.... but I don't suppose there's going to be any solution for that

Garbage in, garbage out.

No way to improve on low res footage. Anything you do will make it worse.

If you crop off the black bars, you can switch to a 4:3 aspect ratio, and not lose as much.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

James1

Senior Contributor Location: Surrey, B.C., Canada Joined: Jun 10, 2010 16:20 Messages: 1783 Offline

May 31, 2014 10:36

Hi,
What I would do is create a 'Background' video on a timeline, then insert the 4:3 image/Video as PiP object on a different track that is appealing to the theme as overlay. That way you don't loose any quality from enlarging zooming etc.
Jim Intel i7-2600@3.4Gz Geforce 560ti-1GB Graphic accelerator, windows 7 Premium 12GB memory

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