Crop&Zoom control can cause pillarbox/letterbox in a GoPro 4K video clip for uploading to Shutterbox

JohnG777

Newbie Joined: Nov 25, 2017 13:06 Messages: 25 Offline

Solved by

Jun 11, 2018 10:33

Posting this as a tip for others. Maybe there are other comments to be heard on this forum about this Subject. Maybe there is something "simple; obvious" that I missed. :

I finally found a way to avoid a pillar on the left side when using the Crop&Zoom function under Power Tools. I wanted to crop to reduce the proportion of sky to ground in a 50 second clip for uploading to Shutterstock. At first I placed the crop zone in the lower left corner. That resulted in a pillar on the left side. Then I centered the crop zone from left to right. That resulted in a video with no pillar on either side.

(My source file is in 4K at 30fps. I am using 16:9 Aspect Ratio during Edit mode, with 15 Video Stabilizer and 30 Video Enhancement. In Produce mode the Output is set for the same resolution and frame rate to deliver an mp4 file at 50Mbps.)

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

Jun 11, 2018 14:16

Hi JohnG777 -

Maybe the "simple/obvious thing you may have missed" is making sure that 16:9 aspect ratio is checked in the Crop/Zoom window.

In a 16:9 project, if you crop at 16:9 there'll be no letterboxing. If you choose 4:3. 9:16 or Freeform cropping in a 16:9 project, there will be.

This applies whatever the camera or resolution.

Cheers - Tony
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JohnG777

Newbie Joined: Nov 25, 2017 13:06 Messages: 25 Offline

Jun 11, 2018 14:25

Quote Hi JohnG777 -

Maybe the "simple/obvious thing you may have missed" is making sure that 16:9 aspect ratio is checked in the Crop/Zoom window.

In a 16:9 project, if you crop at 16:9 there'll be no letterboxing. If you choose 4:3. 9:16 or Freeform cropping in a 16:9 project, there will be.

This applies whatever the camera or resolution.

Cheers - Tony

Thanks Tony, perhaps you missed or misunderstood this comment in my post: "I am using 16:9 Aspect Ratio during Edit mode".
Initially, I did have a letterboxing result which lost me some time in getting approved by Shutterstock. That's why I wrote this post.

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

Jun 11, 2018 14:31

You're right. I took "Edit Mode" to mean back in the main timeline. i.e. your project AR.

Still, if you only crop in 16:9 in a 16:9 project, you shouldn't be getting black bars. Glad you have it resolved anyway.

Cheers - Tony
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JohnG777

Newbie Joined: Nov 25, 2017 13:06 Messages: 25 Offline

Jun 11, 2018 14:46

Quote You're right. I took "Edit Mode" to mean back in the main timeline. i.e. your project AR.

Still, if you only crop in 16:9 in a 16:9 project, you shouldn't be getting black bars. Glad you have it resolved anyway.

Cheers - Tony

Guess I will have to go read the Manual to understand your point. :

When I use PD15, I see 'Capture' - 'Edit' - 'Produce' - 'Create Disc' in the Menu area.
I was referring to using 'Edit' and looking at the timeline while doing editing.
I'm up for some education because I have not discovered how to configure/start/create "a 16:9 Project". Didn't know I needed to do that.