Removing a letterbox matte on a 4x3 image with CS4

[Ian Scammell]

Hi,

I am new to Adobe. I shoot in 4x3 but have 1 project in 16x9. Using a memory stick matte to create my 16x9 I captured in 4x3 to CS4. How do I now remove the letterboxing in order to export to DVD for a true 16x9? I am sure this has been asked before but unanle to find the answer on the Forum. Thanks for your patience.

[Harm Millaard]

You shot in 4x3. so keep your export in 4x3. Do not try to make it 16x9 by scaling up. The result will be horrible. It is OK to use a matte to suggest 16x9, but keep it in 4x3.

[Ian Scammell]

Thanks Harm for your input
Ian

[Roger Keay]

In case you haven't figured out the solution yet, it is not difficult. Create your widescreen project and import the clips. Place the clip on the timeline. The image should have black bands above and below the active picture, and objects in the scene will appear too wide. Make sure your clip is selected and then go to the 'Effects Control' panel. You will see an item called 'Motion'. Click the triangle on the left end to open the menu. You will see 'Scale' in the sub-menu. Click the triangle at the left end of the Scale line to open a further sub-menu. You will see a box called 'Uniform Scale'. Click the check mark in the box to turn it off. The line originally called 'Scale' will become 'Scale Height'. You can now change the height to fill the screen vertically. You can also change the width and position the image horizontally and vertically on the screen.

Shooting with a letterbox matte leaves horizontal resolution alone but the vertical resolution is compromised. Scaling the image vertically fills the screen but does not replace the missing resolution. The resulting image may be acceptable depending on your end use.

[Roger Keay]

Originally Posted by Roger Keay

...The image should have black bands above and below the active picture, and objects in the scene will appear too wide.

This is one possible condition. The other is black bands above, below and on both sides of the active image. In the black all around situation, you only need to go through the menu until you see 'Scale'. Increase the value until the letterbox fills the who screen. If you want to tweak the image, follow the original instructions and adjust the horizontal and vertical scale independently.