Widescreen Format
 

I have just borrowed a Canon GL2 and have discovered the various ways to achieve a widescreen appearance with my video. I want to still be able to shoot with the frame movie mode to achieve 30 fps. What is the easiest/most successful way of achieving widescreen video appearance with the Canon GL2 (I also have Adobe Premiere/After Effects to use). I'm kind of at a dead end because of the various options. Any suggestions or methods are welcome.

"Easiest"? That's hard to say, as it depends on your workflow and target venue. Each method represents some compromises, as you'll see if you "Search" on this topic in this section.

Manually letterboxing 4:3 footage may be the "easiest" method, as it affords you framing flexibility (in post) as well as flexibility in your final aspect ratio.

The GL2's native 16:9 mode does a respectable job of producing true wide-screen imaging, but offers no aspect ratio choices.

Using an anamorphic adapter on your lens offers arguably the best optical image.

Of course both of the latter two methods will require that you tune your eye to viewing a squashed image during shooting unless you use a production monitor capable of displaying 16:9.

???
 

I was thinking about shooting in 4:3 aspect in 'frame movie mode' with the 16:9 guidelines. I would later use Premiere or After Effects to change video to 16:9. Has anyone used this method, or does anyone have any input on this method?

You might like to a demo version of DVFilmaker. You can shoot in the normal mode and let the software crop to 16:9 as well as do the de-interlacing for you.
www.dvfilm.com

Robin.

OR you could use the title mix function to add the letterbox bars to the video from the beginning.

Just another opinion, If you are interested in doing this, let me know.

Thanx,

I'm really trying to decide between anamorphic 16:9 or using the 16:9 guidlines, which will allow for 16:9 or 4:3. I'm not a newbie to video, I'm just confused on this subject. Any help is welcome. Thanks.

Where is a good place to buy an anamorphic adapter for the GL2 and how much do they normally run?

Tustin,
I've been using your letterbox templates this week on my XM2 and I'm very pleased with the results. It sure beats having to wait to render out cropped material in post.
The one thing that I can't adjust is the black level of the top and bottom bars. They don't seem "0" black level to me. On a screen, they're not as black as the blacks in the scene. Is there a way that I can fix this myself?

Regards,

Robin.