Can I "jimmy" 16:9 footage to look like 4:3 w/letterbox?
 

I'm finishing up a shoot for a client who initially had no preference one way or the other as to 4:3 or 16:9 footage. Now that the shoot is 80% done he has said that he really likes the idea of letterboxing it.

I of course have shot 16:9 @ 24f and didn't really have that in mind when composing the shots.

Does anyone have any simple tricks I might be able to use in Vegas to get this output to mimic 4:3 letterboxed on 16:9 footage without losing any head/foot room? I believe he'd even be okay with stretched video for his purposed but at a minimum I could render it out and let him see what it would look like so he can make a final decision.

Any pointers appreciated.

-KK

p.s. I'm using Veg8.0c(Bulid 260) if it matters.

...and to be clear, ideally the final output would still be in 16:9 format.

Do you mean "Pillar Boxed" ? Do you want a 4:3 image to appear in the middle of a 16:9 frame with black bars on each SIDE? "Letterboxed" means the black bars are on the top and bottom of an image that is usally 4:3.

So, I think what your are asking is how do you put make letter box in 4:3 frame. You capture your footage, as 16:9, open a 4:3 DV timeline, and you will have a preview window showing the whole 16:9 frame with black bars top and bottom.

Richard: No, not pillar boxed.

Chris: You're closer but I'm not sure that's it. I think the end product would need to be in a 16:9 format. But are you saying I should start a 4:3 project and drag my 16:9 footage in and it should automatically put the black letterbox bars in?

Hey Kevin I think I got your question... If you are editing 16 x 9, and are outputting to say a DVD for 4x3, won't it automatically be letterboxed by Architect? Then the only issue is say for instance you are watching on an HDTV, what the settings are for handling widescreen (Stretch, letterbox, etc)

I'm just taking a stab at this one, I may be completely off base,

Chuck

Kevin, yes, that is what I was saying. However, Chuck is alos right. If you edit in 16:9, and produce a 16:9 file for DVD, most players will add letter box bars top and botton when outputting 4:3

However, at least until recently, we had to upload 4:3 to YouTube, or it would distort image.

This is a still capture from preview screen of an HDV file put on a 4:3 standard time line.

Well I shot in 16:9. I'll admit that I've allowed myself to get confused for no good reason here.

If, in the end, I still want him to be able to watch this on a widescreen or 4:3 ratio television and be able to see some amount of letterboxes on the top and bottom, shouldn't the following work:

Import 16:9 into a 4:3 project that I put my own letterbox bars into and render the project as 4:3.

This way if they happen to watch it on a 16:9 TV they'll still see some letter boxing albeit with stretched video content (although I think that will be okay with them.)

Here's my experience. If I shoot in 16:9, and output a 16:9 disk from DVDArchitect, most player/ tv hookups will be able to play. If the tv is a 4:3 version, it will usually add the letterbox. If TV is a 16:9, it will show a full screen. Some TVs do not detect 16:9, and then you will have a vertically stretched image.

If you put your 16:9 into a 4:3 timeline, my experience is that on many 16:9 TVs, you will project a 4:3 image still, with pillars on side, as well as bars from on top and bottom-- at least that is what happens on my Samsung Plasma. With modern zoom features, the viewer can enlarge, but I believe the image will not be as good.

I have not had any complaints with shooting my 16:9, editing 16:9, rendering 16:9 DVD Architect mpeg, and then producing to a 16:9 DVD.