help I need a 16x9 timeline

[MtSurf]

I have a project that needs to be 16x9. Some of the footage was shot in 16x9 on a pd150 some was shot standard 4:3. What setting do I need to change when capturing(or do I need to change anything) and is it possible to mix the two formats to all be 16x9 at the final output?

[Barry_Green]

Depends on what you want to see happen to the 4x3 footage. You could "pillarbox" it (black bars on the left & right, keeping the full picture information) or you could pan 'n' scan it, or you could just stretch it out and have it look bad...

There are definitely ways in Vegas that you can combine all the footage, but you'll have to determine what's an acceptable compromise for your 4x3 footage. 4x3 is not 16x9, so either something's going to need to be cut off, or you'll have to add black bars.

[MtSurf]

what would you suggest? I am completely new to having a 16x9 format requested. The footage that is 4:3 is all high speed action of a USSCA Rally race. The footage looks great now. I am not sure I know what you mean when you say I will have to stretch it or pill box it.(I think I might have seen this when I was playing with the settings.) It looked like I just resized the image so there was a black box around all sides of the footage. The 16:9 footage is all interview. Technically what do I need to do in Vegas to mix the formats? Can I use the pan crop tool on the 4:3 (16:9 preset) or is there some other thing I should be doing? Thank for your help. I really appreciate it. Nate

[Barry_Green]

First of all, make sure all your clips in the media pool have the right aspect ratio selected. That way Vegas will automatically letterbox or pillarbox any clips that need it. Second, if you're trying to make a 16x9 final output, that means you're either going to be chopping off the top and bottom of your 4x3 video (which is done by choosing the pan/crop tool and 16:9 preset) or you're going to pillarbox the video (which is what Vegas will automatically do for you).

[MtSurf]

Thanks Berry. :)

[MtSurf]

I thanks bArry. Damn fingers never know where to go... :)

[David Jimerson]

I personally think pillarboxing (or windowboxing, as it's sometimes called) is the best way to handle 4x3 material on a 16x9 screen.

[Barry_Green]

Just for clarification on terms, it's my understanding that pillarboxing refers to bars on the left and right, whereas windowboxing ends up with bars on all four sides, and letterboxing is of course top and bottom.

I agree, pillarboxing is the way to go, as it preserves the full view, and people are basically used to it if they have a widescreen TV.

[MtSurf]

one more question...I have decided to go with the letter box method, so all the video will look the same (I understand I will lose quality with the 4:3 footage.) So this is what I have done so far: I have edited the piece and have applied the 16:9 crop on all the 4:3 footage. I now want to output to tape. What option do I use dv ntsc or dv widescreen ntsc?

[Barry_Green]

Do you want your footage to be viewed on a 4:3 TV or a 16:9 TV? That'll answer which template you need to use. For a 4:3 TV use "DV NTSC", for a 16:9 TV use "DV Widescreen NTSC".

[David Jimerson]

Interesting! I had always heard "windowboxing" and "pillarboxing" used interchangeably, but you're the guru, Barry! :)