Anamorphic Lens and Letterboxing help

[GCM_Brad]

Hi All,

Perhaps this is more of a technical question, but since this question has to do with final output, and I use Vegas, I chose this forum.

I am in contest/festival where the rule for submission is as follows:

"If shot in a 16:9 ratio and/or anamorphic, your film must be letter-boxed. The projector will not be switched to stretch the picture."

We will be submitting on a miniDV, so I will be using the print-to-tape out of Vegas.

Originally, I had planned on shooting in 4:3 and then letterboxing in post with Vegas, but our DP has the anamorphic adapter for the DVX and is suggesting that we use that. That sounds great to me, but the above rule concerns me... my understanding that when shooting with the anamorphic lens or in squeeze mode, the final image is 16:9 - with no black bars. So, if I take the footage that was shot with the anamorphic and letterbox it, what kind of image will be projected? Will that be a cinescope ratio? Will it be stretched or squeezed and look silly out of their projector?

Sorry, I am pretty new to this stuff and am a little confused by this. I know if I shot in 4:3 and just letterboxed in post, it would work fine.

Last year, we submitted to this contest (48 hour film project) and our film was in 4:3... the 16:9 stuff looked so much better.


Thanks for any help anyone can give - specifically, what output settings to use in Vegas when we print to tape IF we use the anamorphic adaptor.


Thanks!

Brad

[XCheck]

Brad, just keep the project properties on 'normal' DV aspect ratio 4:3. When you capture your footage taken with the anamorphic adapter, you'll have to manually set the clips' properties to be 16:9, just like you would if your project was wide screen. When you drop a 16:9 clip on a timeline in a 4:3 project, it should automatically be letterboxed, with proper aspect ratio of the clips, so nothing would get stretched/squeezed.

Jerry

[GCM_Brad]

Thanks for the reply XCheck!

Okay, cool - So if I am understanding this correctly, if I do what you say, the output will have the same sized picture as it would've had if I just shot 4:3 and cropped, but the resolution will be higher because of the anamorphic?


That sounds good. Thanks again!

[Barry_Green]

You mostly have it, but no, the resolution won't be any higher -- the squeezing-down-and-letterboxing process is going to discard the extra resolution you would have had.

If your goal is only for this festival, I would *strongly* recommend ditching the anamorphic and just shooting letterbox (or letterboxing in post). If you really, really want a 16:9-native version for a DVD release or whatever, then the anamorphic makes sense -- but if your plan is to end up with a letterboxed version anyway, you will be doing yourself many favors by just shooting letterbox in the first place.

[GCM_Brad]

Thanks Barry!

I think I understand now. I think we will stick to just letterboxing the 4:3 image in post and not use the anamorphic.

Thanks a lot, both of you!



Brad


P.S. Just got your book yesterday, Barry. Thanks for making an easy to understand guide for this camera! I have only read a few pages so far, but am really looking forward to the whole thing.

[Barry_Green]

Glad to help! Since you've got the book, you can read the last chapter, 34 pages or so all about the anamorphic adapter, which will explain the issues that are involved in using it. It can be a nice tool, but for your particular purposes (needing to end up in 4:3 anyway) I think the adapter's benefits would be wasted, and the hassles would be unnecessary.

Good luck with your project!