video filter folder: empty?

[evolvnyc]

I admit I've never used the video filters before, but as I now have some 4:3 mpeg foootage to work into an anamorphic timeline, I need to put some bars on it, or crop it, and I was told to use the video filter in the viewer, but alas... it's empty. The manual shows what SHOULD be there, but I don't have anything in there. Aside from this problem, the software is 100% (I only bought final cut, not the whole studio package, and unfortunately my girlfriend is out of town on a project, trying to use my software on her mac, so I don't have the discs back yet) so any ideas what I can do?

[CineCell]

Ana. footage and 4:3 footage are completely different... that will be your first problem. You can't just throw bars on it and expect it to work properly. Although this will depend on how you are viewing it... 16:9 DVD? No way.

[evolvnyc]

oh boy... well i'm working in anamorphic becasue everything was shot in squeeze, and the video is perfect, but adding stills is maddenning (i resized them in photoshop as instructed in the manual and they get stretched horizontally and look like crap) and I'm trying to add some old super 8 footage, which was digitized as an mpeg file, and that won't work either. Again, the manual has only confused me more as I follow the instructions and seem to get nowhere. I am outputting to a dvd to be viewed on a normal tv. am i in trouble?

[Staven]

The filter you are looking for should be on your browser under EFFECTS.

Then clicking on video filters, open MATTE. Then open WIDESCREEN and set the cropping to whatever aspect you desire. Then place this filter onto your clip.

What about just keeping the stills 4x3?? Does it look to weird or something?

You can just adjust the size of the still to fit the anamorphic frame, though it'll cut down on resolution.

Under VIEW check IMAGE & WIREFRAME. Then highlight the still photo you want to adjust. This will also highlight it on the canvas by showing a box around it. You can then drag the corners of the box to adjust the size of the clip, whether it be bigger or smaller.

[evolvnyc]

thanks stabb! that's what i was looking for... in terms of keeping the stills 4:3 do you mean with black bars on the sides? when i just drop it into the timeline, it gets stretched out automatically and looks awful, and when i ry to put it above a clip, you can still see video on the sides... this also happens when i'm using an mpeg clip, so i should just apply the filter to avoid losing resolution to both and crop away?