Output 16:9 to letterboxed

[eircom]

I'm having trouble figuring out how to output my 16:9 widescreen footage to a letterboxed 4:3 format to play on non-widescreen tv's.

My motion plugins for v6.5 obviously don't work in pro 1.5 or 2.0 so precisely how does one output finished 16:9 to letterboxed 4:3?

I realise there are programmes which can achieve this but, as Final Cut has a simple letterboxed output function, I was surprised Pro doesn't seem to.

[Andrew Brinkhaus]

If what your saying is that you have a 16:9 file, then just burn it to DVD with your usual settings. 4:3 TV's should automatically letterbox, while a widescreen TV should give you the full 16:9 without bars.

[eircom]

I've actually found that even after burning to DVD, some standard TV's still manage to show it squashed horizontally, while others do indeed show it letterboxed. Outputting the video as letterboxed takes any hit-and-miss out of the equation.

Of course it is possible to apply resizing in the motion filter before exporting the film but there is a loss of quality that goes beyond just the smaller image. I'm hoping someone knows how to export 16:9 widescreen as letterboxed 4:3 from within Premiere Pro?

[khmuse]

Actually, it is not "...hit-and-miss..." if done correctly.

Premier Pro can properly MPEG2 encode a 1.2 PAR project for a DVD. Assuming that the DVD player is aware of the display devices (TV) screen aspect ratio (typically, via a setup menu within the player) then "16:9" material will automatically be either letterboxed or Pan / Scanned (again depending upon how the player is set up). Just make certain that the project is 16:9 and that you choose the 16:9 version of the Adobe Media Encoder. This approach has the least quality trade offs as it will not penalize a system that has a 16:9 display device.

What is likely not being taken into account is the DVD player's setup.

[eircom]

This is a very good point that proves what I'm saying. If something is going to be shown on a number of DVD players / TV's then it's not unfair to assume that they won't all be set up correctly. Letterboxing gets around the issue and it suits the use I will put it to.

I do greatly appreciate the suggestion that letterboxing isn't necessary but it still hasn't addressed my question as to whether it's possible to export 16:9 widescreen as letterboxed 4:3 from within Premiere Pro? If it isn't possible, does anyone know of a plugin?

[cellulararrest]

it is possible. from your 16:9 project, just select a 4:3 aspect ratio on your output file and it will automatically letterbox your footage for you.

[Sacksnack]

I open my footage in a 4:3 project...and scale the size down 75 percent. I'll have to try Cellular's method.

[eircom]

Thanks Guys. I'll give that a shot tonight! It's a shame they don't directly mention that in the help files nor any of the instruction books.

[eircom]

Quote: "It is possible. from your 16:9 project, just select a 4:3 aspect ratio on your output file and it will automatically letterbox your footage for you."

Works fine just outputting the widescreen project to a 4:3 format. Many thanks for such a simple solution!