countries with 4x3 broadcasting format, letterboxing and 16 x9

[msmish]

Hello,
Please excuse me if this is newbie question, but...I've shot in South Africa in letterbox mode with a Dxv100b PAL version, and am now editing. I've found that the left and right sides are trimmed, due to broadcast size in South Africa being 4x3? How should I have shot to prevent this problem? Also, if the same footage is re-edited in the US, will the sides still be trimmed?

Thanks alot.

[HorseFilms]

Letterbox mode is a 4x3 format. I think what you're seeing is the overscan nature of a standard TV. It'll naturally not show the entire image. That's where the term "TV safe area" comes in when you're adding titles to your video.

[msmish]

Thanks,
How can you see the TV or broadcast saftey area when your shooting?

[saturnin]

i dont know if the dvx has that option, i think you can get some sort of a hood for it to cut it out, or you can just mask it on the LCD with some black tape.

[Petrus]

Doesn't DVX100B have a menu option for over/underscan on the viewfinder? Just use the "tv-safe" option when shooting...

[ade4all]

as horsefilms says letterbox is 4x3 - I think you're editing in 16x9 with 4x3 footage & thats why you've got black on the left & right. you'll have to edit in 4x3 format to keep your footage correct. if you wanted your film to show fully on a widescreen 16x9 tv then you can uprez after you've finished editing using photozoom or instant hd, or for slightly lower quality in your nle