4:3 to 2.39:1 in Premiere CS3 for DVD??

J

jimmygreen

Member
My footage is 4:3 and I want to make it 2.39:1, I'm aware i'll be loosing near half the overall image, but I have allowed for this. I want to make the frame size 2.39:1 rather than using black bars to give an effect. So how would I go about this in Premiere CS3, whilst trying to preserve quality and editing in After Effects? It would be great if someone could help me with this.. thanks
 
Create a new project, and use custom settings. Set the pixel dimensoins of the comp to whatever you need to create your aspect ratio. There it will be native if you use 1.0 square pixels.

Remember that most rendering codecs won't work with certain pixel ratios, so the only thing you'll be able to use is something like uncompressed video.
 
Thanks for that, I managed to get my work area into the right size, but when I export the video it's either unplayable or it's in the original 4:3... The project and export settings are the same (720 x 302), so what am I doing wrong, i've tried exporting to most of the available formats including uncompressed but i'm still having the same problem.. what should I be exporting to? Sorry if this stuff is a bit basic, but i've only just switched to Premiere CS3 and am trying to get to grips with it..
 
TVs kinda only display 4:3 and anamorphic 16:9 correctly (there's more to it than that). If you want a 2.39:1 image to display properly on any television, you'll have to have black bars. There are no consumer televisions that are 2.39, 2.40, 2.35, etc.

16:9 Widescreen is approx 1.78:1. 4:3 is aprox 1.33.

If you want your movie to display correctly on a television, you need to make the comp 16:9.

Here is a process I use frequently to convert my footage from 4:3 to whatever aspect ratio.

1) In AE, I convert the 4:3 footage to anamorphic 16:9 by making the project pixel aspect ratio widescreen 1.2 (it's in the pixel aspect ratio drop down).

2) I select all my footage and do Transform>Fit to Width. This transforms the footage to widescreen anamorphic.

3) If I want a pixel aspect ratio of 1.85, 2.35, 2.40, etc.. I crop the image using black bars.

This is the only way to get your footage to display correctly on a television if you want to go wider than 16:9. Take a look at Hollywood DVDs that are 2.35 or 2.40 and you'll see that they use the black bars as well.

If you're main delivery is NOT television and it's the web, you can actually make the frame 2.35 or 2.40 without the black bars. But for television, 16:9 anamorphic is the widest you can go without black bars.



I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask!
 
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