16:9 widescreen and all that - Confused Still

IjabaFilms

IjabaFilms

Well-known member
Hi there,

Well... I'll be honest, I thought I had a little bit of a handle on using my camera, making films and creating a finished product BUT reading this board I see that other people are trying all kinds of different stuff and I wanted to learn more as well. So... in doing so, it occurred to me that I do not know as much as I thought I did.

I thought I had a handle on the 16:9, 4:3 differences, etc. But apparently I don't. I have seen some good instruction on here and I was creating my newest tests based on what I found here and I just don't understand.

I decided to use the 16:9 Squeeze mode that I'd forgotten existed. On top of that, I decided to re-test my DVX100B's native DOF capabilities (i.e. without a 35mm adapter).

So, I made a short clip testing the DOF abilities of the camera and I shot it in 16x9 Squeeze mode. Then I read some posts here on the best way to output 16:9. I feel like I've tried everything and it just doesn't look wide screen to my eyes. But maybe I don't know what my eyes should be looking at.

There was info on here (forgot the person's name) that recommended outputting the file in Square Pixel (1.0) at 720 x 405 for 16:9. Maybe that's how it is supposed to look. I don't know (I'm used to seeing widescreen letterboxed because I'm one of those folks who doesn't own a TV that plays 16:9 full screen).

Is this right? Does shooting in 16:9 mean you will include more of the image shot in the final footage than you would shooting 4:3?



Thanks in advance.
 
There will be more image if you are shooting 16:9, but the DVX is 4:3 so it is just cropping off of the top and bottom of the image for editing. If you had a native 16:9 camera ie the HVX then you would have more image to work with.

I was used to letterbox to until the tv went and flat panel hd came in! You will still see the letterbox on wider aspects such as 2:35:1 or 2:40:1 which again has more image to work with because it is a lot wider.
 
i thought the squeeze mode squeezes the full image onto the 4:3 chip and the letter boxed mode crops. no?

So when it unsqueezes in ur NLE isn't it the whole image? i duno...i just trying to get this stuff down b4 the dvx arrives
 
Austinv said:
There will be more image if you are shooting 16:9, but the DVX is 4:3 so it is just cropping off of the top and bottom of the image for editing.
Click to expand...

No, that's letter box mode. Squeeze mode gives you the full 16:9 image at a decreased resolution.
 
Ok so yeah, I was actually following Huy Vu's information about 16:9 from another thread. But so, if I'm to understand correctly, If I shoot in 4:3 some of the image I see in my view finder will be cut off and if I shoot in 16:9 squeezed I will get all of the image at a lesser resolution in a 4:3 size of 720x480?

So lets ignore for a minute, the squeezed thing and say I'm just shooting at 16:9 ... I get the impression that the difference between 4:3 and 16:9 is about how much of the scene we see in the recorded image. Is this correct?

So the video I included above would have what, some of the sides cut off in 4:3?
 
IjabaFilms said:
Ok so yeah, I was actually following Huy Vu's information about 16:9 from another thread. But so, if I'm to understand correctly, If I shoot in 4:3 some of the image I see in my view finder will be cut off and if I shoot in 16:9 squeezed I will get all of the image at a lesser resolution in a 4:3 size of 720x480?


To my understanding (based on reading here)...letterboxed mode is 4:3 but cropped at the top and bottom therefore u are missing some of the frame.


And squeeze, you get all of the image in a 16:9 aspect ratio (after unsqueezing) but just lesser resolution. (not 4:3).
Click to expand...
 
The image area you get to work with (including field of view and resolution) are EXACTLY THE SAME in both Squeeze and Letterbox. The only difference is the squeeze is flagged as anamorphic and the letterbox is not.
 
The image area you get to work with (including field of view and resolution) are EXACTLY THE SAME in both Squeeze and Letterbox. The only difference is the squeeze is flagged as anamorphic and the letterbox is not.
Click to expand...
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hmmmmm. And the flagging only means something to tvs and players with widescreen capabilities, etc.?

Like if I output video as 16:9 and my player or TV only does 4:3 it will squeeze it into 4:3 and if my player or TV can do 16:9, it will play full screen at 16:9 without letter boxing?
 
IjabaFilms said:
Like if I output video as 16:9 and my player or TV only does 4:3 it will squeeze it into 4:3 and if my player or TV can do 16:9, it will play full screen at 16:9 without letter boxing?
Click to expand...

If you have your DVD player set up correctly then yes, this is what should happen.
 
ok. I believe I do have a grip on this now. So if I create again 16:9 footage and upload it to a site like Youtube (which now has a widescreen player) or Vimeo , etc. it will play widescreen full instead of 4:3?

I think I was getting confused about what I should be seeing. And from what I'm understanding now, it depends on the player so I won't see widescreen if the players isn't setup for or capable of it.
 
Ijaba,

If you don't have Barry Green's DVX book, you really ought to get it. It's available on the home page under the section DVX user shop.

It's the bible for getting the most out of your DVX and does an excellent job explaining things like this in a understandable way.

Ken
 
The key is pixel aspect ratio. I haven't tested it but I would assume that youtube doesn't recognize anamorphic pixel even in it's new 16:9 format. 4:3 and 16:9 squeeze is the SAME resolution (720 x 480) but with different PAR. So if it's going on the web always use square pixel and adjust the output accordingly.
 
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