I picked up a Canon T2i to shoot a short film with, which is done now. I made a mistake with ratio. The instructions did not say what ratio it shot video in. I assumed it was 16:9 (or 1.77:1). The camera came with an RCA cord so I used that and plugged it into my 16:9 TV to find out. The ratio came on the TV around 2.40:1, or similar to that. And I thought hey, that's good, I already have a ratio that's close to what I want. But then after the short is done, I review all of the footage, uploaded to my computer, and it turns out it's actually 16:9! So I have shot a the whole thing in 16:9 when I intended it to be 2.40. Since I intended to send this into film festivals, it would probably look a lot more cinematic to them if I letterboxed it. But since I shot it at the wrong intented ratio, how much letterboxing could I get away with, before everything looks like it was shot too close up do you think? I would like to go at least 2.20. Or if I can't get away with that, would the festivals care if it's in full 16:9? Or should I widen it even though it may look more close up and cut off than usual?
Question about aspect ratio.
- Thread starter ironpony
- Start date
Jordan Scott Price
Veteran
Festivals could care less about your aspect ratio. It's the quality of the film (and pertinence to the festival agenda) that matters. 2.39 does not guarantee you anything over 1.77.
And there's no way for anyone to tell you cropping the image would look right or wrong without actually seeing the footage.
Remember, there are two standard aspect ratios used in mainstream cinema - 1.85:1 and 2.39:1. You could try cropping your image to 1.85:1 and see what your film looks like. It's a little more "cinematic," if you will, and it's not much wider than 1.77.
What NLE are you using? If Final Cut Pro, there is a video filter you can apply to your clips under Video Filters-->Matte-->Widescreen, then set the ratio to 1.85:1. You can export the final product cropped without the letter box using Compressor.
If you're using Premiere, set the pixel dimensions in the sequence settings (e.g., it's 1038 x 1920 for 1.85:1; 817 x 1920 for 2.39:1).
But 1.77:1 is perfectly acceptable in festivals. I've seen 4:3 animations in festivals before...
And there's no way for anyone to tell you cropping the image would look right or wrong without actually seeing the footage.
Remember, there are two standard aspect ratios used in mainstream cinema - 1.85:1 and 2.39:1. You could try cropping your image to 1.85:1 and see what your film looks like. It's a little more "cinematic," if you will, and it's not much wider than 1.77.
What NLE are you using? If Final Cut Pro, there is a video filter you can apply to your clips under Video Filters-->Matte-->Widescreen, then set the ratio to 1.85:1. You can export the final product cropped without the letter box using Compressor.
If you're using Premiere, set the pixel dimensions in the sequence settings (e.g., it's 1038 x 1920 for 1.85:1; 817 x 1920 for 2.39:1).
But 1.77:1 is perfectly acceptable in festivals. I've seen 4:3 animations in festivals before...
Okay thanks. I was going to letterbox it anyway to put it online for some people to review, cause online they prefer 16:9 letterboxed. But I can make two copies, one letterboxed, one cropped. If I can't go wider than 1.77 cause of some close ups then I won't change anything. Glad they don't mind, I wasn't sure. Thanks.
The T2i shoots its video -- all video -- as 16:9, as all HD video is, no matter what the camera. There's no 2.40:1 to be had in-camera. It's always 16:9.
It just wasn't being displayed properly on your TV.
It just wasn't being displayed properly on your TV.
I had an issue like that before. Plugging the camera or viewing it from FCP, would letterbox it on a 16:9 TV even though it was not letterboxed, but 16:9.
Not sure why it did that, but it did screw us over too as we shot it with crop marks to 2.39:1 and it came out on the TV with the right aspect ration but in the final product it was still 16:9.
I never have my stuff in 16:9. I have at least 1.85:1. Even though its not much of a difference. But most of the time it is 2.39:1.
Id say experiment. Try if the anamorphic widescreen stuff works for every shot. If it does, and it looks good, great. If one scene or a shot is too tight, then you will have to keep it at a wider aspect ratio. But, if you had crop marks for 2.39:1, then it shouldnt be a problem.
Not sure why it did that, but it did screw us over too as we shot it with crop marks to 2.39:1 and it came out on the TV with the right aspect ration but in the final product it was still 16:9.
I never have my stuff in 16:9. I have at least 1.85:1. Even though its not much of a difference. But most of the time it is 2.39:1.
Id say experiment. Try if the anamorphic widescreen stuff works for every shot. If it does, and it looks good, great. If one scene or a shot is too tight, then you will have to keep it at a wider aspect ratio. But, if you had crop marks for 2.39:1, then it shouldnt be a problem.
I didn't have crops cause I assumed that it was 2.39 from the TV ratio input, when it was 16:9. I could try to put it at 1.85. But if that's too tight I'll keep it at 1.85. From now on I will put tape on the view screen of the camera, measured out to 2.40. Then it will be ready to crop in post. How come in your scenario, even though you shot it at 2.39, and it still came out 16:9, why couldn't you just letterbox it after, or re-crop it?
With the T2i, I have magic lantern. It has cropmarks built in; 4:3, 16:9, 1.85, 2.35, 2.39
It helps to have this, instead of figuring out where to tape on your monitor/screen.
It will only record in 16:9. Even though I had it set to 2.39 and thats how I shot it, it will only record 16:9. You will have to add the crop marks in post. But, since you shot it with the cropmarks, you will know that it will all fit in frame and wont have to mess around with adjusting it.
It helps to have this, instead of figuring out where to tape on your monitor/screen.
It will only record in 16:9. Even though I had it set to 2.39 and thats how I shot it, it will only record 16:9. You will have to add the crop marks in post. But, since you shot it with the cropmarks, you will know that it will all fit in frame and wont have to mess around with adjusting it.
El Director
Veteran
and rather than adding crop overlays, you can actually crop the video to 1920x816 =)
You should do that in post. You may want to re-frame, so unless you're shooting with anamorphic lenses, never crop in camera. Just have a safe zone for reference.