Help me, f'list kenobi! You're my only hope!

[deird_lj]

Okay. So I'm trying to do a vid. And it's giving me problems.


My problem is as follows:

- BtVS seasons 1 to 3 are in 4:3 aspect ratio.
- BtVS seasons 4 to 7 are in widescreen (16:9 aspect ratio).

Now, I've figured out that, in iMovie, I can have the widescreen bits automatically change to crop the sides off and be in 4:3 - or, on the other hand, I can have the 4:3 bits crop the top and bottom off so that they're in widescreen. All well and good. But not actually what I want to do here.


What I want is to have letterbox format on the bits that are in the wrong ratio.

Apparently I can do this in Streamclip? Right?
...but I have no idea how.


Help!

Comments

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Since I use completely different software to you I can't help. Sorry. :-(
Now you know why most of my own vids are all based on Seasons 4-7 (well, that's not the only reason, but it's up there...)

One possibility: can you make the frame just a black screen, then put the actual video on there as an overlay?

Having said that, bear in mind that BtVS was supposed to be watched in 4:3 ratio even though they shot the later seasons in 16:9. The shots are all framed to be cropped at the edges, which is why there's usually no action going on at the edges and occasionally you even see the film crew's bits projecting into the frame.

[deird1]

Having said that, bear in mind that BtVS was supposed to be watched in 4:3 ratio even though they shot the later seasons in 16:9.

True. If all else fails, I might put the entire vid in 4:3...

[roccondilrinon.livejournal.com]

Unless you're intending to do something meaningful with the letterboxing, I have to say NO NO NO NO NO! You know, the way you jump in when you know someone's about to do something completely the wrong way. One of the worst sins in fan-editing of any sort is messing up the aspect ratio, whether it be squishing or stretching the image, switching aspect ratios seemingly at random between shots, or (in some things I've seen) compositing an effect in one aspect ratio over a background in another — it looks wrong and horrible and incredibly amateurish, and it pulls the viewer kicking and screaming out of the actual video, no matter how good it is in other ways.

tl;dr: Don't do it. Crop it to one or the other. Switching aspect ratios mid-video looks HORRIBLE.

Caveat: If, on the other hand, you ARE planning something special to do with the different ratios, I'd be intrigued to know what it is. It could be awesome, but it would be VERY difficult to pull off without being thoroughly jarring and distracting from the actual point.

[deird1]

f, on the other hand, you ARE planning something special to do with the different ratios

Of course I am. You don't think I'd come up with something elaborate and tricky for no reason, do you?

[taiba.livejournal.com]

Well, you might :-p

It's entirely possible that you have gone completely stark, raving mad and lost all sense of good taste since the last time we saw you :-p

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

I wish I could help - but I have zero knowledge in video editing. I PM-ed an Ukrainian fan, iBadFred, asking her if she could help with your problem. If it turns out she knows the technique, she will either comment here in English or PM me in Russian and I'll translate in English and post a comment here.

iBadFred does great vids - she manages to combine images from different scenes and even differents shows and films in the same frame and she does it seamlessly.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

iBadFred PM-ed to me that she usually makes videos with Pinnacle Studio, but she says there is an effect "Picture-in-picture" to cut frames and to change the scale. There is a "Picture-in-picture" patch for iMovie.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12545/imovie-picture-in-picture-plug-in

Hope it helps.

[deird1]

Thanks, hon. That looks helpful.

[dipenates.livejournal.com]

I have nothing to add on the substance of your post, but just wanted to say that the title is full of win and made me laugh.

[deird1]

*grins*

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

I also will be of no help, but I wanted to say that in the US, all the BtVS DVDs are in the as-originally-broadcast 4:3, except for Once More With Feeling. So, it's your wacky foreign DVDs that are the problem. USA! USA! (Um, except for the not-so-great-stuff. Like cultural imperialism.)

[deird1]

*waves Australian flag*

*err... discovers that, in fact, she does not own an Australian flag*

*grabs the Eureka flag and waves that instead*

[roccondilrinon.livejournal.com]

A much better choice, m'dear. :-)

[1c2k3p4p5c.livejournal.com]

Have spare Australian flag awaiting collection