How do I 'uncrop' my movie?

Question

Level 1

67 points

How do I 'uncrop' my movie?

I'm importing an avi file into an iDVD project. The avi file's aspect ratio is (I think) 16:9, whereas the project's ratio is 4:3, which is the same as the monitor I'm showing it on. When I watch the video however, it's cropped -- that is, the left and right edges are cropped out so that the image fills the screen vertically.

How can I get the video to display in its full, letterbox'd view?

Scott

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Dec 20, 2007 9:04 AM

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Answer 1

SDIllini

Level 6

16,675 points

Dec 20, 2007 10:02 AM in response to Scott Stark

Did you enable "TV Safe Area" in iDVD by choosing 'View > Show TV Safe Area.'?

Sue

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Answer 2

Scott Stark Author

Level 1

67 points

Dec 20, 2007 10:05 AM in response to SDIllini

I've enabled it, but all that does is put a red box around my menu items so I can see where to put the buttons. I don't think it affects the playback of the movie itself.

Scott

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Answer 3

SDIllini

Level 6

16,675 points

Dec 20, 2007 10:16 AM in response to Scott Stark

Sorry Scott, I am braindead today. (Too much cold medicine I think)

In iMovie, go into preferences > import > uncheck the box that says "automatic pillarboxing and letterboxing"

Does that help?

Sue

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Answer 4

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Dec 20, 2007 10:21 AM in response to Scott Stark

When I watch the video however, it's cropped --

Where - on your computer or on a TV set?

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Answer 5

Scott Stark Author

Level 1

67 points

Dec 20, 2007 10:38 AM in response to F Shippey

Sorry, on my TV set. It looks fine on my computer monitor.

Scott

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Answer 6

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Dec 20, 2007 10:41 AM in response to Scott Stark

Scott,

That was my suspicion.

You need to change the way your set top DVD player is set. It sounds like right now it is set to 'Pan and Scan' and needs to be changed to "Letterbox'. Check your DVD player manual.

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Answer 7

Scott Stark Author

Level 1

67 points

Dec 20, 2007 10:43 AM in response to SDIllini

Hi Sue, well I'm not using iMovie; I have an .avi file that I downloaded and want to put on DVD.

thanks,
Scott

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Answer 8

Scott Stark Author

Level 1

67 points

Dec 20, 2007 10:50 AM in response to F Shippey

Doh! that was it, it was the deck, not iDVD. Thanks so much for the reply, and sorry to take up iDVD space...

Scott

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Answer 9

SDMacuser

Level 6

13,585 points

Dec 20, 2007 10:57 AM in response to Scott Stark

well I'm not using iMovie; I have an .avi file that I downloaded and want to put on DVD.

Try using something like VisualHub to convert your AVI files to DV video

Or Mpegstreamclip (free download) to convert prior to using within iDvd ....

Good luck on this!

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Answer 10

Dec 20, 2007 1:50 PM in response to Scott Stark

Scott, an alternative for anyone who cannont set their DVD player to play widescreen is to *re-sample your .avi* movie to fit width-wise on a regular screen. You can use ffmpegX for this.

For a widescreen .avi of say, 624x352 pixels, set your video size to say, 448x256, and simultaneously add letterbox padding to all sides (top=54, bottom=54, right=15, left=15) for a final video size of 480x360 pixels. (Note that in ffmegX, only a few formats, namely those using the ffmpeg option, suppport letterboxing. I find AVI XviD (ffmpeg) gives one of the better results)

Now when imported into iDVD, burned and played on a regular TV, it will appear correctly.

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