Change colors of black bars at side after rotating?

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Change colors of black bars at side after rotating?

Hi there...

I am filming in a confined space and I need to do a full body shot. The only way to fit it in is by turning the camera sideways. Then when I import into iMovie I have to click 'rotate' and 'fit', which leaves about 1/3 of the screen on either side as black bars.

My question is... is it possible to change the color of the black bars? My background in the video is white, so it would be nice to have white bars to make everything blend in better.

Thanks!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Jan 27, 2011 9:06 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 22, 2011 10:48 PM in response to ftt

I have the same question. Is it possible to change the letterboxing or pillarboxing colors?

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Answer 2

Mar 22, 2011 11:35 PM in response to ftt

... Is it possible to change the letterboxing or pillarboxing colors?

short answer: No.

And Welcome, ftt, to the  boards ... 😀

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Answer 3

Mar 22, 2011 11:50 PM in response to Karsten Schlüter

whats the long answer?

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Answer 4

Mar 23, 2011 12:26 AM in response to ftt

Hi

Karsten wrote - No. And I read it as - No not in iMovie.

One "long" answer would may be be - This is very easy in FinalCut.

What's long about this - Well there is a bit of starting up - getting comfortable
with a Pro application - Very un-like iMovie'08 or 09 or 11. AND it's far from free.

But if
• Cost is no problem
• You are eager to learn new
• You like to read a book eg Tom Wolsky's book on FinalCut Express 4.0

Then the freedom is enormous. I love FinalCut Express/Pro !

Yours Bengt W

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Answer 5

Mar 23, 2011 1:27 AM in response to Conner_36

Conner_36 wrote:
whats the long answer?

as Bengt already mentioned: use other tools to 'rotate' your video, or make a 4:3 fit into a 16:9 project.

and, there's one way, from my +Box Of Silly Tricks+ :
create an 'overlay' in any paint-app, made of bars in your choice of color and a transparent 'hole' for the video; export as png, add to your project as 'cutaway' = the new bars hide the black ones ...-

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Answer 6

Mar 25, 2011 1:39 PM in response to Karsten Schlüter

Thanks.

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Answer 7

Mar 25, 2011 1:45 PM in response to Karsten Schlüter

Karsten Schlüter wrote:

Conner_36 wrote:
whats the long answer?

....

and, there's one way, from my +Box Of Silly Tricks+ :
create an 'overlay' in any paint-app, made of bars in your choice of color and a transparent 'hole' for the video; export as png, add to your project as 'cutaway' = the new bars hide the black ones ...-

I expanded on your method and just created white bars that I overlaid on the image. It's a lot easier than creating a hole. Now all you need is iPhoto to create a correct aspect ratio of the image and then create small bar slices to cover the black. You can use text edit to create the color you want and then screen shot it.

Hope it makes sense.

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Answer 8

Apr 22, 2011 8:04 AM in response to ftt

The best way to do this with the least amount of trouble would be to simply create a 'mask' of sorts in photoshop and leave the center transparent. Save this mask as a PNG and overlay it upon the existing video. Once you create the mask that fits your image, you can easily change the masks to do what you need them to do.

But again, you are better off just learning Final Cut and opening up your creative opportunities.

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Answer 9

May 10, 2011 1:26 PM in response to ftt

I agree with sbstevesiii.

You can try the following steps

On Photoshop, create a new image with the dimensions of 1600px by 900px (this is the 16:9 aspect ratio) - transparent background, resolution of 72.

Next, roughly calculate what is 1/3 of the image (@533px) and create a selection box of that size (533 by 900) - you can do a set size so with one click you can have that box. Then select your paintbuck - pick the color that you want (white, offwhite, red) and paint that box.

Repeat the step on the other side of the whole image. thus leaving the center transparent

Save as a PNG on your desktop

In iMovie, just drag that image on top of your movie and then select: Picture in Picture

Select the Crop button and click on "Fit"

The move it around to cover your movie - the center should remain transparent, and you can see how it fits your movie.

You can become more creative and adjust your PNG image to cover more by increasing the size of the boxes. You can also get fancy and include your logo and website on that PNG and any other message that can go with your video (creating several PNGs)

Oh I forgot, in the iMovie reel, just select how far you want your PNG to cover. Like I said before, you can create other PNG's based on your template and have them display different things.

Hope this helps. It is not Final Cut, but a workaround if you like to play with Photoshop. I'm actually creating a video in a similar scenario and I was wondering how to handle the black bars. It will be up and running in the next couple of days

Good luck!

Christian

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