change aspect ratio in iMovie 10.1.2

It is possible. You just need to think of iMovie a little differently from past versions. Instead of setting your project aspect ratio, you need to change this from the "crop" feature. All iMovie projects are now shot in 16:9 aspect ratio, but that doesn't mean your video has to get cut off at the top and bottom. Simply choose the clip that needs adjusting and click on the "crop" icon. Change the style from "Crop to fill" to "Fit". This will keep the 16:9 aspect ratio, but add black bars to the left and right side of the image. Since all TVs today are 16:9, the black bars are expected if you need to show video in 4:3 format. Hope this helps!

Hi EvaWill,

I just spoke with a helpful gentleman at Apple who guided me through the "Crop" solution that Rich839 mentioned in this conversation. I'm dealing with old VHS tapes (4:3 aspect ratio), and as soon as I move the imported clip onto the timeline, iMovie's default setting of "Crop to Fill" removes the top/bottom of the clip so that it fits into the popular 16:9 aspect ration. By selecting "Fit" (and Apply Crop Adjustment) my problem was solved.

Good luck with your family heritage project. Keep history alive!

It is possible to crop the black bars in the shared video and get a video with the original aspect ratio using for example MPEG Streamclip: http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-mac.html

This app is free and though no longer under development still works for me under Sierra.

Geoff.

The resolution and frame rate of your movie project are determined by the first clip you add to the timeline. So add a clip with the desired aspect ratio as the first clip of your video.

iMovie aspect ratio is set at 16:9, and I don't believe you can change that within the app. I am not sure what happens when you follow the procedure that lèonie suggests. Possibly you would get letterbox or bars? You could try it and see. I have tried selecting the clip and then clicking on the crop button and selecting Fit from the option boxes. It works to some extent, but there was distortion, at least in the clip I was working with. You can change the aspect ratio with an outside application, like the free download Streamclip, and then import the clip into iMovie. I have not found that to be all that great, either.

I did this also. It made black bars on the side which are a bit annoying. Did you have that also? Thanks!

Hi, Pam,

Yes, you will get the black pillar bars, that are necessary to fill in the 16:9 aspect ratio display screen.

-- Rich

Rich-

Thank you!

Tried that. It didn't work. Top of heads and table tops are cut off!!!

THANK YOU. It worked! (Gosh, I guess they like to have people figure out what the heck they're talking about instead of calling it what it is!