[tim.oconnor]

My DV camcorder is set to record at widescreen -- 16:9, I think. (Sorry that I don't have it with me to check, but I'm pretty sure that's the proper number.)

I found that when I imported footage into iMovie on my iBook, it was changed to what looks like 4:3, in other words, to the standard TV-screen aspect ratio.

Is there anything special I need to do to get iMovie to recognize the footage as I edit? I composed specifically for a widescreen display, and it's a little strange to have things arbitrarily cut off.

I looked up "aspect ratio" and "16:9" in the index of the Pogue "Missing Book" for iMovie 2, but find nothing mentioned in there. The only mention I've been able to find is a reference to putting up title cards in letterbox format.

Does anyone have experience with this bit of editing with iMovie? It's nice to shoot according to a layout you prefer if your editing software can handle it.

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has done this before!

--tim o'connor

[Matthew Attoe]

Hi,


if your camera is set to 16x9 widescreen, it will record in 16x9 widescreen.

however, what is throwing you is that 16x9 video when viewed on a 4x3 source like a monitor or a non-widescreen tv is presented as a 4x3 image. EXCEPT that if you examine the image carefully you will notice that everything on the image is tall & thin, like it has been vertically 'stretched'. this is how my sony trv20 records on 16x9 widescreen.

the reason for this is on a widescreen tv there is a mode called 'wide' or '16x9' or something similiar. What this mode does is pull the picture on the left-to-right axis to fill the screen. The picture which was once tall and thin, when stretched left-to-right is then the correct ratio, everyone is the right size, buildings are the right shape, car wheels are round and not oval, etc.

there is a lot of information/disinofrmation on widescreen, letterbox, true widescreen etc. for example; unless your camcorder is extremely top-of-the-range, with an anamorphic lens, you are not actually getting 'true' 16x9 images. the image you are getting is 16x9, but is a 4x3 cropped to a 16x9 ratio. i know this is true as i bought my sony thinking i would get true 16x9 but didn't. the upside of this is that imovie edits what i have got and i have improved definition on my widey tv, the downside is it's not cinema type 16x9.

if you want any more info, post back. true widescreen is difficult to explain, esp. if you don't have a widey tv. is the states widey's aren't too common apparently. in england they are getting more common place day by day.


hope this helps


matthew

[tim.oconnor]

Thanks for the reply about wide-screen recording.

Yes, I've noticed that the image, during edit, is slightly vertically distorted. I thought that might have something to do with the aspect ratio.

I too have a Sony, and I don't have an anamorphic lens. I had hoped that the camera would do the appropriate conversion and didn't think it would simply apply a mask to the image.

> the upside of this is that imovie edits what i have got and i have
> improved definition on my widey tv, the downside is it's not
> cinema type 16x9.

This sounds promising; I have a TV that "understands" different aspect ratios, and while I haven't yet tested it on the TV, I'm hoping that I get a better image.

> hope this helps

It does, thanks. I'll post back after I have a chance to run the footage through the TV monitor. I know it may seem premature to be asking these questions before running the tape through the monitor, but I didn't want to waste a lot of time chasing down the wrong road.

Thanks!

--tim o'connor