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midwinter · Jun 25, 2002, 05:50 PM

Hi all.

I've been messing around with mpeg4 for a while now, and I've got some video that I've captured from widescreen format VHS. Does anyone know if there's a way to crop the video in QT 6? I figure that should bring down the file size a great deal.

The only video editing software I have is Strata Videoshop 4.5, which seems to have an option for cropping, but for the life of me I can't figure it out....

Any help?

Cheers
Scott

[ 06-25-2002, 05:50 PM: Message edited by: midwinter ]

lucylawless · Jun 25, 2002, 06:47 PM

<a href="http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=002756#000001" target="_blank">http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=002756#000001</a>

midwinter · Jun 25, 2002, 09:40 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by lucylawless:
[QB]<a href="http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=002756#000001" target="_blank">http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=002756#000001</a>[/QB ]<hr /></blockquote>Thanks!

Do you know if applying such a mask BEFORE exporting will make the file size smaller? in other words, does applying a mask have the same effect on file size as cropping?

Cheers
Scott

hadocon · Jun 25, 2002, 10:12 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by midwinter:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by lucylawless:
[QB]<a href="http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=002756#000001" target="_blank">http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=002756#000001</a>[/QB ]<hr /></blockquote>Thanks!

Do you know if applying such a mask BEFORE exporting will make the file size smaller? in other words, does applying a mask have the same effect on file size as cropping?

Cheers
Scott<hr /></blockquote>Yes it does. I can not remember the numbers, but I seem to remember getting a significantly lower file size when I trie d this.

gregjsmith · Jan 26, 2005, 02:57 PM

I've got a similar question. I have a 800x600 4:3 ~1 min clip. I wanted to crop it down so I can use it in 16:9 mode with iMove HD.

Since the clip is a random pattern I can pretty much pick any part of it to use but I don't want to "smush" it down, if you know what I mean.

midwinter · Jan 26, 2005, 03:51 PM

Originally posted by gregjsmith:
I've got a similar question. I have a 800x600 4:3 ~1 min clip. I wanted to crop it down so I can use it in 16:9 mode with iMove HD.

Since the clip is a random pattern I can pretty much pick any part of it to use but I don't want to "smush" it down, if you know what I mean.

ffmpegx will do it.

gregjsmith · Jan 26, 2005, 08:56 PM

Originally posted by midwinter:
ffmpegx will do it.

I was afraid you were going to say that.

What's the best way to configure it. I'm confused on how to set up the video parameters and crop settings. Seems one overrides the other.

midwinter · Jan 26, 2005, 09:02 PM

Originally posted by gregjsmith:
I was afraid you were going to say that.

What's the best way to configure it. I'm confused on how to set up the video parameters and crop settings. Seems one overrides the other.

Well, that's an entirely different question!

Lemme think on it. You could email major4 (the ffmpegx developer) or post at the forums. They're generally good at getting back to you.

Uncle Skeleton · Jan 26, 2005, 10:19 PM

Since the board seems to have destroyed the helpful tip given at the beginning of this thread...

QuickTime Pro is the easiest way to do this. In Movie Properties (cmd-j) select the Video track and the Mask parameter. Choose an image you've made with white where you want it cropped off and black everywhere else (or maybe the opposite, but if you get it wrong you can switch them in QTPro). Use a lossless compression for the image (which you can discard after choosing it for the mask). The mask will not change the size of your existing content, and it will increase playback requirements, but if you intend to export (re-encode) the mask will be honored.