640x360 is a frequently use and highly recommended 16x9 size. Your problem is that while your image is in the 16x9 shape, your video is really still 4x3 with black lines filling in the difference. You gotta set up a workflow in one way or another that *crops* off the area where the black lines are now, and makes your original finished movie into a true 16x9 shaped movie. Then when you output to 640x360, it'll look great.
You said: > ok... I used the Sanyo Xacti HD1A. The source video was 1280X720, 30 > fps mp4 > video. I edited in FCE, then chose export using quicktime > compression, and > did this: > > - under format, chose mpeg-4 and clicked options > - chose mp4 under file format > - chose h.264 under video format > - did the 640x480 image size (chose custom) > - clicked the preserve aspect ratio using letterbox checkbox So it sounds like your FCE timeline is 640x480. That's fine, you can edit like that. What you want to do next is make a new sequence that is 640x360. Then drag the first sequence onto the second (pretending like your first finished movie is a "clip" in FCE, and dropping that clip onto the timeline of the "second" movie. What you get is the 640x480 fottage sitting in a 640x360 space. Drag that 1st-sequence- clip up and down in the window (with wireframes on) until its centered vertically, and you can see that the black bars are going to get chopped-off evenly on the top and bottom. Then render. NOW export *that* movie in 640x360 -- and all will be perfectly well! I do this all the time in FCP. If FCE doesn't allow for nested sequences, an alternative is to highlight and copy all the clips (video and sound and transitions) that are edited in the first sequence and paste them onto the second. Then adjust (if needed) each of the separate video clips one at a time until the same end result is accomplished. Render. You could have edited in a sequence that was 640x360 in the first place... *but* doing so can be a real pain if the footage from the camera is actually 640x480 because you might have to render everything even time. I usually edit in a timeline that matches what I shot. Then I nest sequences and put the finished piece on a timeline that is the same shape as the web video I want to make, render, and then export. Even if you want the final movie to be 480x270 or another 16x9 ratio, put it into a 640x360 timeline first. There isn't anyway to "crop" when you export for web in the quicktime software. The video gets squished instead which is what you experienced. Be sure to deinterlace (if the original video has interlacing on it, ie: was shot in anything besides 24p mode), *especially* if you make the video 480x270 or something, because the interlacing gets accentuated when dropping 1/3 of the resolution. I hope this helps, Jen http://jensimmons.com http://milkweedmediadesign.com On Jul 9, 2008, at 6:33 PM, David King wrote: > I did another test (haven't published it anywhere). This time, I did > everything I mentioned below, but did NOT check the letterbox box. > After > exporting, the mp4 video is stretched, and has the black letterbox > lines top > and bottom. > > Is 640x360 not a standard size or something? > > David King > davidleeking.com - blog > davidleeking.com/etc - videoblog [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
