Hello, we will be shooting a film soon on 2 digital cameras; a panasonic
DVCPro and a JVC miniDV. The problem is, the film is supposed to be in
widescreen. Only our JVC supports widescreen so our initial plan is to use
that in 16:9, with the other shooting 4:3, then simply crop the top and
bottom off it.

When the film renders out then from our Edit what we will get is a 4:3 frame
with black bars top and bottom and the image in between. I know this is not
exactly an ideal setup and is really not widescreen (only 16:9 size picture
within 4:3 frame). So I would like anyone's adivce on how they would tackle
this. hmmm its not an ideal situation but we are on an extremely tight
budget...

thanks guys, any warnings to avoid any nasty pifalls or anything would be
great

Luke

In message , Tony Morgan
writes
In message , Luke Harris
writes
Hello, we will be shooting a film soon on 2 digital cameras; a panasonic
DVCPro and a JVC miniDV. The problem is, the film is supposed to be in
widescreen. Only our JVC supports widescreen so our initial plan is to use
that in 16:9, with the other shooting 4:3, then simply crop the top and
bottom off it.

When the film renders out then from our Edit what we will get is a 4:3 frame
with black bars top and bottom and the image in between. I know this is not
exactly an ideal setup and is really not widescreen (only 16:9 size picture
within 4:3 frame). So I would like anyone's adivce on how they would tackle
this. hmmm its not an ideal situation but we are on an extremely tight
budget...

I believe Vegas 4 has solutions, but I haven't had any requirements to
use them. There's a deal about the subject in Sonic Foundry's Knowledge
Base at:
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/search/s...descreen&col=s
onic+sonic2

Sorry, the above link gives little information. However, pages 178/179
of the manual gives some information. It seems that Vegas 4 auto-detects
and adjusts the pixel aspect ratio clip-by-clip to suit the video
(assuming you use scenedetect). Vegas also gives you the option of
changing the pixel aspect ration if the auto-adjust doesn't handle
things correctly - again on pages 178/179 of the manual.

I haven't used this, so I'm only pointing you to the manual.
--
Tony Morgan
http://www.camcord.info

In message , Tony Morgan
writes
In message , Luke Harris
writes


Snipped....
Sorry to keep posting answers/amendments.

I've just opened Vegas and found that within the 19 codecs provided as
standard, there are two widescreen codecs - one for PAL and one for
NTSC.
--
Tony Morgan
http://www.camcord.info

Hello, we will be shooting a film soon on 2 digital cameras; a panasonic
DVCPro and a JVC miniDV. The problem is, the film is supposed to be in
widescreen. Only our JVC supports widescreen so our initial plan is to use
that in 16:9, with the other shooting 4:3, then simply crop the top and
bottom off it.

When the film renders out then from our Edit what we will get is a 4:3 frame
with black bars top and bottom and the image in between. I know this is not
exactly an ideal setup and is really not widescreen (only 16:9 size picture
within 4:3 frame). So I would like anyone's adivce on how they would tackle
this. hmmm its not an ideal situation but we are on an extremely tight
budget...

thanks guys, any warnings to avoid any nasty pifalls or anything would be
great

I'm sure you'll find a way to crop the 4:3 material to simulate 16:9.
However, I suspect that the result won't match the footage shot in
real 16:9 - there will be quite obvious quality difference between
scenes shot on the two cameras.

Make sure you do some test shooting before the real thing, and see if
this is a problem.

Thanks guys for those replies. In the mean time our situation has changed a
little...

Our DVCPro camera (the one that would shoot in 4:3) had been sent back to
panavision for a checkup. The camera was working without any major problems
really before we sent it. When it was away they told us that our heads
needed alignment and it was cost something that we simply could not afford.
We told them not to carry out any repair work and just send it back to us
and we would use it as is. We got the camera back today - guess what - it
doesn't work. The tape is not being taken up at all and just sits lifelessly
when inserted. The rest of the camera works ok.

Where do we stand in this situation? Is panavision at fault for returning
the camera to us in worse condition and should they send us a replacement
until they repair our camera back to how it was, or what?

Thanks again, at least this means I don't have to worry about the 16:9 issue
for now!


"Laurence Payne" wrote in message
...
Hello, we will be shooting a film soon on 2 digital cameras; a panasonic
DVCPro and a JVC miniDV. The problem is, the film is supposed to be in
widescreen. Only our JVC supports widescreen so our initial plan is to
use
that in 16:9, with the other shooting 4:3, then simply crop the top and
bottom off it.

When the film renders out then from our Edit what we will get is a 4:3
frame
with black bars top and bottom and the image in between. I know this is
not
exactly an ideal setup and is really not widescreen (only 16:9 size
picture
within 4:3 frame). So I would like anyone's adivce on how they would
tackle
this. hmmm its not an ideal situation but we are on an extremely tight
budget...

thanks guys, any warnings to avoid any nasty pifalls or anything would be
great

I'm sure you'll find a way to crop the 4:3 material to simulate 16:9.
However, I suspect that the result won't match the footage shot in
real 16:9 - there will be quite obvious quality difference between
scenes shot on the two cameras.

Make sure you do some test shooting before the real thing, and see if
this is a problem.

"Luke Harris" wrote in message
...
Hello, we will be shooting a film soon on 2 digital cameras; a panasonic
DVCPro and a JVC miniDV. The problem is, the film is supposed to be in
widescreen. Only our JVC supports widescreen so our initial plan is to use
that in 16:9, with the other shooting 4:3, then simply crop the top and
bottom off it.

snip

If you use Premiere then have a look at this site
http://www.mykaskin.freeserve.co.uk/myksvideopages/, it's a plug-in that
should allow you to ARC your 4:3 to 16:9. (or vice-versa etc.)

I knew I had the URL somewhere.....