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keith_sm
keith_sm
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Help needed to set aspect ratio to 16:9

Jul 20, 2012 4:49 PM

Tags: #problem #premiere_elements_10

I've just installed Premiere Elements 10 and I'm trying to familiarise myself with its features. However, I'm having trouble setting the aspect ratio correctly.

 

Clips already stored on my PC are widescreen SD, stored as .mpg files.  They play correctly with Windows Media Player as 16:9 ratio and any captured frames can be stored as 1024 x 576 images.

 

However, when I create a new project in Premiere and load these clips, they display everywhere (in the media list, in the timeline and in the "play" window) as distorted with a 4:3 ratio. If I attempt to save from this project, i get distorted 4:3 video. I have discovered the General Settings for the project and see that it shows the Frame Size to be 720 x 576, but it is greyed-out and does not seem to offer the option of changing it.

 

Can anyone advise how I can correctly set the project Frame Size to 1024 x 576 for 16:9 aspect ratio ?

Do I need  to make any additional choices when I save the edited movie as a 16:9 .mpg file ?

 

Thanks, Keith

881 Views   5 Replies   Latest reply: nealeh, Jul 22, 2012 12:54 AM
 
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  • nealeh
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    1. nealeh,
    Jul 21, 2012 4:16 AM   in reply to keith_sm
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    To ensure the correct settings you should choose the PAL> DV-Widescreen project setting (note that once started a project setting cannot be changed. You must create a new project with the correct settings. This is why it is greyed out.

     

    For PAL standard definition both Standard and Widescreen are 720 x 576 pixels. Widescreen is seen because the horizontal pixels are wider than those for Standard - this is known as the pixel aspect ratio.

     

    So putting 1024x576 images into your project is going to be making PRE scale the image down (whether you are trying to produce standard OR widescreen).

     

    2.png

     

    Cheers,
    --
    Neale
    Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children

     
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  • keith_sm
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    2. keith_sm,
    Jul 21, 2012 10:17 AM   in reply to nealeh
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    Neale, thank-you for your response and explanation.   However, it's still not working correctly for me.

     

    I created a new project and selected PAL-DV-widescreen as you indicated. I now see the widescreen windows in the media area, timeline, and display window.

     

    If I insert a widescreen image (.jpg), it displays correctly in all areas.  However, if I insert a widescreen video clip (.mpg) it still shows it as 4:3 ratio within the 16:9 window.

     

    If I then save to an .mpg file (selecting PAL-DV-widescreen), it creates a widescreen file, with the 16;9 .jpg image output OK, but with the video clip distorted to 4:3 and centralised within the 16:9 frames.

     

    As the saved output seems to directly correspond to .the format displayed within the Premiere windows, I'm guessing that the distortion is caused by the way in which the original widescreen clips are being interpreted when loading into Premiere.

     

    Can you advise further ?

     

    Thanks, Keith

     
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  • nealeh
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    3. nealeh,
    Jul 21, 2012 2:02 PM   in reply to keith_sm
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    Can you analyse your mpg file with either Gspot or MediaInfo (both free) and post a screenshot here.

     

    [EDIT] First though right-click your clip, select 'Interpret Footage' and check the 'Conform to: D1/DV PAL Widescreen' option.

     

    1.png

     

    Cheers,
    --
    Neale
    Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children

     
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  • keith_sm
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    4. keith_sm,
    Jul 21, 2012 3:20 PM   in reply to nealeh
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    Hi again Nealeh

     

    Thanks for your continued support.  I've checked the "Interpret Footage" as you suggested.

     

    It was set to "Use Pixel Aspect Ratio from File".  I changed it to "Conform to" D1/DV PAL Widescreen and it seems to have fixed my problem. The media, timeline and display window all changed to show the clip in 16:9 widescreen format.  When I re-saved the project as an .mpg file, it gave me a correctly proportioned output video.

     

    One final question - Does this suggest that the "Pixel Aspect Ratio" in my original .mpg file was telling Premiere it was 4:3 instead of 16:9 ?  Why would this be when my DV camcorder was set to 16:9 and the output it produced (downloaded via Panasonic's own VideoCam software) produced a widescreen video which was compatible with Windows Media Player?

     

    I've pasted the GSpot analysis below:-

    GSpot analysis.jpg

    thanks, Keith

     
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  • nealeh
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    5. nealeh,
    Jul 22, 2012 12:54 AM   in reply to keith_sm
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    I could only speculate that the supplied software lets it look at something other than just the Storage, Pixel, and Display aspect ratios (the last of which clearly shows 4:3 in your screen shot).

     

    Cheers,
    --
    Neale
    Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children

     

    If your question is answered would you please mark it so. This helps others, and allows Adobe to see how well the community forum is performing.

     
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