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Pixelated Movie In Premiere Elements 10 Due To Pillarbox / resize

Nov 26, 2012 12:47 PM

When we import video from from our camera which records in 720p widescreen format, the content is automatically pillarboxed by Premiere and it looks terrible. The video becomes pixelated and blurring, and everything is stretched vertically. This happens regardless of the format that I use for the project when we start. We came from Premiere Elements 7 and never had this issue before.

752 Views   10 Replies   Latest reply: Bill Hunt, Jan 17, 2013 5:44 AM
 
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  • Ann Bens
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    1. Ann Bens,
    Nov 26, 2012 1:09 PM   in reply to hcotech2
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    Choose a setting that matches the footage, also check Interprete Footage to see if the footage is correct.

     
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  • Bill Hunt
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    2. Bill Hunt,
    Nov 26, 2012 1:10 PM   in reply to hcotech2
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    Welcome to the forum.

     

    Let's start at the beginning. What camcorder is being used?

     

    What are the full specs. of the footage from that camera?

     

    Exactly which Preset was chosen at New Project?

     

    From there, we should be able to get to the bottom of the pixelation issue and the Scaling.

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

     
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  • hcotech2
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    3. hcotech2,
    Nov 26, 2012 1:46 PM   in reply to Bill Hunt
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    Let's start at the beginning. What camcorder is being used?

    A Canon FS100

     

    What are the full specs. of the footage from that camera?

    720 x 480, so I was wrong, it is not 720p. Sorry I am the IT guy, not that familiar with video editing stuff! =)

     

    Exactly which Preset was chosen at New Project?

    We have tried using the Hard Disk, Flash Memory Camcorders standard and widescreen 48khz, and also NTSC DV Standard and widescreen 48khz. both do the same thing. For reference, in premiere elements 7 (which works and looks fine), we were using NTSC DV Standard 48kHz.

     

    Also I wanted to add, when we import video, we get a message that, something like "the current settings for the project are different than the selected media, would you like to adjust the project settings to match the selected media?". Selecting yes and no both give the same result - media is stretched vertically and "squished" or pillarboxed. To me it looks like for some reason it is going from 16:9 to 4:3. I did some digging and there was some mention that using a 4:3 monitor / resolution for your editing computer may force Adobe Premiere to automatically pillarbox any projects (at least in 10)? So do I need to get a 16:9 monitor for editing purposes to match the media that we have? If so that is like.. sorry but the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

     
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  • Bill Hunt
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    4. Bill Hunt,
    Nov 26, 2012 2:46 PM   in reply to hcotech2
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    If one has shot SD (Standard Definition) footage, in NTSC it is 720 x 480, and if Widescreen 16:9 will have a PAR = 1.2, and if Standard 4:3 will have a PAR = 0.9.

     

    If one gets a pillarbox (black bars on the side), it is an indicator that the PAR is mis-matched. If the black bars are fairly wide, then it is Standard 4:3 PAR 0.9 in a Widescreen 16:9 PAR 1.2 Project. There are a few cameras (primarily stills cameras), that shoot 640 x 480 with a PAR = 1.0 (square pixels), and when displayed in a Widescreen 16:9 Project will have very thin black bars.

     

    That could be caused by a few factors:

     

    1. The footage was shot in Standard 4:3, and the Project is Widescreen 16:9
    2. The program missed the flag for Widescreen 16:9 in the files' header info, so is displaying it as Standard 4:3 in the Widescreen 16:9 Project - Interpret Footage can correct for the missed PAR flag.
    3. Some cameras do not shoot true Widescreen 16:9, but instead crop the footage's Frame Size, to look like Widescreen, but the PAR of 0.9 is not that of true Widescreen 16:9. If used in a Widescreen 16:9 Project, there will be both pillarboxing and letterboxing.

     

    Not sure what is happening between PrE 7 and PrE 10, but it could be that the Mode of the camera was changed, or that PrE 10 is missing that Widescreen 16:9 PAR flag. If the latter, then in the Project Panel, Rt-click and choose Interpret Footage, to adjust that PAR. The Interpret Footage dialog screen will also give you more specs. (as the program is seeing them) too.

     

    I tried checking the full specs. of the Canon FS100, but it would not come up on the Canon Web site (for me), and the reviews all stop very short in the specs. department.

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

     
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  • hcotech2
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    5. hcotech2,
    Nov 28, 2012 7:45 AM   in reply to Bill Hunt
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    Thank you for the suggestions Bill, unfortunately we have already tried all of that, using interpret footage, checking the camera's output, and this happens on both very old videos and brand new ones, so I doubt it was a setting that changed recently (considering some of the videos shot were in 2007, and they do the same thing).

     

    This really has me stumped. It works absolutely fine in PrE7, but looks terrible in PrE10. Project settings are identical, interpret footage changes nothing, even when I manually change the settings. I am attaching screenshots of the original vs what we see in PrE10 (and the output looks just as bad when we export the video).

     

    Original:

    http://i.imgur.com/2bVjq.jpg

     

    In Premiere:

    http://i.imgur.com/su1WE.jpg

     
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  • Steve Grisetti
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    6. Steve Grisetti,
    Nov 28, 2012 8:02 AM   in reply to hcotech2
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    Have you rendered your timeline?

     

    This video really looks like it's being used in a project that's not using the correct project settings. Is a video clip from your Canon the very first clip on your timeline?

     

    If you go to Edit/Project Settings, which project settings does it show?

     
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  • Bill Hunt
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    7. Bill Hunt,
    Nov 28, 2012 10:53 AM   in reply to Steve Grisetti
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    It also appears, in the second screen-cap, that the footage is being squeezed, (as noted in the OP) and probably by the differential between a PAR = 1.2 and PAR = 0.9. It appears to be more than 1.2 to 1.0 (square pixels), or 1.0 to 0.9.

     

    Such a PAR mis-match would yield pillarboxing.

     

    Hunt

     
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  • Bill Hunt
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    8. Bill Hunt,
    Nov 28, 2012 10:55 AM   in reply to hcotech2
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    I would run one of the files through MediaInfo, or G-Spot (both great free utilities), to see what is reported for the file's attributes. Please post a screen-cap from either of those programs, to display the data.

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

     
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  • Brendan Dwyer
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    9. Brendan Dwyer,
    Jan 17, 2013 12:48 AM   in reply to hcotech2
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    Same problem, Premiere 10, pillarboxing, running out of blank DVD's to test. Using Canon Legria FS200, MOD footage file, ran file through G-Spot, screen shot:

    gspot.jpg

    Tried PAL->Hard Disk->Standard/Widescreen, PAL->DSLR->1080p/480p and one of the HDV project settings, interpret footage changing to PAL/PAL Widescreen and zooming into the footage, burning as PAL/PAL widescreen, all to no avail.  The only part solution is to save as MPEG which does not pillarbox in Windows Media Player, but have not burned this, as it seems an overly complex solution.  Did not have this problem in Elements 4.  Wasted far too much time on this. 

     
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  • Bill Hunt
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    10. Bill Hunt,
    Jan 17, 2013 5:44 AM   in reply to Brendan Dwyer
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    Is that G-Spot screen-cap of one of your Source Files?

     

    If so, that file is Standard 4:3, and is not Widescreen 16:9, which for PAL should be 720 x 576 w/ PAR=1.422. You have 720 x 576 w/ PAR=1.066.

     

    If you know that you DID shoot Widescreen 16:9, then both G-Spot and PrE are missing the proper flag in the file's header info. In PrE, you can go to the file in the Project Panel, Rt-click on it, and choose Interpret Footage, choosing PAR-1.422. Test.

     

    For that material, you should be choosing PAL Standard 4:3.

     

    To test the DVD output, here are two tricks, to keep from making "coasters:" Burn to Folder, and then play that folder in a DVD software player, or pick up a 5-pack of Verbatim RW (Rewritable) DVD's, and use those for testing. No more coasters.

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

     
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