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My face looks too narrow. Is there a remedy?

Mar 14, 2013 11:53 AM

Tags: #premiere_elements

I would like to use the Permiere Elements 11 to edit the dozen clips I've taken in the last few days, but my face, a talking head, looks much narrower than it really is. The capturing of the material from the SDHC memory card went smoothly. I followed all the steps. The playback, though, in both Quick and Expert views look elongated. My face seems grotesquely narrow. What have I done wrong? How can I correct the problem.

I have a Canon FS200 camcorder and a Windows 7 operator system. Would it be best to get a HD camera for a cleaner image?

727 Views 18 Replies Latest reply: Tommyvincent, Mar 20, 2013 8:42 AM

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1. John T Smith,

Mar 14, 2013 1:27 PM in reply to Tommyvincent

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The first thing to verify is that your project matches your video

Importing Video http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1065281
-and project settings http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1112086

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2. Bill Hunt,

Mar 14, 2013 2:10 PM in reply to Tommyvincent

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The "squeezed" look comes from a mis-match in the PAR (Pixel Aspect Ratio) of your Source Footage vs your Project Preset, as John T. points out.

With HD (High Def) footage and HD Projects, there is only one non-square pixel option, 1440 x 1080 Anamorphic, which has a PAR=1.333. If one were to Import 1440 Anamorphic into a regular HD Project, with the PAR=1.0 (square pixels), then there IS a "squeeze."

With SD (Standard Def) material and Projects, for NTSC, there are two non-square PAR's: 09 for Standard 4:3 and 1.2 for Widescreen 16:9.

If you can tell us how you set up the Canon to shoot, and the Project Preset chosen, we can point you in the correct direction to fix things.

Good luck,

Hunt

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3. Tommyvincent,

Mar 15, 2013 7:57 AM in reply to Bill Hunt

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The first project I worked on in Premiere Elements was the stuff I downloaded from Classroom in a book. These files, all ten of them, were HD 1280 x 720 30 fps. Evidently the project presets now conform to this setting. My Canon is a SD camera so this probably means that I will have to change the presets. I don't know how to do this yet. I'm sure it's easy. Perhaps you could tell me how.

But I read somewhere that you can't change the project settings after you start editing. Does this mean that I will just delete the source footage I now have in the timeline and capture the video again from my camcorder?

Did you ever see the long thin face of John Carradine in those old John Ford movies? That's how I now look in the timeline.

I did not render the clips. That might help. But I would rather get the project presets right instead of tinkering around.

My current settings are - Editing Mode: HD 1080i Frame Size: 1920 horizontal x 1080 vertical

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4. Bill Hunt,

Mar 15, 2013 8:04 AM in reply to Tommyvincent

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Tommy,

If you have PrE 11 (your case), then the program should assign the correct Preset, when you Import the footage, and place the first Clip onto the Timeline - unless the program is missing the flags for the specs. of that/those file(s). Also, if one has different footage in a Project, remember that PrE can only do one Project Preset, so one needs to consider the mix of footage.

For your footage, shot with the Canon, what are the full specs.? Either G-Spot, or MediaInfo (both free, and very useful utilities) can tell you.

If the Canon is SD (Standard Def), then you should have two main choices: Standard 4:3, or Widescreen 16:9. Both of those are 720 x 480 (NTSC), and the only difference between them will be the PAR (Pixel Aspect Ratio) of the pixels, with Standard 4:3 being PAR=0.9 (narrow pixels), or Widescreen 16:9 being PAR=1.2 (for NTSC). There will probably some other choices in the camera's setup, but they will be related to quality, and the Standard 4:3, or Widescreen 16:9 are the two that affect how the pixels are structured.

If you have any version of PrE, before 11, then at New Project, you will need to select a Preset that matches your Source Footage, say DV Widescreen 16:9.

Let us know exactly what the specs. of the Canon's footage is, please. That info will help us to help you better.

Good luck,

Hunt

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5. Tommyvincent,

Mar 15, 2013 2:10 PM in reply to Bill Hunt

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I took a look at the specifications using the the PDF manual I got with the Canon FS200 camera. I don't know which of the dozens of specs would be helpful.

Tomorrow I'm going to film some 30-sec clips and try again. When I capture the video I'll first open PrE11, choose File > New > Project from the main menu. Maybe if I do this, the program will assign the correct Preset.

At this stage I'm confused but not frustrated. I don't even know if I'm shooting in 4:3 or 16:9. I can't find out how to determine this from the manual. But I know from experience that I'll have things figured out in a few days - with your help.

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6. Bill Hunt,

Mar 15, 2013 2:44 PM in reply to Tommyvincent

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In the meantime, I'd run one of those files through G-Spot, or MediaInfo, to see what they tell you, about the files. That might clear up quite a bit, and easily.

Good luck,

Hunt

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7. Tommyvincent,

Mar 16, 2013 10:51 AM in reply to Bill Hunt

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I just shot four 30-second clips and captured them with PrE 11. The audio is good and is in sync. But the image is poor - too narrow and highly pixelated. When I look at these same four clips on Windows Media Player, they are perfect.

In Project Settings - General I see: Frame Size 720 horizontal; 480 vertical
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Di/DV NTSC (0.9.9091)

When I copied and pasted the file into MediaInfo - 4 045, 720*480 (16:9), at 29.970 fps, MPEG Video (NTSC) (Version 2)

Any suggestions for clearing up the problem?

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8. Bill Hunt,

Mar 16, 2013 10:59 AM in reply to Tommyvincent

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It appears that you have 16:9 footage, which with NTSC will have a PAR=1.212 (fatter pixels), and it's going into a 4:3 Timeline with a PAR of 0.9091 (skinny pixels).

In the Media/Project Panel, if you Rt-click on one of those Clips, and choose Interpret Footage, what is show as the attributes (especially the PAR) for that Clip? It could be as simple as PrE not being able to pick up the PAR flag in the Clip from that camera.

Good luck,

Hunt

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9. Tommyvincent,

Mar 16, 2013 12:19 PM in reply to Bill Hunt

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I just rt-clicked on a clip. Here's what I got from Interpret Footage:

Frame Rate
Use Frame Rate from File 29.9700

Pixel Aspect Ratio
Use PAR from File
DI/DV NTSC (0.9091)

When I clicked on Project Settings/General, I see 720 horizontal and 480 vertical.

If PrE cannot "pick up the PAR flag," is it possible to override this manually or do I just jump off a bridge?

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10. Bill Hunt,

Mar 16, 2013 2:24 PM in reply to Tommyvincent

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Back in Interpret Footage, can you change the PAR to 1.212?

Now, if that does work, and it should, your face should look more natural, but as the pixels are interpreted as wider (1.212 v 0.9091), you will be effectively doing a little cropping on the left & right.

Good luck,

Hunt

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11. Bill Hunt,

Mar 16, 2013 2:27 PM in reply to Tommyvincent

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Also, go to Edit>Project, and tell us what you chose at New Project. It should be DV NTSC Widescreen.

Good luck,

Hunt

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12. Tommyvincent,

Mar 17, 2013 6:26 AM in reply to Bill Hunt

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I see 0.9091 for the clip in the Interpret Footage screen but I can find no way to change it. Is there a way to change it?

The Edit>Project is DV NTSC

When I clicked on New>Project from the file menu I saw this under Project Settings:

NTSC - AVCHD - Full HD 1080i 30

This is the the type of source footage in the files I downloaded from Classroom in a Book. When I shoot some more experimental 30-second clips this afternoon, I'll change this setting to Flash Memory/Widescreen 48kHz. That is unless you have a suggestion other than this.

The clips I used for the lessons in Classroom in a Book were all perfect in image and sound, by the way.

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13. Bill Hunt,

Mar 17, 2013 7:52 AM in reply to Tommyvincent

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For the Classroom in a Book material, you were given the Project Preset to choose for that footage.

From the description above, for your files, you would choose NTSC DV Widescreen 16:9, to match what you shot.

For setting the PAR in Interpret Footage, one would Rt-click on the Clip in the Media Panel, choose Interpret Footage, then Custom, and from the drop-down, choose the PAR=1.212:
I would first start with a matching Project Preset, and monitor to see if PrE is picking up the flag in the Clip.

Good luck,

Hunt

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14. Tommyvincent,

Mar 17, 2013 11:32 AM in reply to Bill Hunt

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I'm making progress, not in the Expert view Timeline though. With the new widescreen 16:9 1.2121 setting I captured four new 30-sec clips. In the Organizer they look good, no distortion or pixelation. But when I place them in the Timeline there is extreme pixelation.

From the Organizer I selected the four clips and clicked Edit with PrE. There is no more narrow distortion. At least that problem is solved. How do I clean up the pixelation in the Timeline so that I can begin to practice editing?

"I would first start with a matching Project Preset, and monitor to see if PrE is picking up the flag in the Clip."

I don't understand this.

By the way, I put the same clips in Magix Movie Edit Pro 16 and they look fine. I would much prefer to use PrE11, though, if I can figure it out.

You're probably getting disgusted with all this. It's such a basic problem.

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15. Bill Hunt,

Mar 17, 2013 11:45 AM in reply to Tommyvincent

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I would first start with a matching Project Preset, and monitor to see if PrE is picking up the flag in the Clip.
What I mean is that I would create a New Project, with a Preset that matches the footage, or what it is supposed to be 100%, Import one problem Clip into that, and test, i.e. monitor the results.

Also, check that your Display in the Program Monitor is set to Playback Quality>Highest and not Automatic, and probably also look at things with the Program Monitor set to 100% Magnification, and not Fit. You might want to switch back to Fit later, but for testing, 100% will show things the best, though you might need to resize the Program Monitor to see all of the Clip, without visual cropping to part of it.

When you do this test, please report exactly which New Project Preset you chose.

Good luck,

Hunt

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16. Tommyvincent,

Mar 19, 2013 11:28 AM in reply to Bill Hunt

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"...please report exactly which New Project Preset you chose."

The New Project Preset is - NTSC - AVCHD - Full HD 1080i 30

I will click Change Settings and type in under Flash Memory Camcorders - Widescreen 48 kHz - and then click OK. But when I go back to New Project Preset, I see the same NTSC - AVCHD - Full HD. This is the setting for the lesson material that comes with Classroom in a Book. I can't get rid of that setting.

I would like to have the New Project Preset setting for my Canon FS200, the only camcorder I will use - Flash Memory - Widescreen 48 kHz

The dozens of experimental clips I have already shot look perfect on the Organizer and in the Windows Media Player. In the Timeline these clips no longer look narrow and the audio is excellent - but the pixilation is horrible, especially around my eyes and mouth.

Do you think it would be wise to delete the files from Classroom in a Book? Could they be the problem? Is there a chance that my PrE11 program is corrupted?

We've solved the "narrow" problem. Only one more problem to go.

By the way, when I worked through all the lessons in Classroom in a Book, the video in both Quick and Expert views was sharp, absolutely perfect.

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17. Bill Hunt,

Mar 19, 2013 11:54 AM in reply to Tommyvincent

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Try this:

With any Project Open, go to File>New Project. From the New Project dialog box, choose Change Settings. From the Settings dialog box, use the drop-down, to choose DV Widescreen 48KHz, as shown here:
Import your DV Widescreen Clips into that Project.

Does your face look correct now?

Good luck,

Hunt

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18. Tommyvincent,

Mar 20, 2013 8:42 AM in reply to Bill Hunt

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I've tried all of your suggestions including this last one. First I changed the settings for DV. I had the same pixelation problem. I tried the settings for Hard Disk, Flash Memory Camcorder (which mine is), and other setting too. The norrow face look has been corrected but the wavy, pixilated look remains. These are good clips I'm using from my files and folders. I checked them out on other editing programs - Windows Movie Maker and Magix. There is no distortion when I view my clips in these editing programs.

I've studied PrE 11 - Classroom in a Book and Chad Perkins' Learn by Video - Intro to Adobe Premiere Elements 11. I like the program and want to work with it. But I know that this problem I'm having is unusual. If everyone had this problem PrE would be not be sold.

Is it possible that my PrE disc is corrupted? Could I uninstall the program and then reinstall the disc? Or perhaps I could send an email to Adobe and ask for a new disc. I ordered both Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11 from Amazon.

My project is simple - no elaborate editing skill required. I have my clips in both English and Spanish and I'd like to get on with the basic editing of these clips.

Your help was excellent - I learned a lot from the ideas you gave me. At least the narrow image was fixed. But that other problem is still severe.

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My face looks too narrow. Is there a remedy?

Mar 14, 2013 11:53 AM

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