Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

duranduranie

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 18, 2009
44
0
I see videos on Youtube where the movie is in fullscreen, or full image with black lines at the side. This is what I want for my video. But when I import my avi file (which IS in fullscreen) Imovie automatically makes it widescreen with huge black lines on the top and bottom. how do i change this?

Please someone help me out, i rarely get answers here. Thanks.
 

duranduranie

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 18, 2009
44
0
Do you expect answers if you insult people in advance?

What are you both talking about? First off, I'm not a 'he' and I had no intention of insulting anybody! I apologize sincerely if it came out that way, but I have asked this question several time, and no body has known how to help. I assumed this meant the problem wasn't fixable.
 

totoum

macrumors member
Aug 16, 2007
71
0
First,when you create a new imovie project,do you have widescreen checked?

What is the image size of the video you're trying to import (find out in the inspector window of quicktime)?
 

duranduranie

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 18, 2009
44
0
First,when you create a new imovie project,do you have widescreen checked?

What is the image size of the video you're trying to import (find out in the inspector window of quicktime)?

Hi! do you mean where it says "automatic pillar & letterboxing"? I have unchecked that. It says current size : 537 x 300 pixels and normal size : 544 x 304 pixels. Its slightly different to the default imovie size, is there anyway to slightly stretch the image just to get rid of the black lines? or anything else you can suggest? much appreciated, thanks
 

spinnerlys

Guest
Sep 7, 2008
14,328
7
forlod bygningen
The following is taken from the thread titled "How to maximise your MacRumors troubleshooting experience" created by mad jew in 2006. It contains more elaborate information on the short extracts I took from it and should help you in finding appropriate help. I also made some additions after finding that thread.

  1. Search for threads or guides containing similar problems.
    MRoogle is quite a good tool to search these forums.
  2. Start your thread in the appropriate forum or sub-forum.
    Here is the forum's main page with the list of all the sub-fora found here.
  3. Use a specific thread title.
    "Need help!!!!???? ASAP!!!" and its variants are not specific.
  4. Find and post machine hardware and software configurations.
    You can find out more about your Mac by going to the Menu Bar > :apple: > About This Mac > More Info ... (this button opens Applications / Utilities / System Profiler) > Hardware Overview.
  5. Tell us your problem, and be specific. What is happening to your machine?
  6. How long has this been happening? What changes were made just before this started?
  7. What have you already tried?
  8. Respond to all posted advice with details of what happened.
  9. Be wary of the (very) occasional bad advice.
  10. Be patient.
  11. Be courteous.


What iMovie version do you have?

Have you taken a look at Project Properties (CMD+J) > Aspect Ratio?
 

duranduranie

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 18, 2009
44
0
What iMovie version do you have?

Have you taken a look at Project Properties (CMD+J) > Aspect Ratio?



Thank you! I have Imovie HD. I can't find Project Properties though, when I click (CMD-J) It starts extracting audio.
 

duranduranie

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 18, 2009
44
0
What does the Help say about Aspect Ratio or Widescreen or 4:3?

Here is also a manual: http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iMovieHD_Getting_Started.pdf .


I'm not sure I understand, sorry. I clicked 'Help' and 'aspect ratio' and it says this:

"Different formats of footage, such as widescreen or high definition, potentially may not fit the format of your video well. For example, if you import widescreen footage into a standard definition project, the widescreen footage wouldn't fit well within the normal screen size of standard definition. iMovie HD automatically solves this problem by adjusting incoming footage to fit the screen size (aspect ratio) of your project.

Digital video footage is recorded using standard ratios of width to height, called the aspect ratio. Standard definition video has an aspect ratio of 4:3, meaning for every four pixels of width the frame has 3 pixels of height. Widescreen video has a 16:9 aspect ratio, meaning that the width of the frame is nearly twice its height. "

But this means huge black lines, which I don't want.
 

spinnerlys

Guest
Sep 7, 2008
14,328
7
forlod bygningen
What I meant, does the help or even the manual (which should) say how to change the aspect ratio of the preview monitor (I don't know how iMovie calls it, the window where the video is being played back)? I don't have iMovie HD, so I can't look there.

As you have videos that have the resolution of 544 x 304 and 537 x 300, the proper aspect ratio for those is 1.79 (calculated via 544/304 and 537/300).

1.79 comes very close to 16:9 (16/9 = 1.7777), which is called widescreen.
Fullscreen is 4:3 which is 1.3333 (4/3).

139px-Aspect-ratio-4x3.svg.png


184px-Aspect-ratio-16x9.svg.png

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image)


4x3vs16x9.png

from http://dharmadevil.com/widescreen/


Do I understand you correct, that you want to make a 4:3 video using the 16:9 footage?

Have a look at iMovie's effects and see if you can scale or stretch the movie.
Again the manual might be of help.


You should also consider a thread title change, as yours is not very descriptive.
To edit your thread title, just click on the
edit.gif
button on the bottom right of your original post and then click the "Go Advanced" button below your message.

Example: iMovie HD: have 16:9 footage, want to cut 4:3 video. How? or How to use 16:9 footage in 4:3 aspect ratio in iMovie HD? or ....
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.