iMovie aspect ratio. Can I change it?

[Barrett63]

I searched for info. on this first but couldn't find any.
When I am importing video from my Sony HV5 camera it gets squeezed into what I guess is the 4.3 aspect ratio in iMovie (everything looks tall and skinny) Is there any way to get this to display in the wide format that it was recorded in? If not, will it play properly on a wide screen tv if I burn a DVD from it?
Thank you
-b

 

[ppc_michael]

When you create a new iMovie project, under Video Format choose DV Widescreen.

 

[Barrett63]

When I create a new project, the window you attached with the video format option doesn't appear, I just get a window where I am asked to name and save the project.
Do I have to upgrade to the "iLife" package for that?
Thanks for the response.

 

[gauchogolfer]

When I create a new project, the window you attached with the video format option doesn't appear, I just get a window where I am asked to name and save the project.
Do I have to upgrade to the "iLife" package for that?
Thanks for the response.

What kind of Mac do you have?
When did you purchase it?
What version of iMovie do you have?

 

[Barrett63]

I have an iMac G5 - OS is 10.3.9
I believe I bought it in Jan. 2005
My version of iMovie is 4.0.1

 

[Barrett63]

Hmmm.... well I just checked out the iLife package. I suspect this upgrade would solve my problems with iMovie. At $79 I can live with the cost.
Is this a good way to go? I don't intend to be doing a ton of serious movie editing. I just want to be able to crop out boring/bad parts to make DVD's of trips etc. that are reasonably fast paced and interesting. Add music, text, simple stuff.
Thanks for the input.

 

[gauchogolfer]

Hmmm.... well I just checked out the iLife package. I suspect this upgrade would solve my problems with iMovie. At $79 I can live with the cost.
Is this a good way to go? I don't intend to be doing a ton of serious movie editing. I just want to be able to crop out boring/bad parts to make DVD's of trips etc. that are reasonably fast paced and interesting. Add music, text, simple stuff.
Thanks for the input.

I think there is a lot of value in the most recent iLife. The only concern is if you are planning to upgrade to Leopard soon (October-ish). Rumor has it that a new iLife will be released then, which you may want to wait for. If you are pressed for time, though, the current iLife (iLife 06) would be a great choice.

 

[iChief]

When you create a new iMovie project, under Video Format choose DV Widescreen.

Does iMovie HD v.6.0.3 support widescreen in the PAL format? I live in Ireland.

When iMovie launches and I select DV Widescreen in the dialogue box, the app opens like this:

However as soon as I connect my Camcorder (Canon MV890) the screen changes to this:

So not only does iMovie change the format from NTSC to PAL, which is correct. It changes the aspect ratio from 16:9 to 4:3. And worse still there doesn't seem to be anyway to change it in the settings.

Am I missing something?

 

[YoungCreative]

So not only does iMovie change the format from NTSC to PAL, which is correct. It changes the aspect ratio from 16:9 to 4:3. And worse still there doesn't seem to be anyway to change it in the settings.

Am I missing something?

Is your footage recorded in 16:9 widescreen, or did you have the camera set for 4:3? iMovie senses the format of the recording that you are trying to import. As far as I know, unless your recorded footage is already DV-widescreen, it will not import at 16:9.

After you import your footage into iMovie, you can select options to export the final movie as a different format and aspect ratio.