SD off the HDV Timeline

[JTE48]

Is there anyway to ouput to SD from the hdv timeline with an "edge crop" look instead of the black bars at the top and bottom? The Sony Z1 will do this when I downconvert from the Cam into Edius.

My SD clients prefer the "edge crop" off the sides and a regular full screen SD look. This would save me from having to capture footage twice - HDV + HDV downconverted from the Z1 with "edge crop" into Edius.

Thanks,
Jim

[RandyD]

Is there anyway to ouput to SD from the hdv timeline with an "edge crop" look instead of the black bars at the top and bottom? The Sony Z1 will do this when I downconvert from the Cam into Edius.

My SD clients prefer the "edge crop" off the sides and a regular full screen SD look. This would save me from having to capture footage twice - HDV + HDV downconverted from the Z1 with "edge crop" into Edius.

Thanks,
Jim

When you say SD I think you want it in a 4:3 aspect ratio(SD can be 16:9 as well)...if so then what I do when a project is going to in part end up 4:3, I shoot with the 4:3 guides enabled in the cam, then in Edius open the project or change a 16:9 HDV project to a SD 4:3 project setting and with each clip use "fit height" using the layout tool. The good news is unlike when you downconvert using the camera all the HD res(now cropped from 16:9 to 4:3) is still there for the encoder to make an mpeg. Here is a link to a tutorial I did that has an example like you want. http://www.rdonato.com/Tutorials/HDVandEdiusLayout/

[JTE48]

That helps a lot Randy thanks! This will definitely save me time not recapturing downconverted SD from the Z1. Plus the timecode log sheets will sync up for folks that want an HDV & SD 4:3 version of a same project. I wasn't aware of the SD frame indicators in the menu either. That will definitely take the quesswork out of framing now.

How would you suggest putting the entire timeline of a finished project "fit to height" SD 4:3? I can't seem to select all the clips on the timeline and "fit to height", only 1 clip at a time. I suppose I can "fit to height" as the main clips are dropped on the timeline (before cutting) but seems like there is a easier way. Thanks again!

[kwshaw1]

One way to handle this would be to make a new sequence within the project and pull in your edited sequence, which will show up as a single item you can fit to height after switching the project setting to 4:3 SD.

[JTE48]

not sure I know what you mean by a new sequence. Could you go into more detail? Thanks.

[kwshaw1]

not sure I know what you mean by a new sequence. Could you go into more detail? Thanks.

To make a new sequence click the icon just to the right of the project name above your timeline. With the new sequence open, go to your bin and find the item for your first sequence and drag it to your timeline. Now make sure your project setting is 4:3 SD, use the layout tool to size your video to fit the height, and use Procoder Express to render out an SD file. If you need more details on any of those steps let us know...