Cinelerra for Grandma
Basic HOWTOs for very beginners
Home
Pre-requisites
 
Installation
Compilation
 
Cinelerra in 30'
 
Preparing media
Adjusting settings
 
Loading media
First editing
Second editing
Titles
Transitions
Effects
Compositing
Colour correction
Rendering
 
Making animations
Making a DVD
Subtitles
Anamorphic video
Proxy editing
Multicam
 
Troubleshooting
Glossary
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Table of Contents
Warning BEWARE!!! Work in progress

Introduction

Usually a MiniDV consumer camera records in 4:3 format. Some good cameras can record 16:9 video, adding black bands at the top and at the bottom of the video. Some prosumer cameras are able to record 16:9 video with no black bands at all, squeezing the video during record. This is a very nice feature, called anamorphic mode or sometimes squeeze mode.

ANAMORPHOSIS

It’s the optical illusion of an image that looks distorted (Wikipedia example) but can be viewed correctly from a certain point of view or with a special device (Wikipedia example).

SAR

Storage Aspect Ratio, the number of pixel (width and heigth) used to memorize the video. Common examples are 720x576 (for the PAL standard) or 720x480 (for the NTSC standard)

DAR

Display Aspect Ratio, the shape of the screened video. For instance 4:3 and 16:9.

PAR

Pixel Aspect Ratio, the shape of a pixel defined by width/height. Computer pixels are square but video pixels often are not. For instance, PAL DV format has a Storage Aspect Ratio of 720x576 and a Display Aspect Ratio of 4:3. But 720:576 is 1.25 while 4/3 is 1.33. The Storage Aspect Ratio differs from the Display Aspect Ratioratio: SAR pixel shape needs to be adjusted to fit the 4:3 DAR. Here is a list of some common standard Pixel Aspect Ratio:

  • standard PAL: PAR 1,066

  • anamorphic PAL: PAR 1,422

  • standard NTSC : PAR 0,888

  • anamorphic NTSC: PAR 1,185

LETTERBOX

the tecnique of adding black bands at the top and at the bottom of a video to make a 16:9 display fit a 4:3 screen. Some good consumer MiniDV cameras record 16:9 footage letterboxed inside a 4:3 canvas.

To know more about Pixel Aspect Ratio read this Artbeats article.

Examples

Screenshot of a 4:3 video

Here you can see a classic PAL 4:3 video footage. Note the area where the pixels are visible, thanks to the Downsample effect on a mask. They are nearly square.

  • SAR: 720x576

  • DAR: 4:3

  • PAR: 1,066

Screenshot of a 16:9 anamorphic video

This picture shows a PAL 16:9 anamorphic video footage. In the area with enlarged pixels you can see they are far from square. The canvas is wider than the usual 4:3.

  • SAR: 720x576

  • DAR: 16:9

  • PAR: 1,422

Screenshot of a 16:9 anamorphic video inside a 4:3 project

The same clip is now shrunk into a 4:3 canvas thanks to the Scale effect. Two blank bands appears at top and bottom of the video. The video is letterboxed. Pixels are far from square.

  • SAR: 720x576

  • DAR: 4:3

  • PAR: 1,422

How to load anamorphic video in Cinelerra

Cinelerra supports anamorphic video. You can load anamorphic video just like any other video. Cinelerra will show it vertically squeezed (too thin).
To adjust the display proportions go to Settings→ Format and select an Aspect Ratio of 16:9.

Cinelerra will let you edit your project flawlessy.

Unless you start adding titles or loading other kinds of source files: this is where the troubles begin.

How to add titles to your 16:9 anamorphic project

If you add a title (using the Title effect) to your 16:9 anamorphic project, Cinelerra will display it distorted (fattened).
You’ll have the same result when you load standard 4:3 footage.

How to fix that?

Follow the instructions below as if you were dealing with 4:3 footage.

How to add standard 4:3 footage to your 16:9 anamorphic project

Let’s assume you are working to a project and you set the format to 16:9 anamorphic.

If you add a piece of footage that is standard 4:3 DV, Cinelerra will display it distorted (fattened).
You’ll have the same problem when creating titles with the Title effect.

How to fix that?

  • Move all your 4:3 footage (or titles) to a separate track. We need to bring back the pixel aspect ratio to nearly square.

  • Select the whole track and apply the Scale effect.

  • Open the Scale effect dialog and enter the following values, depending on your standard:

PAL:

X Scale: 0.7031
Y Scale: 1.0000

NTSC:

X Scale:
Y Scale:

Make sure the Constrain ratio option is not checked.

We now need to resize the track to fit the whole canvas.
Right click on the track and select Resize track from the popup menu.

Enter values according to your standard:

PAL:

1024x576

NTSC:

How to add 16:9 anamorphic footage to your standard 4:3 project

If you add 16:9 anamorphic footage to your standard 4:3 project Cinelerra will display it distorted (squeezed). How to fix that?

  • Move all your 16:9 anamorphic footage to a separate track. We need to change the pixel aspect ratio and recreate fat pixels, in a limited space. This will make your 16:9 footage letterboxed.

  • Select the whole track and apply the Scale effect.

  • Open the Scale effect dialog and enter the following values, depending on your standard:

PAL:

x: 1.0000
y: 0.7031

NTSC:

x:
y:

Make sure the Constrain ratio option is not checked.

Enjoy!