Using Panasonic SD MPEG files pads edges with black strips

mbutler wrote on 4/17/2009, 1:11 PM

I have a Panasonic SDR-S26. It makes MPEG files with 704x576 resolution. When used in Movie Edit Pro 15, it pads extra black space at the edges to make it up to 720x576. I've tried various options but still get the black lines, so that my final movie picture is slightly off the correct aspect ratio. Any ideas how to get around this in Movie Edit Pro?

Comments

ralftaro wrote on 4/21/2009, 5:28 AM

Hmm, not sure whether I can make sense of this. You say that it results in the aspect ratio getting messed-up in the final movie, but the purpose of black borders would be to avoid exactly that problem, if you have material whose aspect ratio differs from the aspect ratio of the project/display. So, you get both: black borders AND incorrect output aspect ratio? Strange.

What aspect ratio is the material supposed to be? 4:3? Try right-clicking on the video track of the imported files (in timeline) mode and check under "Properties" what aspect ratio is detected and used by the program. If necessary, correct it manually to the actual aspect ratio.

If you're still having problems, maybe you can post a sample file of your source material here (e.g. via YouSendIt.com) and I can have another look at it.

I hope this helps.

ralftaro wrote on 4/30/2009, 5:59 AM

Hello Marcus,

I had a look at that source material and the problem with the mismatch between the two dimension/resolution entries in the header is actually slightly different from what I expected. However, the manual adjustment of the aspect ratio definitely seems to do the trick. I was expecting a downright incorrect information about the aspect ratio stored in the header, which is a problem I've experienced before with other source materials.

Don't worry about making a mountain out of a mole-hill. I say: More power to you for getting to the bottom of the problem and sharing your findings and solution with the user community!

Best regards!