@AAProds

Hi Alwyn.

No, that's how I would do it.

Ray.

@AAProds

Hi

Forgot to add that the pixel count vertical or horizontal should, ideally, be a multiple of 4. ie height of 823 should either be 824 or 820

@AAProds

. . . . I cannot set 21:9 in the movie settings; MEP changes it to 7:3 . . . .

It appears that MEP is find the lowest factor 7:3 is 21:9

. . . . In the export dialogue, I can't set 21:9, nor 7:3; MEP will only accept 4:3, 16:9, 1:1 . . . .

Try using the resolution as the AR ie 1920:820 - see above about sizing

Project setting:

Export setting:

HTH

John EB

@johnebaker Thanks John, I knew (not) that 21:9 is actually 7:3 D'oh!! And I thought maths was a strong point of mine. Talk about not seeing the woods for the trees. As we say here, "Wake up Australia".

I changed the Movie Settings as you suggested to 1920x824 7:3, but in the Export dialogue I still cannot change the resolution to 7:3 (or 2.33333). When I try to export, I get the Customise Movie warning. If I continue the export, regardless of the Movie or export settings, I get black bars on the top and bottom (moreso for 4:3).

@AAProds Greetings , I assume you're trying to export to MP4.

As you've found MEP won't let you export MP4 to other than the 3 common ratios however try to export to AVI, Quicktime or even (I'm afraid to say it) WMV then MEP will use whatever ratio set in Movie Settings.

AndyW

@me_again

Hi Andy

. . . . MEP won't let you export MP4 to other than the 3 common ratios . . . .

Interesting - here is the export I actually did using the settings I posted above and the MediaInfo analysis:

General
Complete name                            : M:\Custom AR ratio.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media
Codec ID                                 : isom (isom/avc1)
File size                                : 5.30 MiB
Duration                                 : 7 s 200 ms
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 6 177 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2020-05-29 16:44:49
Tagged date                              : UTC 2020-05-29 16:44:49

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4
Format settings                          : CABAC / 2 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP                     : M=3, N=25
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 7 s 200 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 6 042 kb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 7 999 kb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 820 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.35:1
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 25.000 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.154
Stream size                              : 5.19 MiB (98%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2020-05-29 16:44:49
Tagged date                              : UTC 2020-05-29 16:44:49
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 7 s 147 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 132 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 114 KiB (2%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2020-05-29 16:44:49
Tagged date                              : UTC 2020-05-29 16:44:49

John EB

@johnebaker Greetings again.

Setting movie ratio to 2.341463 has no effect for me on export to MP4. I use the generic MP4 codec that comes with MEP. Maybe that's the difference. Maybe I have a system setting that's not quite right? Maybe I just don't know what I'm doing even after 20 years or so of MEP.

Hmm, I need to play about with this.

AndyW

@me_again, Andy, I did achieve an export with that weird resolution, but it required the technique I described above. As I mentioned above, one can export at whatever resolution one likes, but if it doesn't exactly match the movie settings resolution, you'll get black bars top and bottom.

WMV: I remember those days well! The only format for little website movies that worked reliably. MP4 was the big bad mysterious bogeyman then. 😀

@AAProds, @me_again

Hi

. . . . I use the generic MP4 codec that comes with MEP. Maybe that's the difference . . . .

No difference, I did too, in my first comment above I recommended the Default (Intel) codec, I have not re-installed the MC codec after the new OS install.

. . . . Maybe I have a system setting that's not quite right? . . .

Mine is a straight default install, only changes are project folder paths.

The only thing I did do to the imported video clip (AR 16:9) after importing was to set its width to 1920 the same as the project - effectively make a section - though I would not expect this to affect the export other than not give black bars on the sides.

I have uploaded the Preset file here on Dropbox if you want to play with it put it in - it is 1920 x 820 as I mentioned above, put it in this folder and it will appear in you MP4 export dialog as 21-0 AR

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\MAGIX\Videodeluxe26_premium\Presets\MxMpeg4Intel\

This is for MEP 2020, if your version is different then the path needs modifying

Which player are you using to play the export? I am using Windows Media Player, Films & TV and VLC will not play it without putting black bars top and bottom, they appear not to conform to the video AR

John EB

Thanks, johnebaker. Unfortunately, I can't get your solution to work. When I go back to the standard (Intel) codec, I can't change the Ratio in the MPEG-4 export dialog to 7:3/21:9/2.3333. It only gives me three options. Even when I click the "..." button and enter in a 7:3 AR, it reverts back to 16:9. What am I missing?

As I said above try using the project setting for the AR in the export dialog, ie in your case if the project setting is 1920 x 823 then enter 1920:823 in the Aspect Ratio box of the export dialog - the value should then change to 2.332928. and export - note you may have to do this again if it reverts on the first attempt

You're 100% right. I missed that part and it made all the difference. When I follow your instructions and put the project setting for the AR in the export dialog, I get what I want. You're a hero. Thank you so much - and thanks to everyone else who commented as well. It's nice to know you all have found workarounds too. I have been using MEP for almost 10 years now and I keep learning! Thank you all!

@sunago

I did some more testing after posting and discovered that although 823px is set as the height, the exported video is actually 822px high - you cannot have a partial pixel which is dropped by the encoder - AR 21:9 would mean the height is 822.857px.

Is there a reason why the height must be 823px or is this a rounding up of the true height for 21:9?

John EB

enter 1920:823 in the Aspect Ratio box of the export dialog

@johnebaker I also missed this bit. That works. I've deleted my technique.

@johnebaker Greetings,

I've discovered that learning to read properly is the key to learning. All is now working as it should although I'm not sure when I'll use it.

Thanks - AndyW

@me_again

Hi Andy.

It's so nice and such a refreshing change to see someone who accepts user error is possibly the first reason for failure and not blame the program. Although there are certainly a few glitches within MEP that need sorting and is sometimes a cause of a problem, it's rare, so thank you for that.

Ray.

@sunago

Is there a reason why the height must be 823px or is this a rounding up of the true height for 21:9?

I was rounding up. I could go 824 or 820. Whichever I decide, I should stick with. What do you recommend?

@sunago

. . . . I could go 824. Whichever I decide, I should stick with. What do you recommend? . . . .

I would suggest 824 as it is the closest to what you wanted.

John EB

Will do. Once again, I appreciate all your advice. I love this program and am enjoying learning more as I go. All my best!

Hi... I reached this post because i own both programs: MEP and VPX, and I was struggling with render a 9:16. What I learned is that despite both programs offer 3 aspect ratios, if you select "custom movie size" upon program startup, then the new aspect ratio will be acepted by the program in the render window.