Widescreen in iMovie?

[djbombjack]

I recently shot some footage on a Sony DCR PC120, using the 16:9 option (so I could get widescreen).

Playback on the camera and tv is fine, but importing into iMovie gives an anatomically adjusted picture (4:3) - and there doesn't seem to be any controls to adjust this.

Am I missing something obvious, or does iMovie not support 16:9?

If so, any other ideas on how to edit in 16:9?

 

[irmongoose]

You're going to have to buy this plug-in for iMovie from Virtix... it's $25. But, it works perfectly so I think it's well worth the money.

The steps are:

1. Shoot in 16:9.
2. Import in 16:9. (It will still be stretched)
3. Apply this plug-in as an effect.



irmongoose

 

[djbombjack]

That's annoying... I didn't really want to spend any more money... but if that's the only way...

 

[irmongoose]

Originally posted by djbombjack
That's annoying... I didn't really want to spend any more money... but if that's the only way...

Or you could spend $899 on Final Cut Pro... your choice.



irmongoose

 

[buseman]

Final Cut Express ($299) should also do the job

 

[kiwi_the_iwik]

Just FYI -

If you're going to want to shoot 16:9 on your Sony PC-120 (or pretty much ANY consumer-style handicam for that matter), you're much better off to invest in an anamorphic lens - a small screw-on attachment to the front of your camera.

What's it for? Well, it squishes the picture up as you film, to make it look like one of those "old westerns" during the end title sequence(i.e. sitting tall in the saddle on pencil-thin horses!).

But, more importantly, it'll give you an EXTRA 150 lines resolution in your image quality - the "letterbox" effect in your camera truncates the image size down - it takes 75 lines away from the top and the bottom of your frame, to give you the impression that the image you shot is in widescreen.

Unfortunately, the blocky artefacts are only too evident when the picture makes your TV set - they look like crap...

That's something to save for - you'll really appreciate the difference!