Curiosity - image strech in MS

hbwerner wrote on 1/30/2005, 7:45 PM
I just noticed that the image on the MS timeline is stretched horizontally - people look fatter. I tested this with a shot of a perfect circle, which appeared as an oval in MS. However, when I play a clip in windows media player, they are fine. Also when I render the movie to .avi, the aspect is fine again. The problem I have with this is I thought MS was distorting stills I imported to the timeline. This was throwing me because I was at first trying to compress stills horizonatlly where I noticed this effect. Is there any explanation for this problem in MS and any way to get rid of it? My camera is a Canon Optura set for standard (not wide) format, and movie aspect is fine on the camera playback or hooking it to a TV, as well as the rendered files have the correct aspect.

Comments

gogiants wrote on 1/30/2005, 11:16 PM
Which image is stretched? Do you literally mean the image on the timeline is stretched, or do you mean the image that you see in the preview window is stretched?

If it's the former, I wouldn't be surprised since that image is just intended to be a rough indicator of what is happening at that section of the timeline. If it is bothersome then you can adjust the height of the video track in question by mousing over the dividing line between tracks and dragging as you like.

If it's the latter, you might try adjusting the size of the preview window, again by mousing over the top edge of the preview pane and dragging. You can also right-click in the preview window and you'll be presented with some choices about which size to use for the preview window, or you can click on the little computer-looking icon above the preview window to quickly display the preview at project size.
hbwerner wrote on 1/31/2005, 4:11 AM
Hey, gogiants, you solved it. Thanks! The problem was the appearance in the project window. I right clicked as you suggested and clicked on "simulate device aspect ratio" which corrected the problem. I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to display at device aspect ratio, though, or why that apparently was the default on my MS.
Chienworks wrote on 1/31/2005, 4:55 PM
"Simulate Device Aspect Ratio" can slow down the frame rate of the preview window, slightly, but noticeably. It can also introduce artifacts on diagonals and curves that will look rather ugly. I'll often switch back and forth because both views are useful at different times.
hbwerner wrote on 1/31/2005, 5:54 PM
I'll bite - when is the non-simulate device aspect ratio useful?
Chienworks wrote on 2/1/2005, 4:16 AM
Well, as per my previous reply, it's useful if you need a smoother preview or don't want to see the artifacts on curves and diagonals.