How to fill in the black bars 4x3 > 16x9

Al Min wrote on 8/16/2011, 9:25 PM

I've been doing a few VCR tapes to DVD conversions lately and because the video is 4x3, I get left and right black bars on a widescreen tv. The news programs use a 16x9 still blurred out in the background and this seems to fill in the bars quite nicely. While I've tried this, someone recently on this forum mentioned a method that automatically takes current frames from the video and uses these as backgrounds. The method was burried in a post and I cant find it. If anyone knows what I am talking about, can they direct me to the post please. Many thanks..

Comments

baysidebas wrote on 8/17/2011, 4:37 AM

While I can't point you to the thread you mentioned, the methodology is fairly straightforward and I've used it successfully.

1. Duplicate the video event onto a track below.

2. Use pan/crop on the lower video to enlarge it to fill the wide frame.

3. Blur it and darken it to suit the subject.

rs170a wrote on 8/17/2011, 5:59 AM

I've used this method numerous times as well.
The other thing I sometimes do is to add a border (soft or otherwise) to the event on the top track to help it blend in better or to make it stand out if desired.

Mike

Al Min wrote on 8/17/2011, 10:48 PM

Thanks Mike and Bas. What you've suggested will suit me nicely. Cheers, Al.