Match Output Aspect? Match Source Aspect?

skinned_knee wrote on 10/13/2006, 9:02 PM
OK - I've got a TON of pictures to turn into a slideshow, but I just realized that my digital camera images are not the correct aspect ratio for video (duh).

The images are 2576x1932 which resizes to 720x540 if you maintain aspect ratio.

I don't mind black borders, at least for this project - I just want the images to stay at the correct aspect ratio in the finished video. I have searched the forums, and I have found references to "Match Source Aspect" and/or "Match Output Aspect", but nothing that really explains what this is doing or what is the best way to go.

I'll even do a pan/crop on each one of them if needed - It just looks like they are "smushed" on the timeline, so I don't think that would help. (I'd be cropping an already smushed image)

Can anyone help? Well, I know someone CAN help - WILL someone help me please?

Comments

rustier wrote on 10/14/2006, 4:02 AM
Are you resizing them before VMS or are you letting VMS do the resizing? This used to be a bug in VMS where it would hang with large photos - but I believe they may have fixed that.

if you have maintain aspect ratio you should be good to go - stretch to fill frame is going to "zoom in or out" to fill the output frame. Once again if the maintain aspect is set to yes the picture wont be distorted. If you are getting black bars and dont want that just use pan/crop to zoom in (make sure stretch to fill frame says yes). If you are worried about getting the whole picture viewed you can do the "Ken Burns" style using keyframes to add some motion and interest.

smushing is only going to happen if that apsect ratio setting is set to "no"
Chienworks wrote on 10/14/2006, 5:04 AM
The default behavior for Vegas is to do exactly what you want: keep the aspect ratio correct, shrink the picture to fit within the frame, and leave black borders on two edges.

In order to do what you want, do nothing! except drag the pictures onto the timeline. If you've messed with them at all then you've done something you didn't need to do and shouldn't have done. As rustier mentioned, you need to have Maintain Aspect Ratio on, which is the default value.
skinned_knee wrote on 10/14/2006, 6:41 AM
I had messed with a couple of pix, so I'm not sure what was "original".

I assume you mean in the pan/crop window, under source, both items should be set to Yes - correct? This would maintain the aspect ratio, but zoom in to the picture enough to not leave black borders. If you don't mind the black borders, tell the "stretch to fill frame" to off. ---- Am I getting it now?

Am I also correct in thinking that the "match output aspect/match source aspect" setting that is accessed by right-clicking the video in the pan/crop window is actually just to set the starting point for the crop? What does this setting actually do?
rustier wrote on 10/14/2006, 8:14 AM
to answer your questions:

yes, no, sorta, and no

If you want to zoom leave the stretch to fill frame set to yes. If it is off you will put a border around the video if you try to zoom in.

setting the start (and end) points are done with keyframing - a bar at the bottom which will say position and have a little timeline and little buttons below that. Keyframing is a great tool for controlling how and when events occur in your video.

I believe the match output or source aspect options in the short cut menu that pops up by right clicking the video while in the pan/crop mode are refering to the frame size. (I think Kelly was telling a guy how to set a special sized frame to capture just the keyboard and hands for a piano lesson video). To be honest I have never used it. I don't believe it is used to set up the pixel aspect ratio (square or rectangular) but I could be wrong. If you click the VMS help button and search key word "match" you can read a little bit more. A search of the Sony knowledge base may yield more. It's a good question.

I guess the bottom line is you are telling the software if you want to use the project settings or use the original source settings. Chien, Scot or Ian - you can chime in any time now.
Chienworks wrote on 10/14/2006, 8:35 AM
In Pan/Crop, the Match * Aspect items do not have anything to do with pixel aspect ratio. They only affect the rectangular shape of the frame containing the image. If you want to make sure your image always fills the frame without black borders then choose Match Output Aspect. This will automatically crop the image to the same shape as the output frame. Then when you zoom in you won't have the black edges.

Now, there can be some very complex interactions that involve this setting. If you have either stretch to fill frame on or maintain aspect off, then the Match * Aspect setting can alter the "squishiness" of the image, but not because that setting itself has anything to do with it. It's only because that setting determines the shape of the rectangle that the image will be "squishied"* into by the other settings.

So, to alter my "do nothing!" advice, it is sometimes advisable to set Match Output Aspect if you want to avoid the black edges. Don't do anything else though.

*Highly technical term. I should create a wiki entry for it.