cropping and scaling video

1. jstraub78
   Member

   

    Is there a free program I can use to crop and scale my videos slightly?  I am still having an issue with a tracking line at the bottom of my footage shot with my sony handycam Hi-8mm camera.  I have Pinnacle Studios 12 and there is a feature for it, but if I try to use it, it says that I have to upgrade to get this feature and it is a $50 upgrade!  Seems a bit pricey when my main reason for the upgrade would be to remove the line.  I use Pinnacle Dazzle to transfer my Hi-8 mm videocassettes to AVI files.  I just spent the night editing footage, feeling confident that it was going to let me trim my clips slightly, then to my horror, I realized that it is part of the add-on and I am stuck with my edited footage with the annoying line at the bottom.

   Thanks for any ideas!

   Joe

   Posted 3 years ago #

2. Coreece
   Member

   

   It sux you can't find the tools you need when you need em....

   I know that line that you speak of...it's common with analog footage.

   Perhaps, you could just create a black matte, or a black still image that is about 5-7 pixels wide and lay it over the affected area. (this would simulate the trim option that you speak of.)

   or...you should also just be able to position the video so that this line is out of frame.

   The obvious downfall of doing it like this or using a trim or crop feature is that you'll have 5-7 pixels of black at the very bottom or the very top, but I think it's better than stretching or zooming the video and loosing more quality then you'd have to. 

   If you ever upgrade, keep an eye out for a feature where you could trim a clip and then select mirror edges or repeat pixel edge...IMO, this is the most practical way to both eliminate the affected area and maintain original quality and limiting the blackout areas

   Posted 3 years ago #

3. griz11
   Member

   

   A line at the bottom or sides can usually be cured by adjusting the size of the vid. Most compression schemes work on a 16 block format. If you don't have the correct number of lines, basically not divisable by 2, Then you get the line. I used to use a crop to get rid of it but its really in the way you are setting up the encoding. For instance if you are encoding to a finished size of 857x480 try 856 or 854x480 instead. Generally if the number is evenly divisable by 2 you should be ok. Some encoders are different however. Check out HandBrake. I use it for all my mp4 stuff. Its a front end for a command line encoder. Has x.264 and the best docs on encoding I've found to date.

    

   Griz

   Posted 3 years ago #

4. Coreece
   Member

   

    "For instance if you are encoding to a finished size of 857x480 try 856 or 854x480 instead."

   This is a good idea, especially if you're exporting for the web using various deliverable formats (h.264, x.264, wmv, flv) however, there are some limitations that one should know about:

   Many encoders will just squeeze the whole video (including the line of distortion) to fit in the new desired size.  To avoid this, I would generally just import my footage into a smaller customized project size to begin with and then just export from there...Also, in order to eliminate a horizontal line, you'd have to modify the width rather than length...so it would be something like 720x476 if your original footage is 720x480.

   The main limitation however is that if you want to make a standard DVD, some programs like encore only accept standard DVD format resolutions like 720x480, therefore a custom resolution like 720x476 will not work....the same thing holds true if you want to export a DV file as well.

    

   Posted 3 years ago #

5. griz11
   Member

   

   You missed one point or maybe I didn't express it clearly enough. The size is always bigger than 720x480. I'm talking about expanding the video out to the size a TV would resize it too to get square pixels for the web. By getting the conversion value wrong you can introduce the line. If you are getting a line when importing the video then you have other problems unless the line is introduced by rendering out the video to view. After switching to handbrake for my encoding I've been able to use the anamorphic features to encode everything as 720x480 and heve it show up perfectly on net or TV. That way seems to work best and I don't see the distortion I sometimes see by trying to render out the video as a square pixel fully expanded piece. The mini-dv format causes a lot of problems with modern cameras. For instance my XL2's image block is 960x480 which it anamorphically reduces to 720x480. Anything you record as progressive is pseudo progressive in that two frames of the same image are interleved to form the frames. I fought the line for months and the only way I could get rid of it was to make sure everything was evenly divisable by 16 on the sizes and adjusting it if necessary. It almost sounds like the import is trying to do 720x486 instead of 720x480. I don't use anything except firewire so the size is transmitted along with the first part of the file. But I do remember capturing with a capture card and how that sometimes caused the line. Since I wasn't doing anything with a capture card I figured something was wrong with my render. Handbrake will fix you up regardless if you want to crop it out or use the anamorphic to get things right. Seems to me the anamorphic method would be best for DVD making since you want to let the TV stretch the video if possible.

    

   Griz

   Posted 3 years ago #

6. Coreece
   Member

   

   I see what you're saying...but I think the line he's talking about is the distortion that is commonly associated with analog Hi8 footage (not mini-dv or digital 8) that is converted digitally to the computer during the capture process....it appears as horizontal noise, similar to the noise with a VCR tape when the tracking is off.

   Posted 3 years ago #

7. candjvideo
   Member

   

    You can zoom slightly and get rid of that line at the bottom.

   Posted 3 years ago #

8. jstraub78
   Member

   

    Coreece,

   I ended up doing what you suggested, creating the black matte line at the bottom.  It isn't perfect, but it is much better than the tracking line effect.  The only trouble I had is I used the line as an overlay for the video, which means if I had any title overlays during the video, I also had to make sure to include that line.  You are correct in what you were saying to griz, it is the distortion line from an analog hi-8 mm camera that is my problem.  It's always caused this line when I have tried importing the footage.  Hopefully I will soon upgrade to digital and that in itself will solve my problem, but this quick fix will work for now.

   Thank you for your help,

   Joe

   Posted 3 years ago #

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