Ulead MSP8- Output 16:9 to 4:3 w/letterbox- Cant figure it out.

[RogerTango]

Ive searched the web, fiddled with MSP8 for days, cant seam to figure it out.

I have a JVC camcorder, I shoot video mainly in 16:9 for widescreen. The captured file from the camcorder's hard drive is an MPEG2 720X480 16:9 aspect ratio file.

I use Ulead Media Studio Pro 8.

I want to output the video in 720X480 (or even 320/352X240) in 4:3 aspect ratio WITH letterbox. This is mainly for web streaming where 16:9 cannot be used.

No matter what I do, the resulting file has the 16:9 STRETCHED to fit in the 4:3 aspect with the same 720X480 resolution, and NO letterbox.

I give up... Someone save my sanity please!
Thanks, Andrew

[RogerTango]

I did figure a way to take the final 16:9 file (MPEG) as created from MSP and run it through VirtualDubMod to resize it, add a letterbox and output to an AVI file. I can encode again with TmpgEnc for a new file. Its not totally lossless, using XviD I turn the bitrate up high enough to not loose detail and it works good.

I would still like a "one stop shop" solution for MSP if anyone knows of one. The above method works GREAT, but adds a few more steps and a LOT of encoding time for the desired result.

Thanks,
Andrew

[guns1inger]

At a guess, you probably have to tell MSP is is a 4:3 project, then load your 16:9 source into it. If MSP doesn't recognise it and letterbox it correctly then you will have to resize the video within the frame before outputting.

[RogerTango]

SlInGeR, the first part doesnt work, tried that 50 different ways from Sunday.

I cannot find how to resize a video within a project, can you describe how?

Thanks,
Andrew

[RogerTango]

I figured this out, using a moving path 2D custom, I was able to resize a clip within a project and it letterboxed like I wanted. I saved it to custom so I can pull it out with the predefined settings easily.

Can I add a moving path to an entire project or will I have to add it to every clip in the project to get the final results I want?

Thanks,
Andrew

[RogerTango]

Regarding Ulead MSP8:

Can I add a moving path to an entire project or will I have to add it to every clip in the project to get the final results I want?

Thanks,
Andrew