Working with 16:9

[wild4trv30]

Currently all my source video has been 4:3 either from my mini-DV camcorder, or VHS. My camcorder can record in 16:9 (trv30). Should I start filming in 16:9 so that my source footage for editing and such will be more compatible with future TVs? Has anyone else decided to create source video in 16:9 format for this reason? I am just imagining 10 years down the road looking at old projects on a widescreen, but they were created in 4:3.

Thanks.

Wild4trv30

[Rogue3]

Not only do I record all my video in 16:9 now with my D8 sony, I convert all my old analog to 16:9 by cropping it when I encode it. It looks really good and rarely (except on maybe extreme closeups) can I tell it is cropped.

It is much better to watch on the widescreen tv!

[SMHarman]

My Cannon MV530i is now set to record 16:9.

The camera uses the full CCD and so you get a vertically stretched picture on the viewfinder and LCD but a good horizontal resolution.

So yes I would switch to 16:9, especially if you are already playing back on a ws TV.

[andy2003]

Yep I record in 16:9 exclusively with my Sony TRV38. A nice feature of this camcorder is that it letterboxes the LCD when using 16:9 instead of just stretching the picture. I recently made my first DVD of my newborn son for my parents and the anamorphic 16:9 footage turned out very nice and looks great on my 55" HDTV.

I use Adobe Premiere for capturing/editing and Adobe Encore for authoring. Both support 16:9 with ease.

[icemanatvcd]

It is great idea to record in 16:9 format. Adobe priemer is great, Adobe Encore sucks.

[wild4trv30]

Thanks for all the replies. Since I haven't messed with 16:9 yet. What problems (if any) can I expect if I film in 16:9 but edit on MGI VideoWave (came with PC and Camcorder)? I also use TMPGenc and scLive.

I wouldn't mind playback on a 4:3 monitor with the bars, but when I taped a short test clip in 16:9 and played it straight from the tape, it was stretched on the TV with no bars. Will I get the bars if I process the clip through TMPGenc as a 16:9 DVD or output the AVI to tape with scLive selecting 16:9 flags?

Finally, tell me more about the cropping of current 4:3 productions. Can I do that with TMPGenc?

Thanks.

[Ejoc]

In you DVD authoring program you have to set it to be 16:9 and not 4:3(default) If you program has no such option, after you create your Video_ts dir and have your IFO and VOB files in the dir, you can use IFOEdit to set the 16:9 flag