Adding black leterbox bars in Premiere????

[dewaynespaw]

I am using Adobe Premiere 6.0 (yes I know I need to upgrade) and I would like to add black letterbox bars. I was told that I can create a template that will overlay the video track, but have not been able to get any info on that. Could anyone give me a little more detailed instructions on how to do that. I was considering looking for an "Adobe Premiere for Dummy's" book but don't know if they even make one. LOL
Thanks in advance.

[edDV]

I am using Adobe Premiere 6.0 (yes I know I need to upgrade) and I would like to add black letterbox bars. I was told that I can create a template that will overlay the video track, but have not been able to get any info on that. Could anyone give me a little more detailed instructions on how to do that. I was considering looking for an "Adobe Premiere for Dummy's" book but don't know if they even make one. LOL
Thanks in advance.

Are you saying you want to mask a 4:3 video down to 16:9? Or do you have wide DV and want to convert that to letterbox? The latter can be done with most MPEG2 encoders.

[Guiboche]

You can create a letterbox matte in any graphic program (that supports Alpha Channels) then lay that over your video.

As well, you can also use the "Linear Wipe" over the clip(s) twice. One for the top, and the other for the bottom.

[edDV]

To get fancy, you can keyframe 4:3 video behind the letterbox matte so it can be sized and positioned for the best shot. Even splined moves can be added to follow the motion. Black sides can be covered by various techniques.

[dewaynespaw]

It is regular 4:3 video that I just want to add the black letterbox bars to the top and bottom. Can I use Photoshop to create the template? And how do I make the center section clear so you can see the video between it? CAn I save it as a .png file? I really have no idea ho to do this at all. Can anyone give me instruction on how to do this. I will owe you a steak dinner!!!
Thanks.

[edDV]

Many ways to do it. If you are familiar with Photoshop and Premiere, just draw your matte in Photoshop with at least 3 pixel gradient from black to white. Then import this as a static Alpha for foreground video then composite against a black background.

Or you can use the wipe technique suggested above.

I'm sure you realize this will cut off many heads. Not the director's intent as they say.

[dewaynespaw]

We shot the video using letterbox guides so we were planning this, but what kind of format do I need to save the matte in Photoshop to be transparent in the middle. Will Premiere recognize a .psd file or a .png? Or does it have to be in another format. I guess what I am asking is what file format to use to keep the file transparent in the middle section so you will be able to see the video between. For example, .jpeg's and tiff's can not be left transparent except in Photoshop or Illustrator.
Sorry so dumb on the subject but I truely have no idea.

[edDV]

We shot the video using letterbox guides so we were planning this, but what kind of format do I need to save the matte in Photoshop to be transparent in the middle. Will Premiere recognize a .psd file or a .png? Or does it have to be in another format. I guess what I am asking is what file format to use to keep the file transparent in the middle section so you will be able to see the video between. For example, .jpeg's and tiff's can not be left transparent except in Photoshop or Illustrator.
Sorry so dumb on the subject but I truely have no idea.

This depends on your version of Premiere. Most Premiere Pro versions allow you to link Photoshop so that an option to create a matte includes linking into Photoshop with correct frame sizes and bit depth.

If you need to do this manually, check the still file formats accepted by your version. No-brainers are BMP and JPG. I don't have Premiere Pro at this location so I can't get down to menu selections.

[dewaynespaw]

Hey guys, thank you for your help!! I got it done. I created a letterbox matte in Photoshop with a transparent center, then saved as a .psd file. Then when I imported it to Premiere, I had to select the "layer 1" option when importing and there it was in all it's glory!!!! It's so good to know when I have a video issue I can count on all you guys here at VideoHelp.com. Thank you so much! When this video is finished, I will send you a web link so you can go check it out.

[Guiboche]

You might also want to check out this thread I made
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=327808