how can i crop out black bars to enlarge video for youtube

[ted demen]

i put together some videos (of footage from my south america trip mixed with music i made) and put them up on youtube (well, one so far).

the problem is that the videos dont fill the screen. (even though the aspect ratio is the same)

the footage was shot in 16:9 (with my digital camera which can shoot 16:9 video at 848 x 480 30fps to .mov files)

i made the videos with windows movie maker, and tried various output options but the only one i can see that doesnt stretch the image is the default one which adds black bars on top and bottom (inturn making the video a 4:3 ratio)

when i upload to youtube, it treats the video as a 4:3 video, and adds black bars on the sides.

so even though youtube supports 16:9 ratio, i dont know how to crop (or re-render the output file?) so that all available retail space is used.

heres the example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXUbCeLeo9s&feature=channel_page

thanx

[Baldrick]

Have you tried make the video in a 16:9 resolution/frame size?

If not then go to http://www.papajohn.org/ and check under Save Movies -> Custom profiles and see how to make your own custom profile. Make a profile for a 16:9 resolution/frame size like 848x480.

[ted demen]

i tried the 16:9 output option in wmm but it stretched the image

[MysticE]

i tried the 16:9 output option in wmm but it stretched the image

Well...

go to http://www.papajohn.org/ and check under Save Movies -> Custom profiles and see how to make your own custom profile. Make a profile for a 16:9 resolution/frame size like 848x480.

[mgh]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/expert/customprofile.mspx

[ted demen]

Have you tried make the video in a 16:9 resolution/frame size?

If not then go to http://www.papajohn.org/ and check under Save Movies -> Custom profiles and see how to make your own custom profile. Make a profile for a 16:9 resolution/frame size like 848x480.

thanx!

i grabbed one of the profiles and it worked. (strange how wmm doesnt have a proper widescreen output option by default)

[ted demen]

here is the new version of the same video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SUraOUgPSo

it definitely fills the youtube screen... however i cant help but think that the actual quality is worse... at first i thought it was cause its a bit bigger... but im not so sure.... i can see other videos on youtube that have better resolution.

and the output file that i use to upload to youtube was great quality... 848x480
very crisp and almost 400 meg file for a 5minute video

[minidv2dvd]

youtube would produce better quality if you uploaded h264 mp4 video with aac audio. the higher the mp4 bitrate the better the results will be. think of 4mbps as a minimum. for a hq link it has to be 480p, a hd link needs 720p video.

[manono]

for a hq link it has to be 480p, a hd link needs 720p video.

I get the HQ button and all my 1.33:1 uploads are 512x384. They don't have to be 640x480, if that's what you're saying.

[minidv2dvd]

for a hq link it has to be 480p, a hd link needs 720p video.

I get the HQ button and all my 1.33:1 uploads are 512x384. They don't have to be 640x480, if that's what you're saying.

my testing never got a hq link below 480p, or a hd link below 720p using h264 mp4s. other formats may not be the same and youtube changes requirements from day to day unfortunately.

[manono]

I understand now. Even for videos uploaded as recently as today I get the HQ button. But the difference is that I'm uploading XviD AVIs. Thanks for clarifying, although I probably should have spotted it when you recommended uploading H.264 MP4s.