Merging 16:9 and 4:3 Footage

[alleycat]

Just wanted to get a feel for what the preferred approach would be on this. I've got a project in the works that's combining 1:78:1 HD blu ray footage with 4:3 additional TV footage. Keeping toying with the best way to approach it. The running time would be around 4 hours, 2 hours of 1:78:1 and 2 hours of 4:3.

Option 1 would be having a shifting aspect ratio throughout. That would preserve as much of the picture as possible, but it's going to be quite jarring given there is so much 4:3 footage. 

Option 2 would be cropping the 1:78:1 footage so it's the same aspect ratio as the 4:3, that way there is a consistent aspect ratio throughout.

Of course Option 3 would be to do both Option 1 and Option 2 - so people have the choice - but it's more work.

Thoughts?

[stwd4nder2]

Could you use a PGS Sub track to overlay black bars onto the 4:3 footage? Then you would get both with less work and only one encode.

[alleycat]

Hmm I didn't think of that as an option - I could have a play around and see how it works. I guess the potential problem would be if the 1:78:1 footage needed to be cropped non centrally. But thanks I'll see how it works.

[PDB]

How much switching is there? I'm kind of use to switching aspect ratios these days and I suspect many others are also.

[zoidberg]

A 'middle ground' option would be to crop both ARs to 1.66:1, therefore losing a little off the sides of the 1.78:1 footage while losing a little off the top/bottom of the 4:3 footage. This could be presented pillarboxed and still maintain blu ray compliance

[alleycat]

How much switching is there? I'm kind of use to switching aspect ratios these days and I suspect many others are also.

It's roughly half of the footage, just don't know how often it happens yet. 

A 'middle ground' option would be to crop both ARs to 1.66:1, therefore losing a little off the sides of the 1.78:1 footage while losing a little off the top/bottom of the 4:3 footage. This could be presented pillarboxed and still maintain blu ray compliance

Thanks that's a good idea I hadn't though of that. Think I'll put together some of the timeline and see how it looks.

[X5gb]

No need to crop either (especially 16/9 blu-ray footage), go with switching ar, like PDB, I’m used to it, and prefer it to cropping. Big Open Matte fan though, so am biased. How about making two versions at the same time, one cropped, one not, then you can please everyone.

[Gieferg]

Crop 4:3 to 1:78

But no matter how you crop it, it should be done manually shot-by-shot to keep what is important in the frame, otherwise it would be distaster framing-wise.

(i hate switching AR by the way)

[Nick_M]

That would depend on what you're trying to do. I'm guessing that the 1.78 is theatrical and 1.33 a later TV version?

If you're creating an extended theatrical version, then use 1.78 throughout and crop thoughtfully (assuming open-matte and sufficient picture quality). All the footage was taken at the same time, so it would have been framed with widescreen in mind. Added bonus - no black bars!

If you're creating an extended TV version, then use 1.33. The movie would have been cropped/opened for TV. Everyone making the movie would have known it was eventually going to be shown at 1.33, and there's a good chance it was also photographed TV-safe. This includes oddballs like the TV version of Earthquake, whose TV portions were made long after the movie premiered. A 1.33 presentation of that would be historically accurate.

I would pick one aspect ratio and stick to it. If the TV portions are open-matte, then I'd choose 1.78 and crop.

[Yarp]

Crop 4:3 to 1:78

But no matter how you crop it, it should be done manually shot-by-shot to keep what is important in the frame, otherwise it would be distaster framing-wise.

(i hate switching AR by the way)

i will never get used to switching aspect ratios. they completely break immersion for me and it always feels like a gimmick. so i'd crop the 4:3 to 1:78 too, especially if the 4:3 is open matte and you won't lose much.