Correct Project Setting to capture D8 footage

[Retired]

I am trying to determine the correct (new) project settings to capture D8 footage shot with a Sony DCR-TRV480 (NTSC). All footage has been (or will be) shot using SD 4:3 ratio, since this camera does not provide image stabilization when using 16:9 widescreen. --HD (BluRay or AVCHD DVD output) is not a requirement/needed at this time.

I would however like to prepare DVDs that are widescreen video even if that means the output video has the black bars at the sides --as long as the images retain their proper width/height perspective.

Also, would the same project settings allow images from a digital camera to be imported and retain proper aspect ratios.

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System specs: Dell XPS 8300; Win 7 64bit Pro SP1, Core i7, HDD 1.5 TB (of which ~520 GB is partitioned for video editing as E: drive), 12 GB ram, USB-3 & Firewire 400/800 for capture; camcorder: Sony DCR-TRV480 (NTSC); Digital VCR: Sony GV-D200; Analog>Digital Converter: Canopus ADVC-100

[Steve Grisetti]

Digital8 works just like miniDV -- in fact, the program can't tell the difference -- so you just use the standard DV project settings to capture and edit it.

I'm not sure why you want to create a widescreen video that only fills a 4:3 space with black along the sides, but that does add another level of complexity. Select the DV project settings for Widescreen when you set up your project.

Once you add your video, it MIGHT appear stretched wide when you add it to your timeline. If it does, it's because you told the program you wanted widescreen and it's accommodating you by interpreting the video as having wide pixels. To fix this, right-click on each clip and select Interpret Footage and then manually change the Pixel Aspect Ratio to NTSC Standard (.9).

Or, to keep things simple, just create a 4:3 project and output your DVD as 4:3. If someone shows it on a widescreen TV, it will appear with black along the sides anyway, whether you add it or not.

[Chuck Engels]

I agree with Steve, just create the 4:3 project. Anyone that views it with a widescreen monitor or tv will be able to view it just fine. There is potential for cutting off part of the video if you try to make a 4:3 video into 16:9

[Bob]

Also, would the same project settings allow images from a digital camera to be imported and retain proper aspect ratios.

Yes. Digital photos can be imported into any project and retain their aspect ratios. Keep in mind that digital photos from a camera are much larger than a video frame and will need to be scaled. You can automatically scale them using the Scale to Framesize setting or you can turn that off and manually scale them. If you are going to pan and zoom, you will want to manually scale the image. Premiere Elements 10 has better memory management than earlier versions and can handle full size photos better (especially if you are using the 64-bit version). But, in general, if you are using a lot of photos in your project it is a good idea to resize them to a size closer to the video frame size.

[Chuck Engels]

Thanks Bob, I totally missed that question