Page 1 of 1

Why don't my movies play or render full-frame? - SOLVED

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 3:02 pm
by paddyfree
Hi, I'm just starting with M8, so my apologies if this is a stupid noob question.

When I open my movies in M8, and leave all scale settings at "neutral", why do they not fill the frame?

In the pic below, I am using a media size of 800x450, my preview panel is set to 800x450 in prefs (and sized to exactly 800x450 on my desktop), my Layer Scale has been "reset" with Normalize off, and my Master Scale has also been "reset" - yet the image does not fill the frame in either the Preview Panel or the Output Panel.

If I enable Scale Normalize, the image gets smaller i.e. the black border gets bigger.

Image

If I perform a Logical Record and render it out at 800x450, it has the black border around it. I would have thought that "media-size-in" (un-scaled in any way) should equal "media-size-out".

Please, what am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance.

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:01 am
by vanakaru
Here another confused user and rather experienced one
http://www.garagecube.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5272

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:27 am
by paddyfree
hmmm... so what IS the answer?

I'm not even really asking from the projector/output scenario, [I can achieve a full-screen image on my projector - which is fine] but more from a composition and production point of view.

I've settled on an 800x450 media size as a good trade-off between resolution and file size/triggering speed. I want to make up more complex compositions using multiple layers of my media and then Logical Record/Render them at the same size for later use.

I really am confused as to why the image is smaller by default... :?

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:52 am
by deepvisual
its just how it works..
get over it.
once upon a time there was no HD.

use the scale function, but not the slider, just the numbers.
you'll find that does the trick.

I make my footage as 1440x576 and it outputs fine on a dualhead- without being scaled -

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:54 am
by deepvisual
sorry no edit function??

what I mean is without being interpolated.

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:07 pm
by paddyfree
Please pardon my ignorance, where does one find a numeric entry for Scale?

(I have RTFM'd)

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:32 pm
by deepvisual
its just above the slider
click and drag on the numbers

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:37 pm
by paddyfree
Thanks deepvisual, I did know about that one - I thought you were referring to a possible fine-adjustment. The numbers seem to be for very coarse adjustments only.

Thank you for your replies. :)

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 2:59 pm
by deepvisual
strange it worked fine with my dual head set up???

I tried it with a 800 x 450 file and got the same problem you are having.
only thing I can suggest is to select the scale slider, then use alt ->
( side arrow) to adjust the scale to suit.
once you have it nailed, dupe the layer..

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:17 pm
by vanakaru
I would suggest to use more common clip sizes like these
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vecto ... dards2.svg
I have a feeling that odd (not multiplied by 16) sizes do not scale so well.
From my quest I understood that M8 default output size is 640x480 and everything is scaled to or from that default size to fit the size you want. It was not totally clear but I think if you use same size for media and settings in Advanced Output you get no scaling involved.

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:47 am
by paddyfree
Vanakaru - That was it!

I made my media size 854x480 (FWVGA) and all is well. Movies fill the frame perfectly at default scale. Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!! :D

I have my movies as 1080p masters, so I'll re-export them and work from here. Another reason the scale issue was so vital to me, and I didn't want to arbitrarily re-scale things, is that my show hits two screens with one projector. The line-up of the 3 "virtual" panels - left screen / gap in the middle / right screen - has to stay perfect.

Image

Image

Image

BTW, I go by the handle Pitch Black over at the Ableton Live forum http://forum.ableton.com/ and I'm an Ableton alpha tester and clinician. If you guys ever have any questions about Live, just holler!

Thanks again!
paddy