Quicktip for MPEG Streamclip - Preparing 4/3 Letterbox Movies from 16/9 clips to use in FCP

This small tutorial explains briefly what to do if you want to export 16/9 (both real and anamorphic) movies to the 4/3 letterbox format.

In fact it is quite the same as my previous tutorial:

1. Open the file in MPEG Streamclip

2. Use the Export To QuickTime Function (File->Export to QuickTime or ⌘+E)

Choose the appropriate codec (I am using Apple DV PAL). When you press the 'Options' button the default setting will be the right one (4:3).

The only thing you need to change is the X/Y aspect ratio. This should be set to 1.333%.


Press the 'Make Movie' button. Choose your desired destination and you will have a 4/3 letterbox movie clip that will look like this.

Quicktip for MPEG Streamclip - Preparing Anamorphic Movies from Letterbox clips to use in FCP

I get a lot of movie clips (mpeg/quicktimes) who are in the 4/3 letterbox format.

I convert them with mpeg streamclip to Quicktime DVPAL Anamorphic because I wan't to have all files in FCP to have the same codec and size.

How to do it?

Well it's very simple:

1. Open the letterbox clip with MPEG Streamclip

2. Export it to QuickTime (File->Export to QuickTime or ⌘+E)

Now choose your wanted compression. In my case that is  Apple DV-PAL.

Then press the 'Options' button (Note- This will depend on the codec you selected) and choose Aspect Ratio 16:9. Then confirm by pressing 'OK' This step isn't necessary, but doing it now will save some time in fcp)

You can leave all other settings as they are by default. The only parameters that are important are Zoom and X/Y.

Zoom has to be set at 133.3% and the X/Y dropbox at ratio 0.75.

That's all. Just press 'Make Movie', select your desired destination and the job will be done.

The result will look like this.

A Dozen Free Mac OSX Applications I Couldn’t Live Without -part 4

MPEG Streamclip

This must be my all-time favourite out of the many free applications you can find on the web.

I do a lot of editing and very often I only receive a small (email-able) mpeg. Converting such an mpeg for use in an edit program such as FCP or Avid (or even iMovie) can be a tricky issue. Not any more!

Squared 5 offers a great solution to extract streams/ (batch) convert mpegs. It even handles .vob conversion end can fix time code breaks.

I’ll post some small, but very useful tutorials for this app when I'm done with the list.

You might want to consider getting the QuickTime MPEG2 codec as it is in combination with this app a deadly combo for everyone that is active in both editing and dvd-authoring.

When I buy a new mac it’s guaranteed the first application I'll download and install!

To download this remarkable piece of software go to the site of squared5 here.