S4000 Pro Letterboxing

[Neil]

Hello,

I'm really keen to find out if anyone has come across the same problems I'm having loading footage onto the S4000.

No matter which setting I choose, all my footage is letterboxed! My footage is filmed in 16.9 and on my previous machines, all footage loaded in comes on full screen.....not with the S4000!

If I set the machine to 4.3 Anamorphic the film only has the inch of black top & bottom!

With the setting at 16.9 Anamorphic, the film has an inch of black then an inch of grey at the top and again both at the bottom with only around 4 inches of film in the middle!

I have tried loading footage from DVD, a DV tape machine and also the original camera that the footage was filmed with....same results EVERYTIME!

I have burnt a disc at the 4.3 setting and the finished picture does come out letterboxed on my widescreen television which I've never had happen before. The only way I can view full screen is by zooming the picture in on the television which is surely not right.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thank you,

Neil



Is there another setting somewhere that I can change to give me a full screen picture?

[LouBruno]

I shoot everything ANAMORPHIC w/o a hitch. Either downconverted OR HDV. I even downconvert very cleanly with the "S" model.

Q: Are you downconverting from HDV? If so, is your downconvert set to SQUEEZE or LETTERBOX? Some cameras only have letterbox when used in the downconvert mode. Some have Squueze. while others have CROP.

Q: If not, what is your monitor setting attached to the "S" model?

Q: In ARABESK, are you designating 16:9?

Q: Is your DVD player set to PAN and SCAN or LETTERBOX?

Lastly, if you have a letterbox to start with, the picture will appear as such even on a WS TV. However, your writing in regards to DVD etc. input is throwing a wrench in the works.

Hope we can help you.

[Neil]

Thanks for the prompt reply Lou. I'll try and answer your questions.

1) No Lou, I'm not downconverting although I have tried to load both DV footage & HD with the same results both times.
2) I have used my "normal" TV monitor through the scart socket and also a widescreen monitor using the VGA leads.....both letterboxed.
3) To be honest.....not sure about the 16.9 in Arabesk, can't remenber but I'm fairly certain it was.
4) With regards the DVD player.....it's the exact same setting it's been on for years, there's no change of settings on the DV tape player either and the camera has not been changed at all.

Here's something that might confuse things even more (if it's not confusing enough), I have been trying to restore an older project from DVD created on my old Renommee using the Ksebara programme which did you know will not restore footage longer than 31 minutes in length on the S4000! With the S4000 set to 16.9, it will restore 31 mins of footage letterboxed, IF IT'S SET TO 4.3, I get 31 mins of FULL screen....the way it should be!

What puzzles me is that you are using the S4000 and not getting the problems I'm experiencing which would lead me to thing my machine's settings are not quite right somewhere along the line.

Hope you can help me too..........appologies for going on a bit here.

Thank You,

Neil

[LouBruno]

OK....by any chance, are you mixing 4:3 footage with the anamorphic WS scenes? A shot in the dark, but I did have a situation in the past which confused my Solitaire +. ALSO, did you download only those softwares that are currently operational? This is important as I have come across situations where unreleased incompatible softwares are downloaded and effected the machine.

Honestly, my personal "S" model is running smooth in regards to ALL of my anamorphic SD projects. I also have no problem with the dealer demo "S" model in our shop. My friend is also strictly 16:9 as well and he owns the "S" model w/o a problem..

Feel free to contact me off-line Gocycle@optonline.net

[Neil]

Hello again Lou,

No, the footage hasn't been mixed......it's all 16.9.

As far as I know, I have only installed the software which is compatible with this machine, all they incompatible software I have hasn't got a code to install it as yet but I might just try a complete re-install and leave the machine "bare" to load footage into and see what happens.

What I have loaded into a seperate project on the machine are animations I've purchased which I use within my films.......these were loaded in from my firewire hard drive and are ALL FULL SCREEN

Before I received the S4000, I had finished a wedding DVD but in the rush to complete the film, I mis-spelt the couples names on one scene. It's this I have been trying to sort out......the couple have already been given a copy of the DVD with the wrong names on and any one I try do do now is letterboxed and I've a funny feeling they'll complain if they receive this in replace of the original full screen version. My first attempt to fix the faulty scene didn't work as I inserted the new anim scene over the wrong piece, played the segment which was letterboxed then went to full screen for the 10 second anim insert and then back to letterbox......very strange!

I'll try the complete re-install, leave it bare and let you know how things go.....I really need to get this sorted out.

Thanks

Neil

[LouBruno]

Try Ksebara to import your original DVD. Maybe you can INSERT the same background scene with the proper spelling and cover the misspelling. Then make an ARABESK 4.1D DVD in MAX. quality.

It is just a thought.

[Neil]

That's exactly what I have been trying to do but Ksebara will only import 31 minutes of footage back into the machine for some reason. It's not only my machine, I telephoned our tech man from my supplier in the UK and he experienced the very same problem last week......31 minutes of footage only! I can only think there's a bug in there somewhere. I believe he has informed Macrosystems about the problem.

Have you tried importing with Ksebara on the S4000 Lou?

Keep the suggestions coming though.......they are all very much appreciated.

Thank you,

Neil

[MichaelD]

Hi Neil,

If you do a complete install you'll need to go from at least v1.2 Bogart and activate your software (inc Arabesk) and then upgrade to v1.3 and finally activate v2 plus the Premium Pack.

[Neil]

Hi Neil,

If you do a complete install you'll need to go from at least v1.2 Bogart and activate your software (inc Arabesk) and then upgrade to v1.3 and finally activate v2 plus the Premium Pack.

Thanks Michael, I've went straight to V2 so I'll go back & change that over now.

Lou, I did a complete install this morning, I didn't install ANY software at all but still my footage loaded in letterboxed......back to the drawing board for me I think!

[HansJoachimKoenig]

Yes Neil,
I have to agree with your observation about KSEBARA import.
To test your complaint I tried to import a 47 minute DVD (Arabesk burned) and only 31:05 minutes are imported.
So we have another issue with S-4000Pro.