You're doing "Cinematic" aspect ratios ALL WRONG!

[@EposVox]

Just a couple notes for those jumping in the comments: ► ► FOLLOW-UP VIDEO!!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4WogYWfmZWji9k This video is a year old. This is clearly referring to KZbin uploads. If you're submitting to a client or posting elsewhere, do what you need to, of course. Web video is all about knowing your platform - IG/FB stories are best in vertical, feed videos are best in 1080x1350, and KZbin videos are best in widescreen with correct aspect ratios so everyone can enjoy them. Phones are commonly 2:1 aspect ratio now, so 16:9 with black bars is kind of sad to watch on there, too. Yes, there are more "official" "cinematic aspect ratios. Use them if you want. No matter what, letterboxing does not automatically make your video "more cinematic" and many of us find it kind of funny that people think so. 2017's obsession with LUTs and preset packs and letterboxing and gimbals and all this other nonsense shows that a lot of people know how to jump on trendy bandwagons but not actually make good content. 8:5 (16x10), 4:3, 17:9 (DCI 4K) and 2:1 (18x9) all work with End Cards, and wider format support probably coming soon. Would MUCH rather have a video that isn't screwed up on my screens than have on-screen elements I'm not going to click and that 1-5% of viewers will ever see. 2:1 is a great middle ground of having a wider, more "cinematic" feel while still having end card support. If you do the math, 21x9 is roughly 2.35:1. If you want to view an example of why this matters, check this out. KZbin's new layout allows for great 21:9 viewing, even on a 16:9 screen IF you actually upload 21:9 instead of letterboxing. twitter.com/EposVox/status/860940713344856065 If they had letterboxed this to 16:9, the video would show with black bars on the top/bottom AND the left/right. Not cool. Check out 21:9 Gaming to see it done RIGHT kzbin.info/door/0sEn4T2Kl551QQe1miZg7g

[@Photo650D]

Ooh, I have an 21:9 screen and too many videos are with those black bars and the video is sooo tiny - thank you for summoning attention on this :) finally some understands me. I really don't want to flee to vimeo, but it happens too often :)

[@vicmaestro]

Eyyy I thought I was going crazy cuz I heard something in there. Haywyre - I Am You Respect for good music choices! Cheers mate.

[@hedition9346]

Fun fact. Many movie (I mean BIG) productions do not use anamorphic. You'd be surprised how many are actually shot in other formats and cropped. Anamorphic produces its own set of challenges in post. Also, if a film is really shot in anamorphic, the pixel aspect would be 2:1 instead of square. Source: My job.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Not beat a dead horse, but really at no point do you make it clear that this is for KZbin only... at one point you do say: "I can't stand that anyone does this, so I want the entire world to stop doing this" You just may need to be a little more careful in your word choice.

[@EposVox]

The context of "The KZbin player adapts to the aspect ratio of the video" felt implied enough for me, examples being all youtube videos, etc., but fair enough I guess. Given this was originally a video just for my subscribers last year and not something I expected to blow up to 80k views from randos all leaving the same comment, hadn't planned on needing to explain what felt obvious at the time. While this may be a rant expressing my frustration and providing a way of doing things I think to be better/"right" - I do still expect people to think for themselves to some degree.

[@BlazedFan83273]

I have a 21:9 aspect ratio display and I can't explain how much it triggers me when people add letterboxing to their videos...

[@TheBigboy453]

Owen Flaherty "I get triggered cause I cant fully utilize my monitor that mommy bought for me!" Cry me a fucking river

[@TheBigboy453]

Owen Flaherty maybe when you quit being a gigantic bitch you'll stop complaining about such pointless things. Look at your pfp. If anyone is fucking around with anime, my money's on you.

[@probablymelgibson2344]

TheBigboy453 it's not actually pointless, it's better to watch a video in your full screen rather than watching it with fake black bars, if you use an 21:9 monitor and watch a full screen video (in 16:9), there will be some black bars (kinda like in 4:3 resolutions) and with those fake black bars the video is even smaller.

[@SaltyMaud]

Well, i mean, it IS dumb as fuck. Make a 21:9 video but render it with black bars making it 16:9 and _nobody_ will be able to fullscreen it.

[@ShizL]

@@BlazedFan83273 lmao imagine calling everyone who disagrees with you a kid

[@amarmitra]

"They don't go into their Hollywood editing bays and pull out a PNG with black bars...." LMFAO I die.

[@YoungBlaze]

Amar Mitra r.i.p

[@AnkurAgrawal-o7o]

Having worked in said Hollyood editing bays, this is actually exactly what they do...

[@YoungBlaze]

Ankur Agrawal wait? Which way?

[@AnkurAgrawal-o7o]

YoungBlaze adding a png with black bars. They often do still shoot the full frame so they have wiggle room to reframe in the edit

[@YoungBlaze]

which way would you do it?

[@KacperRietz]

Finally someone that said that. Thank you

[@cartier9739]

Siemanko

[@TheDobleQ]

The idea of Hollywood dropping black bars png's on their footage just cracks me up.

[@TechDaddyProxy]

"Yes, Mr. Cameron, the intern has finished adding the black boxes to the Avatar edit." "he did WHAT?!"

[@AndrewTimosca]

The idea of Hollywood thinking black bars make a film cinematic is even more hilarious.

[@jeffseidman]

Generally we turn on a Mask or use a Reformat layer in Avid to do the bars. We rarely use PNG masks.

[@JoeLancaster]

@@jeffseidman exactly. I found it funny that we DO in fact work in a 16:9 timeline for offline, with a mask. 😂

[@Mr_M_]

But surely movies like "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and "Grand Budapest Hotel" would do this? If the entire film is rendered in let's say 16:9 for example, then the scenes where the movie stylistically cuts to 4:3 or 21:9 MUST be emulated with fake black bars right? Meaning that those movies must look like trash on certain monitors? Or am I missing something here? How would you transition between aspect ratios in a single movie without faking it? You couldn't render one scene in 16:9 and the next scene in 4:3 and have it be part of the same file surely? If so then how?

[@fake08]

*I'm still waiting for KZbin to automatically detect these bars and cut the video...*

[@SimonZellox]

Same. Handbrake cuts it automatically and KZbin should do it too.

[@GodFirstnl]

They promised to recognize vertical videos uploaded horizontally, so with two big black areas besides the vertical video in the middle of the 16:9 screen... But I don't know if they have already implemented that

[@Hunterwolf]

Actually they are still officially suggesting letterboxes because 16:9 is the only ratio supported by KZbin. I'm uploading 21:9 videos with no issues or borders automatically added, maybe something is changing. But still no way to add cards and interactive stufd on videos with different aspect ratios than 16:9

[@zyrrhos]

@@Hunterwolf Not anymore. Just uploaded a video in cinemascope and the window is 2.35:1.

[@Hunterwolf]

@@zyrrhos I noticed that too, in fact all my cinematic videos are in DCI CinemaScope ratio now. But that's still what their guide states. At least 1 month ago!

[@AndrewLavers]

I hear you, and I agree, but it's very hard to take someone who has the taskbar at the top of their screen seriously.

[@EposVox]

"You customize things how you find them to be most efficient, so I can't take you seriously" yeah get over yourself

[@AndrewLavers]

EposVox it was a joke man, chill 😂

[@TheBigboy453]

EposVox sounds like you take yourself s little too seriously bro. 😂

[@jkaye87]

I can’t take him seriously either, he seems pretty disturbed in his video. He looks like the creepy guy that would be filming kids at a playground

[@IneptOrange]

EposVox Lmfao what the fuck? Chill

[@Photo650D]

Those Videos where people colorgrade with their black bars under so they go grey…

[@vdochev]

There was a trend in the early 2000s for rap videos to add white bars on top and bottom. Made me wanna puke :)

[@mariettamay]

omggggg D:

[@pharmeee]

Finally someone points this out

[@whosthere9666]

Finally? The video is a year old. :D

[@dodmedia]

Agreed if your ENTIRE sequence is set to be cropped, then just export a cropped clip instead of letterboxing. However I wouldn't advise editing on a 2.35:1 timeline straight from the get to unless you're editing anamorphic footage. I've had times when clients wanted an edit to look cinematic, I export a 2.35:1 crop just for them to ask if the crop can be changed or removed. By using the PNG overlays as guides, you can place your shots as they need to be placed, and then in your export window you can crop the final clip to the correct resolution so the black bars are cropped out.

[@inspira7]

Thats how I do it, my doubt now is.... is the same result working in 1080 50fps project and export it in 25fps for example, than work in a project of 1080 25fps with clips on 50fps? I mean... the export result (25fps) always looks the same?

[@Legoluke654]

it should as long as there's no interlacing or some strange after effects compositions in it...

[@PaulSharpequalrights]

WHAT SOFTWARE IS HE USING

[@def4778]

Paul Sharp premiere

[@TamilMediaTV]

Yeah exactly.. That's how my workflow is!!

[@UrikKane]

As a 21:9 monitor owner, I agree that more people should do it this way and spread the word. But I'd also like to notice that ideally, height of the video should be divisible by 8, otherwise you might get issues with certain codecs ( if you notice, 720,1080,1440,2160 etc all comply with that ). So whatever you chose, you might want to pay attention to the /8 math. I personally find 1920x800 and 3840x1600 easiest to use and remember ( it's 2:40:1)

[@WDStevens]

That's a good idea. I remember the first time I did a 2.39:1 video, the maths came out as 1920x803, which I discovered on export that a number of codecs would refuse to take, instead preferring 1920x804. It's not divisible by 8 but they seemed to be happy with it. EDIT: Just had a look at the 2K DCI standards and the vertical resolution of Scope is 858 which is also not divisible by 8 so maybe it just needs to be an even number. Not entirely sure.

[@davidhrzenjak]

2.37:1 (64:27 to be exact) is best for ultrawide monitors; resolutions like 3840x1620 or 5120x2160, and even DCI width divides evenly so you can have 4096x1728 and its all nicely divisible by 8.

[@KevinTalbotTV]

7:13 just answered my question. Great vid :)

[@yallay]

I was so hoping for that point to be mentioned! Now I can add them without triggering Epos and have a clear mind about this haha

[@CeruleanFilms]

A lot of movies these days seem to be in 2.35:1 just so they can be wider than television, and they either don't know how to really make use of the wide frame, or the movie itself isn't cut out for it. Scope format should look wide and spacious, not vertically cramped.

[@EposVox]

If you want to view an example of why this matters, check this out. KZbin's new layout allows for great 21:9 viewing, even on a 16:9 screen IF you actually upload 21:9 instead of letterboxing. twitter.com/EposVox/status/860940713344856065 If they had letterboxed this to 16:9, the video would show with black bars on the top/bottom AND the left/right. Not cool.

[@TAGSlays]

I know a guy...who has a channel... :D

[@EposVox]

;)

[@TheSanjaySathian]

EposVox can you help me with the calculation .. You said about had and uhd . why about other resolutions and other aspect ratio if I wanna try .. Right now my short film is in uhd have the calculation u said 3840* 1572 which is a 21:9 ratio what if I want a 1:85:1 what should be its calculation have a confusion maybe it's a dumb question .. Possible please help

[@TheSanjaySathian]

Or how did get the calculation 1572 in uhd sequence settinhs

[@TheSanjaySathian]

EposVox hey what about 1:85:1 is the ratio I want

[@joakimnorrby]

I feel remorse for my actions...

[@ntnlaaron770]

It's True , Plz Never Use A 16:9 video and add letterbox in it , it sucks , especially for ultrawide monitor

[@EposVox]

^^

[@ntnlaaron770]

yo , cheers mate , lovely videos btw!

[@EposVox]

Thanks!

[@ntnlaaron770]

No Worries :)

[@cmdr.shepard]

If you want your video to be viewed at 2.35:1 or something similar, you normally just export at the corresponding aspect ratio so there is no letterbox in the file itself. Letterbox is only added by your playback software as default depending on your monitor. But if you have a corresponding monitor to that file's aspect ratio then you will have no letterbox. So, as it is obvious, such aspect ratios are actually great for ultrawide monitors, it just needs to be done correctly. I assume KZbin doesn't have ability to adapt to your monitor so you would have issues there with wider monitors, but that's not at all the creator's fault.

[@cjxgraphics]

If you have an ultrawide screen, it comes with a deep frustration with Disney for hard encoding black bars in everything.

[@MotorDanko]

thanks you for thinking about us. pd. the 21:9 community.

[@TheSpacePlaceYT]

I just got this video on my Recommended Page as soon as I was about to drop black bars on my canvas XD Thanks for saving me.

[@edwardkong8574]

Thanks. I use a LG "21:9" ultra-wide monitor and got 4 black bars when viewing movie trailers on youtube.

[@Solegor]

To somehow combat this problem there's a Chrome add-on that allows to reframe any streaming video by pressing ctrl+shift+C. Don't remember the name though. But if the video is 1080p or lower- the quality will not be great due to the hard-coded black bars taking up bandwidth. With 1440p or 4k videos works great though

[@edwardkong8574]

@@Solegor The same is true for 18:9(new phones) videos. KZbin shows them as 1080p but downscale them to 1920x960.

[@victornicorios]

so you got 8 black bars in 1:45

[@Sykologist_Music]

OMG.. Thank God I found this.. I was actually just searching for how to place black bars because Using one of those Anamorphic presets didnt seem to work for my 1080p timeline. I'm glad I clicked on this.

[@PMK94]

I made a similar mistake once, way back when KZbin switched from 4:3 to 16:9. Learned my lesson very quickly.

[@EposVox]

:D

[@EposVox]

Check out 21:9 Gaming to see it done RIGHT kzbin.info/door/0sEn4T2Kl551QQe1miZg7g

[@JackedHero]

EposVox link doesn't work my dude. Great video though. That is annoying. Don't know why people do that.

[@EposVox]

Just tested it a few more times. Goes right to the channel lol

[@JackedHero]

EposVox hmm. Gives me an error on mobile. Does it link to a gaming channel?

[@EposVox]

nope, traditional YT channel. Weird. They replied to my pinned comment if you wanna check them that way. Or maybe I can force it mobile via m.kzbin.info/door/0sEn4T2Kl551QQe1miZg7g

[@azrin]

Not gonna lie, I admit to have used the "fake cinematic aspect ratio" a bunch of times in the past! Feels like a sin now the way you put it hahaha. Thanks for dropping this gem, EposVox, and making scrubs like us step our video game up.

[@EposVox]

I'm all for going for the feeling, but do it right! Haha

[@rdococ]

DING!

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

@beaniebreakspianos: We all did it at one point. Back in the late 90s i had a VHS-C Camcorder that had a letterbox mode that just added black bars to everything i recorded. It wasn't anamorphic thou. Just 4:3 letterbox. So i did throw away a lot of picture space… but then again it helped me a lot to frame my scenes properly because i always had them even during shooting. It was the best i had before i could finally afford a MiniDV camcorder with anamorphic 16:9 mode.

[@WTFBOOMDOOM]

@@KRAFTWERK2K6 Man, I clicked on your profile to check out if your account was made in 2006. It's early 2007, alright. I was at the "About" tab and saw your info there about your having been locked out of KZbin for over a year because of the Google Plus crap. That sounded familiar. I checked your videos tab and rememberex seeing your profile before. It was on a temporary profile I had last year, so none of your videos have been marked as watched on my main profile. It was a bit weird, KZbin being so big :) I guess I saw your profile the first time on a gaming or electronic music video. I remember seeing your TS404 vids.

[@SergiMedina]

Interesting, but you assumed a couple of things without evidence. You can create the sequence with the aspect ratio you want, OR you can add a matte PNG or mask or something. Whatever suits you. At first I used the former, then I realized that for some things (like Warp Stabilizer) it's best the latter. But it just depends on what do you want, what do you need, what's the delivery support and probable playing device and what you consider most important... Just do it RIGHT!!

[@siimaniic9786]

"I want the entire world to stop doing this" is such a mood

[@DominicProMax]

says the guy who has his taskbar on the top of his screen

[@FilmmakerIQ]

So here's why the letterboxing is actually the _correct_ way in many circumstances... broadcasting standards. If you are sending this file out to a television broadcast, DVD or bluray - those systems are hard wired for 16x9. You cannot hand them anything besides a 16x9 file and therefore you MUST letterbox.

[@EposVox]

Yes, that's why Vevo and etc. are like that, but also which is why this video is catered for web video/KZbin videos -- and your newbie KZbinrs aren't doing it for broadcast standards reasons, heh :P

[@EposVox]

I'm sure when working with TV it is quite obnoxious. But you need to know your format and medium, and for web video 16:9 canvases all the time is not the correct way to go.

[@John1212168]

Mk Sv Dm Guys I am confused and I need your help. Can anyone answer me this question. When a TV channel broadcasts a film or a series episode and I see it in my TV as 2:35:1 it is not actually 2:35:1? And another question, 2:35:1 video can be filmed directly or is 16:9 with black bars?

[@WDStevens]

While I agree this is correct, I still think it's prudent to edit in the aspect ratio you want rather than add bars and crop later. For broadcast etc. I would render using the resolution (and all the other things) I'm asked for, at which point all the editing software I've used so far have added letterboxes or pillarboxes to make up the extra space unless I tell them otherwise.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

EposVox broadcast doesn't just mean it's going to a TV station... Broadcast means it's compliant with television standards which means its viewable on all televisions that follow that standard. Sure if you're going to live and die on a computer screen, you can do whatever you want, go with 19.35 fps 1922x865. But the moment you want to watch that video on a TV set that's not a computer monitor or burn it to a playable Blu-ray you (or the software/hardware) has to conform the video to broadcast standards. I just looked up Netflix submission guidelines and they only accept the traditional broadcast aspect ratios. Amazon prime video has this language: "Anamorphic sources must include accurate 4:3 or 16:9 display aspect ratio flags." If your want to couch the advice as, well this is only for amateurs goofing around on KZbin, that's fine... But don't say that Letterboxing is wrong because it's the reality for many professional applications.

[@Crlarl]

Back when movies were shot, edited and distributed on film, the projector would have different apertures to mask the edges. They were technically putting black bars on the movie.

[@shepardinthesky]

In case anyone is wondering, the song/music in the background is "I Am You" by "Haywyre". He's by favourite artist so I immediately recognized the style and turned up the volume to hear the song. soundcloud.com/haywyre/i-am-you

[@DaniXks]

The best thing i've seen is videos with effects like lens flares added and you can see the lens flares or their glow going over the black bars out of the video.

[@bond-kim]

In good way?

[@DaniXks]

No haha. If you know what you are doing, you could use it to make some cool 4th wall breaking effects. Most people don't do it on purpose though...

[@SWEG_WAS_TAKEN]

Have could I be so stupid??? 3 years of media in school an I feel like Ive learnt nada realizing Ive missed this tiny detail! Thank you for this informative video!

[@samg3456]

But if ya boi is going for that Michael Bay, fluctuating aspect ratio look, bars are just the only way to go.

[@thelittlepasty8360]

Sam Cant you change the aspect ratios of the cut clips? Or edit them separately

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

As much as i hate Michael Bay… but he actually shoots anamorphic Widescreen.

[@r0z3d]

Wasnt that Christopher Nolan with one of the Batman movies?

[@DanielLangeYT]

1920x800 sequences works perfectly.

[@3um]

Goddammit thank you. I couldn't understand why so many people was doing it that way.

[@minebrandon95264]

While they don't add pngs of black bars to the top and bottom, theaters in the old film projection days of 20 years ago would be handed film spools that were in a 4:3 aspect ratio and then matte the top and bottom when projecting as film is in 4:3 and wider aspect ratios were achieved by that method or using special lenses. An upside is that the home video release could be taller than the actual movie meaning that it could either be even lazier than pan and scan or the pan and scan could fit better and uninformed consumers would get the best of both worlds. This is of course if you ignore pixar re-rendering their movies to better fit the screens of 15 years ago.

[@KostasGur]

These are the DCI specifications... 2048×1080 (2K) at 24 frame/s or 48 frame/s, or 4096×2160 (4K) at 24 frame/s In 2K, for Scope (2.39:1) presentation 2048×858 pixels In 2K, for Flat (1.85:1) presentation 1998×1080 pixels In 4K, for Scope (2.39:1) presentation 4096×1716 pixels In 4K, for Flat (1.85:1) presentation 3996×2160 pixels

[@Quetzalcoatl0]

Well standards are changed at some point (like the transition from 4:3 to 16:9), 21:9 screens are getting more and more popular, so standards will have to change. What will happen when half the world uses 21:9 monitors/tvs(I know they don't exist but who knows) /project screens ?

[@rustledspaghetti]

it's been 3 years and people still do this

[@michaelfokias]

As a 21/9 monitor owner I thank you.

[@jozosaravanja1626]

Michael Fokias Agree. I hate when i go and watch some "cinematic" videos and they do this.

[@michaelfokias]

I do understand though however, that as a creator its not very attractive to export in 21/9 when there's no endcard support for that aspect ration - unless that has been fixed by now

[@JacobEkaineck]

Resolution / Aspect Ratio Cheat sheet Sometimes a job requires multiple outputs to different formats, so we thought it would be great to create a quick cheat sheet. Below are some commonly used formats and sizes for the resolution to use when exporting for various aspect ratios and frame sizes. CINEMA DCP 4k Frame Aspect Ratio / Resolution (Square Pixels 1.0) * Flat (1.85:1) / 3996x2160 * Scope (2.39:1) / 4096x1716 * QuadHD (16:9) / 3840x2160 * Full Container / 4096x2160 CINEMA DCP 2k Frame Aspect Ratio / Resolution (Square Pixels 1.0) * Flat (1.85:1) / 1998x1080 * Scope (2.39:1) / 2048x858 * QuadHD (16:9) / 1920x1080 * Full Container / 2048x1080 5k Frame Aspect Ratio / Resolution (Square Pixels 1.0) * 1.33:1 (4:3) / 5120x3840 * 1.66:1 (5:3) / 5120x3072 * 1.77:1 (16:9) / 5120x2880 * 1.85:1 / 5120x2768 * 1.9:1 (Epic Full Frame) / 5120x2700 * 2:1 / 5120x2560 * 2.37:1 (RED 5k Wide) / 5120x2160 * 2.39:1 (referred to as 2.40) / 5120x2142 * 2.44 / 5120x2098 * 2.35:1 / 5120x2179 4k Frame Aspect Ratio / Resolution (Square Pixels 1.0) * 1.33:1 (4:3) / 4096x3072 * 1.66:1 (5:3) / 4096x2458 * 1.77:1 (16:9) / 4096x2304 * 1.85:1 / 4096x2214 * 1.9:1 (Native 4k Red) / 4096x2160 * 2:1 / 4096x2048 * 2.35:1 / 4096x1679 * 2.37:1 (RED Wide) / 4096x1743 * 2.39:1 (referred to as 2.40) / 4096x1728 * 2.44 / 4096x1714 4kHD (QuadHD) Frame Aspect Ratio / Resolution (Square Pixels 1.0) * 1.33:1 (4:3) / 3840x2880 * 1.66:1 (5:3) / 3840x2304 * 1.77:1 (16:9) / 3840x2160 * 1.85:1 / 3840x2076 * 2:1 / 3840x1920 * 2.35:1 / 3840x1634 * 2.37:1 (RED Wide) / 3840x1620 * 2.39:1 (referred to as 2.40) / 3840x1607 * 2.44 / 3840x1574 2k Frame Aspect Ratio / Resolution (Square Pixels 1.0) * 1.33:1 (4:3) / 2048x1536 * 1.66:1 (5:3) / 2048x1229 * 1.77:1 (16:9) / 2048x1152 * 1.85:1 / 2048x1107 * 2:1 / 2048x1024 * 2.35:1 / 2048x871 * 2.37:1 (RED Wide) / 2048x864 * 2.39:1 (referred to as 2.40) / 2048x858 * 2.44 / 2048x839 1080p Frame Aspect Ratio / Resolution (Square Pixels 1.0) * 1.66:1 (5:3) / 1920x1152 * 1.77:1 (16:9) / 1920x1080 * 1.85:1 / 1920x1038 * 2:1 / 1920x960 * 2.35:1 / 1920x817 * 2.37:1 (RED Wide) / 1920x810 * 2.39:1 (referred to as 2.40) / 1920x803 * 2.40:1 (Blu-Ray) / 1920x800 * 2.44 / 1920x787 * 1.33:1 (4:3) / 1920x1440 720p Frame Aspect Ratio / Resolution (Square Pixels 1.0) * 1.33:1 (4:3) / 1280x962 * 1.66:1 (5:3) / 1280x768 * 1.77:1 (16:9) / 1280x720 * 1.85:1 / 1280x692 * 2:1 / 1280x640 * 2.35:1 / 1280x545 * 2.37:1 (RED Wide) / 1280x540 * 2.39:1 (referred to as 2.40) / 1280x536 * 2.44 / 1280x525

[@catmar1944]

My pet peeve if you will is people who shoot a video on their phones holding their phone vertically, long side up and down so what we end up with is a very narrow video instead of a video long side left and right axis. I hope you understand what I mean here. there are tons of videos shot this way.

[@EposVox]

Haha I hate that too. And "Stories" on Snapchat/Instagram/Facebook will only make that more popular. But typically videos shot vertically were never worth watching whereas people who spend a lot of time making good videos will ruin it w/ black bars.

[@pkbeast]

Totally understood it back in the days when cameras just started coming out on phones, back in the "dumbphone" days, was very awkward to hold it horizontally. Now with smartphones, there is NO excuse.

[@TechDaddyProxy]

There's a time and place for vertical video and it's called High School. In all seriousness, I'm sure there are some people that can do vertical format fairly well for what it's worth, but even on my phone I prefer horizontal. My eyes aren't stacked vertically, darn it!

[@EposVox]

Vertical videos serve one purpose: in-feed social media posts designed to be viewed on mobile. Stories and in-feed posts, that's it.

[@MariWakocha]

As a user of a 21:9 screen THANK YOU for making this! Now let's tell the major streaming platforms, especially HBO Max, because they're absolutely terrible

[@Chribit]

F*CKING THANK YOU (I hate that trend with just putting black bars over the video, just to make it more "cinematic")

[@EposVox]

Thanks for watching!

[@Chribit]

haha, thanks for making the video! :)

[@agnessas5904]

I'm very new to video editing and have been constantly running into tutorial videos that describe adding the letterbox bars to create that cinematic look and I was just not happy with the idea of it. I just wasn't sure how else to create the look while delivering the quality of the cinematic shot and didn't understand that it was a matter of working with the actual aspect ratios. I'm glad to have come upon this video. Extremely valuable information.

[@EposVox]

Thanks for watching!

[@serisproductions]

YES YES THANK YOU!!!! Finally someone posted this!

[@t0biascze644]

0:50 actually, they often do that, they record it in normal 16:9 (open matte), and then crop it to the wide screen

[@chilakiller8778]

Great video. I agree, changing the size of the video itself is the correct way to change aspect ratios. But, what about films like The Grand Budapest Hotel, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World or even The Dark Knight? They all change aspect ratios throughout each film. And they probably did use the black bars to accomplish that effect. Well, The Dark Knight changed between IMAX and regular Wide Screen. So technically it doesn't have have the black bars added. But you can still see them in the actual film even when watching it in the corresponding wide screen size. And I imagine The Grand Budapest Hotels looks tiny on an old 4:3 TV screen.

[@ceegee2433]

But sometimes you just want your B-roll to have a different aspect ratio, not the entire video...

[@MariusVolden]

Thank you for telling us something that should have been quite obvious and I have not thought of at all. Another big bonus of doing this that I just noticed when trying it out is that you get a lot more workspace in premiere. Removing the dead space the black bars created cramped the actual workwindow down a lot, giving you bigger timeline-space to work with. Big thumbs up for this tip!

[@chungdha]

If you are making videos for KZbin, then 16:9 is a must when you want to use the end screen buttons as KZbin does not allow end screens in other aspect ratios then just 16:9.

[@EposVox]

8:5 (16x10), 4:3, 17:9 and 2:1 (18x9) all work with End Cards, and wider format support probably coming soon. Would MUCH rather have a video that isn't screwed up on my screens than have on-screen elements I'm not going to click and that 1-5% of viewers will ever see. 2:1 is a great middle ground of having a wider, more "cinematic" feel while still having end card support.

[@chungdha]

I get this message below with my 21:9 video video, which most used widescreen than any of those you have listed and I can't find any info release saying what you said as can only find 16:9. But honestly most people don't have wider screen monitors anyways and redirecting viewers to next video is important for KZbin growth. The aspect ratio of your video is currently not supported The end screen tool currently only supports videos with an aspect ratio of approximately 16:9

[@chungdha]

Other thing should never use those PNG and rather use my letterboxing presets which I never seen any noise or oddities with happen in the letterbox and high chance just because of the PNG.

[@EposVox]

Yes, they say that, ("approximately" being key) but I've tested this myself - a regular recurring test I do every 6 months or so. I've put out videos in all of those aspect ratios and End Cards work fine. 21:9 is the big "wide" one that they don't support yet. But 2:1 (18:9) is a common smartphone aspect ratio now and scales cleanly on 16:9, 17:9 (DCI 4K - many editors such as myself have these monitors) and full 21:9 screens that keeps a good balance of both worlds :)

[@EposVox]

And yes I agree w/ using your presets or something similar rather than image files. Love your presets!

[@fusafilms]

...make an orange and teal color grade + handwritten typography for thumbnail + mass transitions + black bars and you’re the BEST FILMMAKER OF ALL TIME 😂 It’s funny how people think adding black bars is “cinematic”

[@veda-powered]

2:02 I was watching this on a 4:3 screen which added additional black bars.

[@happysmash27]

1280x1024 is 5:4, not 4:3! There's a difference!

[@EMPIRERC]

I hate this! When I bought my lg ultra wide I was super disappointed by how many videos had black bars instead of the true aspect ratio.

[@TorbensonProductionsvideos]

I actually prefer to edit in letterbox and then while exporting I just change the export resolution. The reason for that is because adobe has effects like warp stabilization that only work when the clips are the same size as the sequence.

[@luc_official]

* insert thank you gif here* Finally someone who understands this. There so many people, even big film channels on youtube, telling you to download and import a letterbox png. I never understood that.

[@flixboi6741]

I go to sequence and adjust the vertical resolution to my liking

[@sparkie5571]

1:30 exactly, almost all of the music videos I watch just add bars to the top and bottom and now I have black bars everywhere. I installed a chrome extension that, for the most part, fixes it, but why not just edit it in 21:9 ??

[@Jikdor]

Thanks you for saying this, the world needs to know.

[@JBProductionsFlores]

Sorry, don't say 'anyone'. Because I never use black bars for cinematic videos. I always use 1920 x 800 for my cinematic videos.

[@AllThingsKen]

actually some productions do that. ITs not that big of deal honestly

[@oo0Spyder0oo]

I don't get why adding the black bars or cropping somehow enhances the video. For me I prefer any video that fills up my large screen tv, much like the scene from Batman: The Dark Knight where they use that full screen footage in a few places, that's way better than black bars. To have anything less is defeating the purpose of a large screen.

[@DysnomiaFilms]

oo0Spyder0oo People use it for no other reason than "to be cinematic" which is dumb but there is such a thing as choosing the best ratio for the film's compositions. Its not just about filling the screen, especially when different screens have different ratios. Lots of 2.39:1 cinema screens.

[@aiglv]

Yes but… different aspect ratios convey different emotions and meanings. So as much as a director chooses an actor or a lens, choosing an aspect ratio is a creative decision. And, probably not in your home, but screens in cinema theaters are very very large, like very, so it kinds of keeps being very big even if you cut a big chunk out of the image.

[@bunniz]

I when people just put black bars on the video. It means that on a 21:9 phone the video doesn’t automatically fit the screen, you have to zoom in.

[@TorIvanBoine]

yes. finally, someone who understands this! :) But a better way to do this is, in fact, using png overlays as guides *and* exporting it in the preferred format like 21:9 for example. Reason for this is if you use warp stabilizer, it doesn't like when the video is a different format than the sequence setting.

[@godsludge]

Thanks for this! Good bop in the background as well

[@AdventureLabs]

Thanks for this tutorial man! I'm definitely guilty of throwing cinematic bars on my videos from time to time. You did a great job explaining why I am so wrong. Life changed! Thanks!!!

[@EposVox]

Thanks for watching!

[@erskinhansen1715]

Ditto

[@squarehole4317]

Adding black bars is still the best way to avoid cropping. If my source is 1.77:1 and I want to have an uncropped 1.85:1 ratio, I would add those black bars on the left and right of the video, that way you don't squeeze the video and can still maintain the ratio e.g any circle on the video wouldn't look oval and people's height must look normal.

[@Khyree_Holmes]

Vertical videos are the worst.

[@EposVox]

^

[@TechDaddyProxy]

This made me think about a vertical video with black bars on the top and bottom and now I think I'm gonna cry. "I like to give the viewer the feeling of watching my videos on a Tomagotchi screen"

[@Autunite]

I've seen a guy post a 16:9 horizontal video of a 9:16 vertical snapchat video on his snapchat story. That means the image becomes this little box on the middle of the screen. Bravo.

[@nictheartist]

What's also annoying is when the news then broadcast a vertical eye witness clip, and they've clearly used some software to add a larger and very blurry version of the very same clip the background to fill in the edges to make it 16:9. You then end up with a vertical clip with weird blurry motion on each side. WHY?!

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

@ Kyree Holmes: ^THIS!!! The biggest problem of today.... goddamn mobile phone videos >_>

[@GAMIR_SFM]

AGREE 100% THESE PEOPLE JUST NEED TO WATCH 16:9 VIDEOS (that has black bars on top and bottom) WITH 21:9 MONITOR AND THEY WILL UNDERSTAND.

[@SebiKoerner]

The reason why people do this is because the rest of their video is in normal 16:9 and they just have the cinematic and B-Roll parts in the "21:9" aspect ratio.

[@EposVox]

I'm forgiving when it's parts of the video - even though that is pretty dumb overall. But there are PLENTY of videos that do this for the whole video, and that's what I'm referring to here.

[@SebiKoerner]

I got your point. I do mostly vlogs and pure 21:9 seem a little bit useless to me. For like a 30 second portion of something or a quick slowomo it just makes for a cool effect.

[@Quetzalcoatl0]

a 30 sec section is alright, Peter McKinnon does that alot, but if you gonna make a 5 minute video 21:9 and you have a premade outro video that is 5 second and it's 16:9, then no.

[@aarontylerbellfilms8486]

917 people dislike this because they just got called out.

[@BallisticTech]

One reason this has become some popular on youtube as that uploading in alternate aspect ratios means you can't or couldn't use certain tools like end cards. For example Corridor Digital (who is very connected with youtube) have a very cinematic style and put out videos in 2.35 anamorphic and similar styles a lot. Their videos go viral and get millions of views. They get a lot of click-thru to other videos, merch and partners via their end cards and not having them would have been a detriment to their channel.

[@EposVox]

Ehhhhhhhhh. I'd say that is a reasonable excuse as to why some haven't switched, but this has been a problem long before end cards existed and such - mainly because the player wouldn't adapt to the aspect ratio in earlier KZbin days - but people have yet to switch over. And if they don't switch more, KZbin will be more lazy about updating the feature.

[@overnightclassic2]

Don't Ehhhh. Admit it. He's right. End cards get you so many more views and subs because it's an annotation that cannot be disabled. That cannot be overlooked.

[@EposVox]

Lmao what. A - it can be "disabled". Turning off "Annotations" in the video player turns off End Cards. End Cards don't display on all devices still, and YT could drop the feature at any time, as they have done with every other on-screen element. (Meanwhile you can't go back and fix the aspect ratio of an old video.) B - And it can definitely be overlooked as most people don't use them, and most viewers never reach the end of the video. They're nice for like at MOST on a good watch time video... 10% of your viewers to see them? They're not as important as they seem.

[@overnightclassic2]

+EposVox Are you sure? The whole purpose of end cards is they can't be disabled the way annotations can. Try it for yourself. Turn off annotations and you'll see the end cards are still there.

[@EposVox]

Actually I am mistaken on that. I'm like 99.9% they did turn off before, as I specifically took note of it while watching them turn off and on with that button. Even have a video clip of it stored... somewhere. But that's definitely not "the whole purpose" whatsoever.

[@nicholassmith8759]

I saw a video and someone called this "letterboxing". It's definitely not. You've lost the top and bottom of your frame so it isn't letterboxed.

[@NotTheLarryDavid]

THANK YOU! Someone had to teach all these kiddos how to format videos properly. :)

[@Emilsteixner]

Larry David so true

[@ridrugo182]

Y'all dont realize that you can remove the bars when exporting and actually export on 2.35:1

[@SimonChristensen]

"They don't go into their Hollywood editing bays and pull out a PNG with black bars...." Slightly incorrect. A lot of modern movies (the last 20-30 years), were shot without anamorphic lenses, and *were* hard-matted in editing. Lord of the Rings for example is 21:9, but all the production footage (including CGI) was 4:3.

[@channelchenes4541]

They hard-matte, put they don't use a PNG file.

[@philipv7555]

So they cropped out half the image information in LotR? Why didn’t they at least shoot 16:9?

[@nikkoXmercado]

They crop the video to wide. They don't add bars.

[@SomePotato]

They have been doing that forever! 1.85 and 1.66 were always matted and never shot anamorphic on film.

[@MichaelOlm]

Totally agree. The biggest problem most people don't see besides widescreen formats making a video more "cinematic" is that they CUT away big parts of the footage. Many letterboxed videos I have seen so far look ugly because most of the time it looks forced into that format. As a no budget filmmaker or something similar you HAVE to at least imagine the "letterboxes" while shooting, which means you have to keep in mind that you will remove parts of the top and bottom. Or else you might end up cutting away e.g. parts of a face in a close up shot.

[@subhadeepdey911]

Is there any type of plug in or something for video aspect ratio in Adobe PP?

[@EposVox]

Why would you need a plugin? It's just in your sequence settings

[@subhadeepdey911]

EposVox thanks :)

[@amartya3]

If I want to use 21:9 and 4:3 in the same video... Basically a part in the cinematic aspect ratio and a part in 4:3, then is there any way for the video to naturally adapt to the aspect ratios? Or in that case using adjustment layers is the best option that I have?

[@BackwardSabotage]

Christopher Nolan: "You are like a little baby. Watch this." *I N T E R S T E L L A R*

[@MothmanReturns]

playerCross911 That doesn't even make sense.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

The Super 35 Format is the reason we ended up with this cheap "widescreen" substitute now that is called "matting". When you shoot fullframe and have guide lines and safe zones on your Video-control monitor… instead of just framing the whole image right. It's because Super 35 allowed you to shoot more spacious by allowing later to crop an image the way you want. So it wouldn't matter if you had 4:3 in mind or Widescreen. James Cameron often shot like that. So while the movie was running as 2,35:1 widescreen screening at the theater, he decided to keep the home video release opened, because he prefered that format. Widescreen would have been a problem on 4:3 TVs anyway because of the format difference. TV shows were often shot like that as well. So gear and boom mics would not be a problem and also to work for the TV crop safezones and making sure everything that was supposed to be seen was in the safezone of the camera viewfinder (the groundglass had markings for the DoP to frame it properly). However… in later years Super35 became common for pretty much EVERY motion picture because DoP hated using anamorphic lenses because they sometimes ate a little too much light (which would have required more sensitive high ISO/ASA filmstock, which is grainier) and also because it was cumbersome to work with to adjust it properly and you could not use it well for closeups. However Anamorphic lenses made things look wonderful and the framing often looks so much better as well. Because the DoP and director had to really put effort into the proper framing. You could not really adjust it afterwards. Once framed and shot, it ended up like that on the film negative. Super 35 gave directors and DoPs more headroom for more format choices. framing scenes so it could be shown on wide silverscreens at the theaters and also slightly open the image for the TV broadcasts or DVDs. because 16:9 was for many a lot easier to deal with than 2,35:1 bars on a 4:3 screen. And movies opened to 16:9 were format-filling on 16:9 CRTs and later HDTV television sets. Only leaving you with smaller bars during movies that were shot in anamorphic Cinemascope 2,35:1 or 2,40:1. The problem is that many movies now are shot without the slightest bit of effort to fit the artificial / fake "widescreen" format. One of the worst examples is "Syriana". Which has it's image composition totally ruined by matting the image way too much for what it seemed to be originally shot for. It's the same as if you would 16:9 crop old Television shows that were optimized for 4:3 and would not miss a LOT of picture informations. Or if you would pan&scan widescreen movies to fit it to 4:3.

[@pure7777]

THANK YOU!

[@VariTimo]

A lot of movies are shot without anamorphics. They also just cut out the top and bottom. But they frame for 2.39:1 which is much more important. That’s a pet peeve of mine. People who shoot in 16:9 framing for 16:9 and then crop to scope without even considering their composition. As resolutions go you want to set your project to 1080*804 so you’ll get the proper 2.39:1 aspect ratio. When shooting with anamorphics they usually shoot on a 4:3 sensor with 2* anamorphic lenses and get 2.66:1. Than they cut of some of the sides to get 2.39:1. As far as Rogue One goes it was shot on an Alexa 65 with a 2.20:1 sensor and 1.25* anamorphics. They got 2.77:1 and cut the sides of for 2.39:1.

[@MrMovieMan941]

I always made 1920x800 project! :)

[@isaaccarlton]

I feel so stupid right now...

[@odouls779]

Enters the digital screen. It’s a shame that in spite of the high engineering works, science and arts spent to achieve realism and aesthetics by optical scientists and engineers in the visual production, it is dismaying to see most people are happy viewing distorted images on their digital screens. Most people are aspect blind, unable to differentiate between normal and distorted pictures. For almost two decades following the introduction of digital television and the broadcasting of digital signals on the air, most TV stations continue to transmit their programs in 4:3 format for CRT picture tubes. The viewers watch their 4:3 shows in 16:9 screens. The images are stretched sidewise with the people shorter, broad shoulders, fat faces and flat rounds. Surprisingly, people do not mind the distortion and if you adjust the image to normal, they are bothered by the black spaces at the sides. Forget about those aspect geekspeaks. Shame for all the arts of the Cinemascope and Panavision

[@CoWinkKeyDinkInc]

Odouls77 broadcasting in 4:3 in 2018 should be fucking illegal.

[@TheBigboy453]

Because most people have other more important issues to worry about than worry what fucking aspect ratio there looking at 😂 you fucking dumb? First world problems much?

[@BLEKSIDE]

oh yes ive got a 21:9 monitor and i dont mind the weird ratio on youtube but there are actually a lot of movies where they did it the wrong way and watching that over an hour is a real pain

[@JodyBruchon]

I'm just gonna be honest. I think 2.35:1 doesn't look good. 16:9 conveys more vertical information than 21:9 unless you use a really wide lens to compensate, but then you have to fight things like barrel distortion. People need to just stop doing this entirely. It doesn't "look cinematic" or make you look more professional, it just looks like you're trying too hard. The instant I see your actor's hair cut off by the black border where it obviously was not supposed to be cut off, I'm going to laugh at you and so will everyone else.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

16:10 is even better. because it gives you the vertical space of 4:3 and the wideness of 16:9

[@neekedese8974]

Actually an overlay was used in the film Dunkirk I had access to an unfinished version and some scenes didn’t have the overlay yet applied :p

[@walbergrobin]

There's a few reasons why it could be useful, KZbin doesn't allow the end screen to be added to videos that aren't 16:9. Secondly, there are some effects in Premiere that require the footage to be the same size as the sequence size, which means you'll have to nest all. the. time. But otherwise I totally agree, it does take up more space, and can be artifact-y in lower bitrates. But sometimes it's worth the trade-off.

[@EposVox]

The nesting thing is usually necessary if you work with multiple sized/aspect ratio footage in the first place, which is fairly common. Also KZbin allows end cards on 16:10, 17:9 (DCI 4K and 2K), 4:3, 2:1, etc., just not super wide cinema/21:9 yet. But 2:1 is a perfect balance.

[@walbergrobin]

Fair enough, they do state "approximately 16:9". 2:1 is probably the way to go, but I'd still keep the overlay in my timeline, then just crop it out in the export, that's a perfect balance in my opinion ;) Doing it correctly while saving time!

[@BrionneOlsen]

Hi. Thanks for the advice. I tried it out. However I added a crop opening transition effect and I get these black bars on the left and right. I can't seem to move the crop to fit the 2560 x 1080 aspect ratio. My original file was shot in 16/9 1080p. Can you assist?

[@fidelecheverria6772]

You are the one doing it wrong... Doing this way several effects will not work unless you nest them, (pain in the ass) scaling different resolution will also generate problem on renders.... The only thing you have to do es simplY EXPORT in that aspect ratio you want... Trust me on this, much easier... Bie!

[@fidelecheverria6772]

Hendra Wijaya I fail to see why. The framing will be the one you choosed in the timeline. There is no perfect way, every method has some caviats, yet I think this the one for my workflow despite the fact I believe that choosing the right sequence settings is the second choice for me!

[@fidelecheverria6772]

Hendra Wijaya ok, now I realize what you mean. I use the png black bars for framing but I export whitout that part ;)

[@EposVox]

If you're not nesting anyway (which would solve that) you probably have other bad editing habits too, heh

[@fidelecheverria6772]

EposVox ok, bad habits,.? For sure, you are the expert...puff,.... The worst habit is not to listen to new data... Bye master.

[@TheBigboy453]

EposVox ya ol Spielberg forgot you were an expert. Why even try to teach people different ways if you wont give them same time in return when they may have better solutions?

[@puppadread787]

I use the aspect ratio 2,39:1 which has a resolution of 2484px*1040px. So I crop my footage on top and bottom each 139px which brings real cinema feeling and fits even in KZbin's "cinema mode".

[@romancernjak]

someone who uses terms like "cinematic" and "fancy" when talking about screen formats instantly loses credibility.

[@StandByA]

" The end screen tool currently only supports videos with an aspect ratio of approximately 16:9. "

[@EposVox]

8:5 (16x10), 4:3, 17:9 and 2:1 (18x9) all work with End Cards, and wider format support probably coming soon. Personally, I would MUCH rather have a video that isn't screwed up on my screens than have on-screen elements I'm not going to click and that 1-5% of viewers will ever see. 2:1 is a great middle ground of having a wider, more "cinematic" feel while still having end card support.

[@StandByA]

i agree with u anyway

[@ruok3351]

I dont really see the problem with black bar presets. Ive seen fantastic shortfilms on youtube and festivals shot in 16:9 with a budget camera and added bars in post. It doesnt matter if u dont do it the "correct" way, if ur gonna upload to the internet, most people are gonna watch it on their phones anyway. Im getting a dense self righteous ass from your videos anyway, theyre not even good enough to justify that you are "right".

[@EposVox]

Phones are more important for that now that many are in 2:1. Don't wanna watch a pillarboxed AND letterboxed video on a tiny phone screen. Nothing "self-righteous" about my content. Whatsoever.

[@VegTutor]

Ruok I have a 21:9 monitor and a 18:9 phone screen so yes people need to fucking stop. It's really stupid how when I'm viewing a 16:9 video with added black bars it makes the video smaller........ Just render the damn video at 1920x800 or 3840x1600 ffs...

[@TheBigboy453]

EposVox tour comments are self righteous as hell. And you don't see that you are ignorant as hell. Not that you'll read this. I only expect you to respond if you can think of some sarcastic half naked remark that doesn't even touch the points I have delved into in these comment sections

[@BlownMacTruck]

You seriously missed the point of the video. In a nutshell: faking it has all sorts of problems and no advantages.

[@JohannesMariaRunge]

The point is, that is doesnt make any SENSE to add bars if you crop your video for it. And there are people who made the illusion available, that that would actually make it cinematic, because all of the wannabefilmmakers who started to add the bars because its so "hollywood".

[@michaelvirisatra182]

what if I want to do a cinematic aspect ratio and than change to 16:9 in the middle of the clip? Should I just crop it or make a different sequence?

[@shevedits9304]

Not useful this guy acts as if he knows it all using strange terminology and making things complicated, use black bars its fine

[@selzzaW]

Films that aren't shot on film always letterbox. The sensor on most cinema cameras is actually 16:9. They just know how to frame it so that when they crop it, no the frame is still properly composed. Just like you do in the video. Anamorphic is almost exclusively used with 35mm film. Even then, films shot in Super 35 are usually cropped to 2.35:1. Edit: Rogue One was shot with the Arri65, which uses a 2.20:1 sensor.

[@Ballowax]

Rogue One was shot on 65MM film?

[@selzzaW]

@@Ballowax the Arri 65 is a digital camera with a sensor the size of 65mm film.

[@palfrey411]

For personal stuff I agree, however as others have mentioned their are exceptions to the rule. Usually that’s because of clients requirements. I’ve seen clients in the past try to stretch a 21:9 to 16:9 so having the black bars can help prevent incorrect playback if someone inexperienced is trying to play it on a presentation screen or something. Another situation is with Vimeo, as they adjust the frame size to the resolution, personally I think it looks great however some clients don’t like it’s no longer a 16:9 frame either for aesthetic reasons or its needs to fit a 16:9 frame on their website.

[@EposVox]

Yes. This video is clearly meant to be about posting to KZbin, not submitting for TV, Movies, off-KZbin submitted projects, etc. This is specifically about the video player here