Comments on: What Size Should Your Web Video Be?

By: Lance Thompson

Lance Thompson — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:12:01 +0000

Hi Dave, great video. Thanks for putting it together.

By: Lance Thompson

Lance Thompson — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:11:20 +0000

Dave, great video and very helpful. Thanks for putting it together.

Lance

By: yasmin

yasmin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:49:15 +0000

Hi dave!
Thank you for the great info!:))
I have my video shot [documentary]with the resolution:3 720×576 PAL[that is what the clip settings says in FCP] , i have been trying different exports for my website -also tried 16:9 but the video of course looks way too stretched , Is there any way to export in 16:9 without any distortion , If not how can i make it widescreen? or if its not possible what frame size should i export in 720×540 , 640×480? Please help.
Thanks and regards

By: dtmp

dtmp — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:30:11 +0000

How about another caveat, for best compression you should use a multiple of 16, as discussed here:

http://www.flashsupport.com/books/fvst/files/tools/video_sizes.html

By: George Brodbeck

George Brodbeck — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:59:47 +0000

Thanks Dave,
Your clear and to the point video/instructions made the light go on.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 01:52:18 +0000

Thank you so much, exactly what I was looking for.

By: michael beausejour

michael beausejour — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:44:36 +0000

The KIND of video it should be is an EPIPHEO
get yours from me! mb@epipheostudios.com

By: Russell

Russell — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:11:30 +0000

Dave, you’re absolutely right. I had it set to 4:3 in the VCR menu but in the Camera Menu widescreen was ‘on’, giving 16:9.

Many thanks.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:05:57 +0000

@ Russell – Your actual video footage is definitely 16:9. The MD235, by default, shoots standard definition at 16:9…which gives you bars at the top and bottom.

To shoot at 4:3, you have to go into the camera’s setup menu and turn “Widescreen” off. When you do that, you’ll have 4:3 and in your viewfinder, you’ll have black bars on the left and right of the video. But that’s only in the viewfinder, the actual footage will have no bars anywhere.

By: Russell

Russell — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:35:53 +0000

Thanks, Dave.

I’ve tried changing the project to all versions of PAL, including PAL DV in Vegas but that just makes it fuzzy.

The bars are visible in actual videos before putting on the web and even before rendering.

Here’s an example:

http://www.vimeo.com/5214685

If you stay to 4:22 on that video you’ll see that when I put up photos the top and bottom bar are gone. There is then a bar on the left and right but I know that’s to do with the sizing of the picture, so that’s no problem.

Just to confirm, I’m shooting the video in 4:3 on my camera – it’s just when it’s in Vegas those top and bottom bars show like it’s widescreen.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:19:37 +0000

@Russell – First, since you’re in the UK, your camera format is PAL. So make sure your video project is set to PAL too.

You don’t say if the bars appear in your actual videos or in your videos that have been converted to Flash and play on the web. For videos on the web, if you don’t use the correct size in your embed code for the player, black bars can appear.

By: Russell

Russell — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:09:36 +0000

Hi Dave,

In an answer to Ben you mention about the black bars along the top and bottom of the picture.

I have those but shoot in 4:3 and am wondering how to get rid?

I’m in the UK using a Canon MD235 and Sony Vegas.

By: michael

michael — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:38:26 +0000

Dave,

I stumbled across your site and have to say that I am truly impressed.

You offer a wealth of great info that a budding video-guy like me has been scouring the web for.

Kudos!!!

All Good Wishes,
michael

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:51:50 +0000

Thanks Dave for your quick explanation. I thought the 16:9 is a true AR. Learned from you once more!

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:05:37 +0000

@Ben – Some standard definition cameras (or HD cameras that allow you to shoot in SD mode) let you choose your aspect ratio…4:3 or 16:9.

But when choosing 16:9 with a standard definition, your video will still be 720×480 (for NTSC), in most cases, you just get black bars across the top and bottom. It’s an artistic effect to make it kind of “look” like HD.

Resolution for standard definition video is 720×480 for NTSC and 720×576 for PAL.

Resolution for high definition video is 1920×1080 or 1280×720.

In other words, you’re not increasing your resolution by shooting SD video at 16:9…you still have the same number of pixels.

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:33:34 +0000

You mention that standard definition aspect ration is 4:3 and High definition is 16:9. I believe that 16:9 is widescreen rather than high definition. For example, the FS100 camcorder records in 16:9 and is still not high definition – did I miss anything? In this case, what would the highest recommended resolution for an FS100 be?
BTW, I enjoy your videos and find them valuable!
Thanks,
Ben

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:24:24 +0000

My mom always said to try and learn something new every day and this completed that for the day.

Thank You again for your excellent knowledge. I was wondering why my videos were looking rather strange and now I know why and know how to fix the problem.

Once again you proved your are the best.

By: vic

vic — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:51:01 +0000

Thanks Dave,

I see you went a got yourself
a new photo background in this video.

It’s amazing how versatile the black
ground you use in previous videos is
and how it isolates you and the message
making it more powerful … at least
in my mind …..