Online Video Production - Aspect Ratio, 3 X 4 and 16 X 9
Online Video Production - Aspect Ratio, 3 X 4 and 16 X 9
If you are learning video production, my guess is that you are confused about aspect ratio. I hear questions about it all the time.Now, the term "aspect ratio" sounds more than a bit dull.What does it even mean and why should you care?
Have you ever watched an online video and wondered what those black bars are on the sides of the video, or on the top and bottom of the video? Some people think the black bars look cool, others think they are ugly.
Ugly or cool, it's an aspect ratio issue.Have you ever seen an online video that looked all squished and weird?I'm talking about videos where the people either look like Munchkins in a Gas-X commercial or Long Tall Sally on stilts.That, too, is the result of aspect ratio issues.
Aspect ratio is the term that defines the rectangular shape of your video screen. In other words, how big are the sides of your screen compared to the top and bottom of your screen?All TV and movie screens are rectangles.A standard TV set has an aspect ratio of 3x4 and a movie screen has an aspect ratio of 16 x 9.So no matter what size the screen is, it is either in a ratio of 3 x 4 or 16 x 9.(Actually, there is a third option, but let's not confuse things too much for now.It's the even longer and skinnier 2.35 x 1 ratio known as anamorphic.)
If you take a video that is produced in the 3 x 4 ratio and put it on a screen meant for a 16 x 9 video, you will see black bars on both sides of the screen.If you take a 16 x 9 video and show it on a screen meant for 3 x 4 videos, then you have the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.
The black bars are merely empty space.Black filler to make up for the non-existent video that would go in that space if the video and the screen shared the same aspect ratio.
Another method of forcing one aspect ratio to "fit" onto the other size screen is to digitally squish it.That's when you get the video where people look abnormally tall and skinny or like they have a monstrous belch about to bubble forth.It looks ridiculous.I'd much rather see the black bars.
When TV was first invented, 3 x 4 was the only aspect ratio.For at least 50 years, 3 x 4 was the one and only aspect ratio a TV video producer had to deal with.Film makers shooting for the "big screen" used 16 x 9, but video did not.TV and movies were considered separate.
Of course this raised problems when they wanted to show a movie on TV.No doubt you have seen the disclaimer, "This movie has been formatted to fit your screen," while watching movies on TV. In other words, they fiddled with the aspect ratio.
Nobody wanted to digitally squish the video to fit since that is so ugly, nor did they want the black bars, so they just cut the sides off to make it fit.That's an easy solution if the action taking place on the edges of the screen is meaningless, but of course that is rarely the case.
About 10-15 years ago, they started manufacturing TV sets with the 16 x 9 ratio to simulate a home theater experience.Video started being produced in both formats.
When online video first cropped up, the majority of it was 3 x 4 since that had historically been the standard.As time passed, more and more online video became available in 16 x 9.You Tube recently made the switch.
So that is why you see the black bars on lots of videos.Adding the bars is the easiest way to preserve the integrity of your picture while allowing compatibility between the two formats.I have had readers ask me how to get the black bars because they think they look cool.Video aficionados will tell you it looks like a mistake but as always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Thanks for reading Video Production Tips
Lorraine Grula
Internet Video Gal
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