16:9 to 4:3? black bars

[Kevin_Grimaldi]

I have a 16:9 1280x720 video. It is an old series, which is why it is originally 4:3 and has the typical black bars on the sides.

What I want to do is simply crop the video taking out those edges and convert it to 4:3 format, as it was originally so it shouldn’t warp the image, just crop the edges.

here an example

When I export it I change to the new resolution because if not it does nothing

but this happens

The smallest image appears and now with borders on all sides, the filter was not applied? Did I miss doing something or is this not working?
To test I did the same with avidemux and it works fine just using the clip filter without adjusting anything

[david.lyon]

It looks like the viewer is scaled out to different resolutions so it’s really hard to tell if there is anything wrong. Doing a comparison between two programs is bound to give different results so it’s really hard to tell which one is right and which one is wrong.

[Kevin_Grimaldi]

I don’t compare programs, give that example so that you can understand the result I wanted to have. Both are 960x720

[shotcut]

You need to set Settings > Video Mode correctly instead of messing around in Export > Advanced. Video Mode is the most important option in Shotcut.

[Kevin_Grimaldi]

I had already tried that but I think the changes were not applied, now I tried again and the smallest video appears with black borders as in the third image.

Applying this filter looks good, I don’t know if it is the correct way but it no longer has the black borders

It would be something like the reverse process, it hadn’t occurred to me this way, I was only thinking of cutting the bars.

[shotcut]

1. use a 4:3 video mode
2. add the Crop: Source filter
3. and click the Center checkbox to get rid of the black bars

[Kevin_Grimaldi]

Thanks, it’s easier that way, I always used the crop rectangle and I didn’t know that center

[MusicalBox]

I prepared a short tutorial to illustrate what @shotcut suggested, but apparently I wasn’t fast enough.

I’ll post it anyway so it doesn’t go to waste. Might still be helpful for those who need more detailed instructions.

I’ll use this clip:

It’s a1280x720, 16:9 clip with black bars on each side. The center part is 960 pixels wide
The goal is to remove the black bars and export a 960x720 4:3 clip.

1. There is actually no 960x720 preset in the Video Mode preset list. So you need to create a custom preset.
   • Go to Settings > Video Mode > Custom > Add
   • Name your preset (Important if you want to reuse it in the future)
   • Set Dimensions to 960 x 720 and Aspect Ratio to 4:3
   • Set your desired frames/sec value.
   • Click OK.
2. Drag your 1280x720 clip in the Preview panel (Source)
3. Go to the Filters panel and add a Crop: Source filter.
4. Enable the Center option.
5. Go to the Export panel.
6. Leave the parameters as they are and click the Export File button.

16:9 to 4:3 -- Remove black bars

Result:`