Exported video not in full resolution w10 / small video in black frame

Attached a corrupt project that gets repaired after reopening and most of the time does not have the resolution problems anymore

TESTproject.mlt (4.5 KB)

You’re are attempting to edit a m4a file. That’s an iTunes file format for downloading music and movie content. The file is probably copy-protected.

Edit… I meant m4v

Are you sure? Apple might use it for audio but it’s not specific to Apple or iTunes.
All my Android phones record audio in .m4a (AAC Audio compression)
I am not aware of video as .m4a?

Oopps. I meant m4v. You better be glad I’m not programming, lol.
I was looking at the extension in the mlt file. Just typed it wrong in my response.
m4v file name

and the problem is not specific for this format, same with mp4 recorded with cam or from youtube

I, among many others do not have this problem I suspect because we make certain that we set the correct video mode BEFORE we import any media at all into Shotcut.
Alternately, set the video mode to Automatic then make certain that the FIRST clip you import and open into the timeline is the same as the maximum video resolution that you intend to export at.

<mlt LC_NUMERIC="en_NL" version="6.5.0" title="Shotcut version 18.01.02" producer="main bin">
Shows you’re running 18.01.02
Current version is 18.06.02 Shotcut - Download

<profile description="automatic" width="960" height="540" progressive="1" sample_aspect_num="1" sample_aspect_den="1" display_aspect_num="960" display_aspect_den="540" frame_rate_num="25" frame_rate_den="1" colorspace="601"/>

Shows your video is 960x540, but your have your aspect ratio set at 960x540. Change your ratio to 16:9.
If you are uploading to YouTube, you should read this article on “Recommended resolution & aspect ratios”

Comparison image of two different resolutions. At least in the YouTube world, 1920x1080 is heavily used.

No, it was not a commenter, it was the original poster who created the youtube video.

You are using a faulty project!

About the repeated offers to repair projects. There have been various problems over the years and versions, first with locales using comma for decimal, then later for when people use a comma setting that is different than their language/reason. These problems have varied depending on version and operating system. Shotcut requires the values in the project conform to the current system setting. So, if you change the setting or open the project on another computer with a different setting you will get this. Very little information about operating system and versions in this thread.

Yes, that is going to cause a problem with a 1920x1080 resolution!

This will not make a difference because 960/540 = 16/9. Basically, when display aspect ratio matches the resolution, you are going to get square pixels in the output, which is what most people want (1920/1080 = 1280/720 = 960/540 = 16/9).

TESTproject.mlt

This project worked fine for me. First, I had to repair it to change the commas in the numbers to periods for my region, and then to replace your media with my own at 960x540.