Prevent Aspect Ratio Abuse—how to view videos without distortion.

Return to Richard Armitage Fan Page | Return to FoolishPassion.com

stamp out aspect ratio abuse!

How to avoid viewing videos which are either too squished or squashed.

Most video files need to be viewed in either the 16:9 aspect ratio ("letterbox") or 4:3 (full screen). When your media software (for instance, Windows Media Player) for some reason displays the wrong aspect ratio, you'll get the "squished" (too narrow) or "squashed" (too wide) look to your video. Not very pretty to look at, is it?

An easy way to manually correct this problem can be found in the free program called VLC Player. This application is available for Mac, Windows, and other computer operating systems. VLC will play many video file formats, including WMV (Windows Media), MOV, MP4, AVI, and so forth. VLC will even play DVDs! It's especially useful for viewing a DVD from a different Region (a foreign DVD which cannot be played in your commercial DVD player). And did I already mention that it is free? Because it's free! As in no charge. What a deal!

Adjusting Aspect Ratio Manually with VLC Player:

Open VLC Player. Go to Video >> Aspect Ratio >> and then pick out the suitable aspect ratio (often it will be 16:9).

If the video you wish to play is using some non-standard aspect ratio, find "Preferences." (On the Mac it's under the heading "VLC," in Windows it's under "Settings.") Click on the Video settings, and you will find a text box which says "Aspect Ratio." In this box, type in the desired aspect ratio.

VLC Player screencap
VLC Player's Preferences window in Mac OS X. The Windows version will look slightly different, but the concept will be the same.

When you have finished viewing your video, return to VLC's Preferences, and remove all text from the Aspect Ratio text box, and save the settings. If you forget to do this, VLC will continue to display all videos using the aspect ratio you typed in, whether they should be viewed that way or not! You can return to VLC's Preferences at any time and adjust or delete any aspect ratio settings.

Please note: Some WMV files may not play properly on the Mac version of VLC Player. (Won't play at all, or will only play audio.) I know of no workaround for this problem, alas.

Non-standard Aspect Ratio on Videos:

Occasionally a video will not look right, even when viewed with either 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio. When this happens, you will need to tinker with VLC and try to find the setting that looks best. For example, there's a video floating around that many fans of actor Richard Armitage have enjoyed—it's commonly referred to as "ILM." The aspect ratio on this video is odd—very odd. It doesn't look right in either of the common aspect ratios. I experimented and found that an aspect ratio of approximately 16:11 looked better—perhaps not perfect, but acceptable. Sometimes it's necessary to tweak the settings on a video a bit!

Change Your Video to a New Aspect Ratio with a Video Conversion Program:

If you are creating your own video and cannot seem to get the darn thing to adhere to its proper aspect ratio, there are a few programs which may be able to help.

Quicktime Pro: This program is available for both Mac and PC and can trim, edit and convert many video files to other sizes, formats, and even aspect ratios. In order to convert a file to WMV format on the Mac, however, you must buy the Flip4Mac plug-in. (The WMV Player plug-in—which allows the viewing of WMV files in the Mac version of Quicktime—is free.)

MPEG Streamclip: This program is free or very cheap (depending on which configuration you choose). It'll open many different file types and convert them to other formats, and also change the aspect ratio. There are several frame sizes to choose from, as well as some customization possible. Available for both Mac and PC.

RiverPast: This software company offers some Windows-only programs which would be useful for converting video. Video Cleaner converts videos to a wide variety of other video formats. Video Perspective is specifically used to correct aspect ratio problems.

There are many other inexpensive applications available (particularly for Windows) which can force an uncooperative video into its proper perspective. Check out several before making a final decision on which to buy.

Using Windows Movie Maker: How to choose the correct aspect ratio for your video project.

When working on your Windows Movie Maker project, go to Tools >> Options >> and choose the "Advanced" tab. Then select 16:9 (for more rectangular, more widescreen) or 4:3 ("full screen" or closer to square). Windows Movie Maker should then export your video using the proper aspect ratio.

Return to Richard Armitage Fan Page | Return to FoolishPassion.com

www.sweeney3296.info