2.35:1 Cinemascope (Anamorphic) Aspect Ratio Tutorial

by Michael on August 29, 2011 in Tutorial, Video with 4 Comments

A 90 second tutorial on exporting 1080p widescreen (16:9) footage to Cinemascope aspect ratio (otherwise known as Panavision or Anamorphic Scope – 2.35:1 ratio).

In this example, I used 100 pixels on the top and bottom. TRUE 2.35:1 aspect ratio would be 132px on top, and 131px on bottom (or vice versa). The final output would be 817px tall.

Please bestow a ♥ like or leave a ✉ comment if you have questions!

☞ ASPECT RATIO CONVERSION METHOD:

To convert from any aspect ratio to a wider format (such as 2.35:1 or 1.85:1), all you have to do is

DIVIDE the WIDTH of your SOURCE footage (1920 in this example) by the final aspect ratio desired (2.35 in this example).

So,
1920
DIVIDED BY
2.35 = 817 pixels tall

Your final output would be 1920×817.

✏ To find the amount to crop off the top and bottom, subtract your pixel number (817px here) from your source footage height (1080px) and divide it by two. If it is a decimal number (such as 131.5), even it out to whole pixels (i.e. – crop 132px from top, 131px from bottom).

✏ Here are some examples of aspect ratio conversion methods. These are all assuming 1920×1080 footage. If your SOURCE footage is 1280×720, your width would be 1280; if your SOURCE footage is 720×480, your width would be 720; and so on.

☞ 16:9 to 2.35:1 / Cinemascope / Anamorphic / Panavision Aspect Ratio:
SOURCE footage width (1920) DIVIDED BY 2.35 = 817px tall
Crop 132px off top, 131px off bottom.

☞ 16:9 to 1.85:1 / Academy Flat / “Flat” Aspect Ratio:
SOURCE footage width (1920) DIVIDED BY 1.85 = 1038px tall
Crop 21px off top, 21px off bottom.

As a ‘bonus’, here is the method for converting your 4:3 aspect ratio video to regular 16:9 widescreen (assuming 640×480 footage):

☞ 4:3 to 16:9 Regular Widescreen Aspect Ratio:
SOURCE footage width (640) DIVIDED BY 1.778 = 360px tall
Crop 60px off top, 60px off bottom.

★Other Tutorials:★
Slow Motion from pictures tutorial – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJmhIQjPVKQ
Color Correction tutorial the RIGHT way! – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EutVgTck6U

To learn more about aspect ratios, Panavision, Cinemascope, Anamorphic Scope, and much more – go to http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/aspectratios/widescreenoram…

Audio: Zoom H4n and Redhead Windscreen

Michael
Hi! Currently, I am working as a freelancer in west of the Twin Cities. When I’m not working on a client project, I’m either thinking up a webpage design, out taking pictures, producing a video, or playing the piano. But for the most part, I’m at my computer all day. :)
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4 Comments on "2.35:1 Cinemascope (Anamorphic) Aspect Ratio Tutorial"

  1. sunil says:
    January 23, 2013 at 8:49 pm

    hai,thanks for article..helped me.I have one more doubt,would be great if u can explain me how to solve it. I have some footage shot in canon 5d..resolution is 1920×1080.I have some footage shot in 2 perf negative..there source ratio is 2048 x 784.I have to apply dissolve between 2 clips of these 2..I can in dissolve one can make out the wrong cropping..please let me know how can I crop/convert my 5 D footage to match my 2 perf cropping

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      February 14, 2013 at 10:24 am

      Hi, crop your 1920×1080 footage down to 1920×735 and reduce your 2048×784 to 1920×735 to match your 5d footage. That way both footage will be 1920×735. Hope that helps.

      -Michael

  2. boyet says:
    May 9, 2013 at 5:38 pm

    Thanks. This is the best solution i found in the web. some just put black bars on the top and bottom but cropping during the output is the real thing..

    Reply

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