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How to use permament intentional letterbox
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Brano  
#1 Posted : Monday, December 9, 2024 1:32:36 AM(UTC)
Brano

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Hello, I am new with vMix.

We have a project in the standard 4kUHD but we want to have 2:1 intentional letterbox for a bit more cinema.

I wonder what would be the easiest and fastest way to put the letterbox over both the output and the preview. I've tried to use overlays with premade letterbox png, it works for the program but not for the preview permanently. And there is a chance of turning them off unintentionally.

Davinci Resolve has an easy quick function called "Output blanking" with different aspect ratios that does exactly this while keeping the output aspect ratio at 16:9. Is there anything similar in vMix?

Thank you.
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jet on 12/16/2024(UTC)

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Brano  
#2 Posted : Tuesday, December 10, 2024 8:31:53 PM(UTC)
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Ok, I've managet to get some solutions:

0. This is what I am talking about
UserPostedImage

1. the mentioned letterbox png in one of the overlay channels
2. route output back into new input via "Add input -> Output". Add croping in this input. Use this input for streaming and recording.

The problem with this approach is that the black boxes are hard-rendered into 16:9 video. We have 70% of the audience on mobile phones. If the phone is taller than 16:9 and the user won't set "zoom to fill" in youtube, he gets black stripes on sides as well.
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nikosman88  
#3 Posted : Tuesday, December 10, 2024 9:20:50 PM(UTC)
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Hello. Maybe you can do something with layers as any input accepts 10 layers. Or maybe it will be more easier in the up-coming vmix 28 as it supports the overlay channels to be shown also in mix inputs and also flatten layers for better compositing an input in another input. https://forums.vmix.com/...vMix-28-Preview-Released
a video for mix inputs

and

and in these add in Vmix 28 that we are able to send directly an overlay channel
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Brano  
#4 Posted : Tuesday, December 10, 2024 10:43:43 PM(UTC)
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Thanks.

What I managed to do is I created a custom ffmpeg preset for mp4 resording in C:\Program Files (x86)\vMix\streaming\ffmpegformats.xml and added -filter:v "crop=in_w:1/2*in_w" into the command line. So we are going to be recording in 2:1 resolution in 2:1 aspect ratio. And we are going to use the letterbox png overlay just for a reference.
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jet on 12/16/2024(UTC)
Max Joey  
#5 Posted : Monday, December 16, 2024 4:36:02 PM(UTC)
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I’ve worked with vMix before, and while there isn't a direct “output blanking” feature like in DaVinci Resolve, you can achieve a similar result using the Wide Screen feature. Here's how:

Go to Settings > Output/NDI Settings and enable the Wide Screen feature.
Set the aspect ratio to 2:1, which will automatically add the letterbox effect to both your output and preview without the need for overlays.
This will ensure the letterbox stays on permanently for both, and you won’t risk accidentally turning it off.
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Brano  
#6 Posted : Monday, December 16, 2024 7:00:15 PM(UTC)
Brano

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Thanks, this sounds like the best way, but I cannot find the setting your are talking about.

In the Output/NDI settings page, there's this:
UserPostedImage

There is a "Wide screen" aspect ratio here in another page, where I can set a resolution to 2:1, but it doesn't seem to do any croping.
UserPostedImage
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