Aspect Ratio change

[jim.holder]

New digi-camcorder records at 16:9 (I have a w/s TV. I need to incorporate many stills. All stills edited using p'shop 6. With TV aspect ratio set to 16:9 movies are great, stills are ssttrreettcchheedd. I need to change the aspect ratio of my stills by a constant factor so they are 'squeezed' when viewed at 4:3 (ie on my computer monitor) but expanded to the correct ratio on the TV.
I use a digi still camera for pics (and no, it doesn't have a 16:9 option and no, I can't afford one that does).

This will be an ongoing requirement, so any conversion procedures will be very helpful

 

[jim.holder]

OK -I finally worked out my own half-way-there solution. In image size, uncheck 'constrain proportion' reduce width by 25%, hit OK and save. When displayed on 16:9 TV all is correct. But there must be a way of automating such a process....?

 

[ToXin]

I think if you record an action of the steps you make, then play it on any similar image and it will repeat all the steps you recorded.

I'm not quite clear on what you are doing, but I've used actions in the past with considerable success.

 

[jim.holder]

Thanks ToXin. In analogue cine days, to shoot a widescreen movie one had to place an anamorphic lens in front of the camera. This would squeeze the wideshot onto a standard 35mm frame (so a circle would appear as a perpendicular ellipse). The reverse was done on projection i.e. the anamorphism 'spread' the ellipse into its proper circular format on the cinema screen.

My digicam does the 'squeezing' electronically. My TV does the 'spreading' electronically. So, all is OK when shooting and playing w/s video. Problem arises when incorporating stills into the timeline. These haven't been squeezed by my still camera and so I have to artificially squeeze them using p'shop, before inserting into the timeline, so that when my TV spreads them, they are in the same aspect ratio as the movies.

As I wrote above, I've cracked the 'how to' but your suggestion of using actions to do multiple converts sounds very promising. Can you point me to an idiot's how to on the web?

 

[MindBender]

1. open your actions palette
2. make a new action with the little "make new" icon and name the action
3. press record button (little red icon in the actions palette)
4. perform operations that you wish to have recorded as you normally would perform them in photoshop
5. press the stop button in the actions pallete

Now you have an action that performs the steps you recorded. If you want to apply this action sequence to multiple images without having to do it manually, go into your file menu under "automate" and choose "batch". This will give you a whole slew of options, it should be pretty self explainatory. You just choose which recorded action you want to use (the one you just made should be there) and then choose what files you want to effect.