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Introduction to Studio 9
Though generally straightforward, Pinnacle Systems Studio 9 has a few nooks and crannies that arent obvious at first glance. Fortunately, Studio includes a comprehensive guided tour to get you familiar with the landscape fast. This chapter starts by showing you how to take the tour and then quickly introduces you to Studios primary modes: Capture, Edit, and Make Movie. It also shows you how to undo or redo your work; use online help; and name and save your project files. Studio 9 is a very accessible program, so its tempting to just jump in and get started. Still, for each project, a few options should be set beforehand. For example, you must choose the location for your captured video and auxiliary files, and you should perform a disk performance test to see if your system is up to the rigors of video editing. Most of these options are set em and forget em: Studio will maintain them from project to project until you manually change them. Just a quick note: Studio displays housekeeping options, such as file location settings, in the same dialog boxes that display configuration options such as capturing and transition rendering. This chapter focuses mainly on the housekeeping options; other options are covered later in this book.

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Chapter 2

Taking the Guided Tour

Studio 9 includes a guided tour thats a great first step toward familiarity with the programs interface.

To take the guided tour:

Choose Help > Guided Tour (Figure 2.1). The Pinnacle Studio Guided Tour starts (Figure 2.2). Use the controls at the bottom of the tour window to control the experience.
Figure 2.1 Pinnacle Studios guided tour will familiarize you with the program components.
The first time you run Pinnacle Studio, the program displays a window asking whether you want to either view the guided tour or launch the program (Figure 2.3). You can click the Dont Ask Me This Again check box in the bottom-left corner, and Studio will stop showing this window when you launch the application. Until youre comfortable with the program, however, its a good idea to keep this window readily available.
Figure 2.2 Use the controls at the bottom of the screen to control your tour experience.
Figure 2.3 Until you disable this screen, whenever you launch Studio, youll see a prompt for the guided tour.

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Using Edit Mode
When you first enter Studio, youre in Edit mode (Figure 2.4), where youll spend the bulk of your time. Capture mode and Make Movie mode, accessible via tabs at the upper left of the screen, enable their namesake activities. The Edit mode interface is composed of three windows: the Album, the Player, and the Movie window. While in Edit mode, you have access to Undo, Redo, and Help buttons at the upper right of the screen.
Help Movie window Modes Album Player Redo Undo
Figure 2.4 When you first run Studio, youre in Edit mode, where youll spend most of your time.

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The Album
The Album consists of six windows, which you can select using the icons on the left panel (Figure 2.5). Three of these windows are for collecting video, audio, and still image files so that you can include them in a project (for details on how to do this, see Chapter 6). The other three windows contain libraries of effects supplied by Pinnacle, offering transitions, titles, and disc menus. For information on how to apply and customize these, see Chapters 8, 10, and 12, respectively.

Video Scenes

Transitions
Titles Photos and Frame Grabs Audio files
Disc Menus Figure 2.5 Use the tabs on the left side of the Album to navigate among the various content types.

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The Player
The Player is where you preview content and effects contained in the various albums, as well as your editing progress in the Movie window (Figure 2.6). Click the DVD icon at the lower left, and you convert the Player into a DVD playback remote control for previewing your DVD titles. In Studio 9, you can toggle to full screen preview by clicking the arrow key at the upper-right corner of the toolbar. You return to the program by pressing Esc on your keyboard or by using right-click commands detailed in the section Viewing Your Captured Video in Chapter 3. The Player also features volume controls and a Mute button.
Note that you cant detach or enlarge the Player, because like all interface components, its fixed, for simplicity. Since the Player is integral to virtually all editing operations, its use is discussed in most of the chapters in this book.
Figure 2.6 The Player has the usual VCR-like playback controls, plus a scrubber that lets you manually move through the video files. The DVD button transforms the Player into a DVD remote control (see Chapter 12). Fast-Forward (L) Fast-Reverse (J) Go to Beginning (Home) Player scrubber Play (L or spacebar) Full Screen Start DVD Preview Volume control Backward One Frame (Y) Mute Video counter Forward One Frame (X)

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The Movie window
The Movie window has three viewsTimeline (shown in Figure 2.7), Storyboard, and Text (called Edit List view in the Studio menu) that you toggle using controls in the upperright corner of the Movie window (see Figure 2.7). See Chapter 7 to learn how and when to use these modes. Two icons, the Razorblade (for splitting clips) and the Trash Can (for deleting clips), are available in all three modes. Video toolbox. In the upper-left corner of the Movie window is a Toolbox icon, which reveals a Camcorder icon when you hover the cursor over the left side of the toolbox (Figure 2.8). Click the Camcorder icon and the Video toolbox opens (Figure 2.9), revealing six editing functions.

Storyboard view

Text view Timeline view
Trash Can Razorblade Figure 2.7 You can easily switch among the Timeline, Storyboard, and Text views of the Movie window. Note the omnipresent Razorblade, for splitting your videos, and the Trash Can, for deleting them.
Figure 2.8 The Camcorder icon opens and closes the Video toolbox.

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The Video toolbox offers the following functions:
Clip Properties. Use this tool, shown in Figure 2.9, to trim your videos to the desired length (see Chapter 7). Add Full Screen Title or Title Overlay. Use this tool to edit the name and duration of images and to access title-editing screens (see Chapter 10). Create or Edit a Disc Menu. Use this tool to link menus to content and customize the DVD menus (see Chapter 12). Grab a Frame of Video from Video Input. Use this tool to grab still-frame images from your camcorder or disk-based video files (see Chapter 5).

Create a Music Video Automatically. Use this tool to access the Studio 9 feature for converting footage to a music video (see Chapter 9). Add an Effect to a Video Clip. Use this tool to access Studios color correction facilities and other special effects, expanded dramatically in Studio 9 (see Chapter 9).
You can click through the various options at will; click the Camcorder icon again to close the Video toolbox. continues on next page
Clip Properties Add Full Screen Title or Title Overlay
Create or Edit a Disc Menu Grab a Frame of Video from Video Input Create a Music Video Automatically Add an Effect to a Video Clip
Figure 2.9 The editing tools in the Video toolbox.

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Audio toolbox. If you hover the cursor over the right side of the toolbox, Studio reveals a Speaker icon in the upper-left corner of the Movie window (Figure 2.10). You can click this icon to open the Audio toolbox, which contains its own set of unique tools (Figure 2.11). The Audio toolbox provides the following functions (see Chapter 11 for more information):
Create Background Music Automatically. Use this tool to create custom background music of any length. Add an Effect to an Audio Clip. Studio 9 introduces a range of audio effects, which you can use this tool to add (see Adding Effects to Audio Clips in Chapter 11).
Audio Clip Properties. Use this tool, which is open in Figure 2.11, to trim audio files to the desired length. Change the Volume of the Three Audio Tracks. Use this tool to adjust the volumes of the three audio tracks. Record a Voice Over Narration. Use this tool to record your voice-over track. Add Background Music from an Audio CD. Use this tool to rip CD-Audio tracks to include in your projects.
Double-clicking any icon in the Video or Audio toolbox returns you to the main Movie window.
Figure 2.10 The Speaker icon opens and closes the Audio toolbox.
Audio Clip Properties Change the Volume of the Three Audio Tracks Record a Voice Over Narration Add Background Music from an Audio CD Create Background Music Automatically Add an Effect to an Audio Clip
Figure 2.11 The editing tools in the Audio toolbox.

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Using Capture Mode
You enter Capture mode by selecting the Capture tab at the upper left of the Studio interface (Figure 2.4). Here you transfer video from a camcorder or another source to your computer. Studio has two interfaces for capturing: one for digital video (DV) and MicroMV devices and one for analog camcorders and decks. Studio includes a Frame Grab feature for capturing still images from your camcorder or captured video (see Figure 2.5). This feature is covered in more detail in Capturing Still Images in Chapter 5.
Capturing from DV source devices
Figure 2.12 shows the four basic windows in Capture mode: the Album, the Player, the Camcorder Controller, and the Diskometer. The Album holds the captured video files, which are added dynamically during capture when Studio detects additional scenes in your source video. After capture, you can change the comments associated with each scene (see Chapters 3 and 4) and thus search for scenes while in Edit mode. However, you cant play back your videos in Capture mode; you must switch to Edit mode. continues on next page

Player

Camcorder Controller

Diskometer

Figure 2.12 Meet the Capture screen, configured to capture DV video. Note the four major components: the Album, the Player, the Camcorder Controller, and the Diskometer.

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The Player previews the captured video, providing information on capture duration and the number of frames dropped during capture, if any. As you can see, there are no playback controls, so you have to switch to Edit mode to play your captured video. The Camcorder Controller lets you control your DV or MicroMV camcorder. Briefly, one of the key advantages of these digital formats is the ability to control your camcorder over the same FireWire connection that transfers video from the camcorder to the computer (see the sidebar FireWire to the Rescue in Chapter 3). This ability makes capture from these sources much easier than when you use analog capture. The Diskometer contains the controls for starting and stopping capture. It also provides features to let you select your capture drive and see how much disk space remains on your capture drive (in megabytes) and the amount of time remaining for the selected capture format. You can select several capture options on the face of the Diskometer; to choose all other relevant options, you click the Settings button.

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Capturing from analog sources
Figure 2.13 shows Studios interface for capturing analog video. As you can see, the Album and Player remain unchanged from DV capture, but two additional panels appear to the left and right of the Diskometer for adjusting the brightness and color of the captured video and for adjusting the incoming audio volume. These are unnecessary with DV or MicroMV source video, as youre simply transferring the digital video from camera to computer.
Capturing from an analog source, however, usually involves some fine-tuning, especially for audio, and Studio provides a strong toolset for doing so. Also, when capturing analog video, you have to select the format for storing your video and, often, the quality options associated with that formathence, the additional controls adjacent to the Diskometer. If all this capturing business sounds scary, dont sweat. Capturing analog video is more meticulous than mysterious, and the process is spelled out in Chapter 4.

Format Selection

Video adjustments

Audio adjustments

Figure 2.13 Heres the Capture screen, analog style. The controls let you adjust the incoming audio and video.

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Using Make Movie Mode
You enter Make Movie mode (Figure 2.14) by selecting the Make Movie tab at the upper left of the Studio interface (see Figure 2.4). This takes you to the controls for outputting your work. Note that Studio customizes the Make Movie interface based on output type. In the example in Figure 2.14, Im about to produce a DVD of a wedding where my eldest daughter served as flower girl. As you can see, Studio shows a Diskometer-like view of the amount of space available on the DVD, and clicking the Settings button launches a screen with options specific to your output medium of choice. Select Make Disc from the tabs at the top of the Settings window (this tab will be selected automatically if you chose Disc from the left
panel of the Make Movie tab), and youll see choices for output to VideoCD, S-VCD (Super VideoCD), and DVD (Figure 2.15). As indicated on the vertical panel on the left of the Make Movie tab (see Figure 2.14), you can also output to tape (see Chapter 13); produce AVI, MPEG, and streaming media files (see Chapter 14); and share your file by uploading it to Pinnacles StudioOnline Web site (see Chapter 15).
Figure 2.14 The Make Movie screen is your last stop in the production process. Note the tabs at the upper left that let you select the output type.
Figure 2.15 Click Settings and choose an output type, in this case from the Make Disc tab.

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Figure 2.16 Video requires lots of experimentation, so Studio gives you several options if you change your mind, such as an Undo icon.

Using Undo and Redo

Experimentation is a major part of the video creation process, which means trying and discarding lots of options. Studio makes this process painless with an exhaustive Undo/Redo feature that saves all edit decisions made since the project was loaded for the current editing session. You can even save your file and then undo previous edit decisions (a rare option in my experience) and, of course, redo them all if you change your mind again.
Figure 2.17 Studio also provides a menu control and a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Z) that you can use to undo a previous edit.

To undo an edit:

To undo the immediately preceding edit that youve made, do one of the following:

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To save a project for the first time:
1. Do one of the following:
Choose File > Save Project. Choose File > Save Project As.
Press Ctrl+S. The Save As dialog box opens (Figure 2.20). 2. Find the desired folder and type the desired name; then click Save. Studio saves the project as a.stu file (Figure 2.21).
Figure 2.20 Heres the familiar dialog box for choosing a name for your file and a location to save it. I usually save my files in the same directory I use to capture my files.
Note the asterisk next to the name wedding.stu in the top line of Figure 2.20. This is Studios way of telling you that the file has changes that need to be saved. Once you save the file, the asterisk disappears, reappearing, of course, after your next edit.
To save a project after naming it:
Figure 2.21 Nothing is more irritating than losing the fruits of your editing. Saving your file early is a great way to prevent this from happening.
Choose File > Save Project, or press Ctrl+S.
To save a project to a new name or location:
1. Choose File > Save Project As. The Save As dialog box opens. 2. Find the desired folder, type the desired name, and click Save. Studio saves the project file.

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To respond to Studios automatic save functions:
1. Attempt to exit Studio by doing one of the following:
Figure 2.22 Try to exit the program by using the menu command.
Choose File > Exit (Figure 2.22).
Click the X icon in the upper-right corner of the screen (Figure 2.23). The dialog box shown in Figure 2.24 appears.
2. Do one of the following:
Figure 2.23 Or exit via the icon.
Click No. Studio exits. Click Cancel. You return to Studio.
Click Yes. The Save As dialog box opens.
Figure 2.24 Either way, Studio prompts you to save your project file. Studio can also automatically save your file at periodic intervals.
3. Find the desired folder and type the desired name. 4. Click Save. Studio saves the project file.
Studio can automatically save your file at selectable periodsa good insurance policy to protect against system crashes. The default Autosave interval is 180 seconds. For details on how to enable and configure this option, see Setting Default Durations in Chapter 2.

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Using Online Help
Studio includes extensive online help essentially a digital version of the product manual. Studio also provides tooltips, those little flags that explain an icons function when you hover over the icon with your cursor for a moment or two. If you find these irritating, Studio lets you disable them. In addition, Studio provides keyboard shortcuts for many common activities. In this book, I present the keyboard shortcuts that I find most useful; a list of all keyboard shortcuts can be found in Appendix A. Studio also offers an online list of shortcuts, which you can access as described in the following tasks.

Figure 2.25 Heres how you open Studios online Help screen.
To open Studios Help screen:

Do one of the following:

Press the F1 key. Click the Question Mark icon in the upper-right corner of the screen (see Figure 2.14).
Choose Help > Help Topics (Figure 2.25). Studios Help screen appears (Figure 2.26).
Figure 2.26 What you get is essentially an online version of the manual.

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To disable Studios tooltips:
Figure 2.27 If you find tooltips irritating, you can disable them.
Choose Help > Display Tool Tips (Figure 2.27). When you select Display Tool Tips, the check mark beside the Display Tool Tips menu item is removed (Figure 2.28). You can re-enable tooltips by selecting Display Tool Tips in the Help menu again.
To view Studios keyboard shortcuts:
With Studio Help open, select Keyboard Shortcuts at the bottom of the Contents menu. A list of keyboard shortcuts appears in the display window (Figure 2.29).
Now lets take a look at the steps you should take before starting your initial project.
Figure 2.28 Tooltips are disabled when the check mark is gone from the side of the menu item.
Figure 2.29 If youre a fan of keyboard shortcuts, Pinnacle makes them easy to learn by posting them online.

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Selecting Your Capture Drive
Most video old-timers use systems with two or more hard disk drives: one for the operating system and applications and one for captured video and project files. This model arose in the days of underpowered computers and cranky disk drives that were barely up to the task of capturing video. To capture effectively, you needed a separate, high-powered SCSI drive that cost thousands of dollars, required frequent defragmenting, and had to be dedicated to video capture. Things have changed since then. Most computers purchased since 2000 are more than capable of video capture and editing. Still, with 80-gigabyte (GB) drives costing well under $100, most video producers should consider purchasing a separate drive, especially for long projects or DVD production. Even if you use only one drive, you may want to create a separate folder for captured video and auxiliary files so that theyre easier to find during production and easier to delete when your project is done.
Figure 2.31 Click the yellow Folder icon to select your capture drive and folder.
Figure 2.30 Choose Setup > Capture Source to access disk selection and test settings.

To select your capture drive:
1. From the Studio menu, choose Setup > Capture Source (Figure 2.30). The Pinnacle Studio Setup Options dialog box appears, set to the Capture Source tab. 2. In the Data Rate box (at the lower right of the Pinnacle Studio Setup Options dialog box), click the yellow Folder icon (Figure 2.31). The Select Folder and Default Name for Captured Video dialog box appears.

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3. To change drives, click the Save In list box at the top of the screen (Figure 2.32). The list of available drives drops down. 4. Click to select the target drive (Figure 2.33).
Figure 2.32 Click the Save In list box to change capture drives.
Even if youre running a fast network at home, dont select a network drive as your capture disk. Performance is best with a local drive. If you have multiple drives, sometimes its helpful to label your capture drive Video Disk.
Figure 2.33 Select the target drive for your captured video.

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To create a new folder and name your clips:
1. At the top of the Select Folder and Default Name for Captured Video dialog box, click the yellow Folder icon to the right of the selected disk drive. When you hover the mouse over the icon, the Create New Folder tooltip appears (Figure 2.34). 2. Studio creates a new folder, which you can name at will (Figure 2.35). 3. If desired, type the name of the captured file in the File Name box. If you capture sequential files, Studio simply updates the file from Video 1 to Video 2, and so on.
Figure 2.34 Click the Create New Folder icon to create a new folder.
Figure 2.35 Give your folders descriptive names so that you can remember whats in them.
Dont stress about what to name your files at this point, as youll revisit this topic during the capture process. Try to make your folder names descriptive; otherwise, six months from now youll have trouble figuring out whats in them.

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Defragmenting Your Capture Drive
Although most current computers (that is, those manufactured from 2000 onward) have enough power to handle digital video capture and editing, Studio includes a performance test so that you can be sure your computer has what it takes. Run this test as soon as you install Studio to identify any problems that may prevent smooth operation. If youre using a disk that contains lots of data for your capture and edit drive, you should defragment the drive before performing this test. During normal disk operation, Windows copies and deletes files all over the drive, sometimes splitting up longer files when writing them to disk. Defragmenting the drive reunites

all file components and packs the files efficiently together on the drive, opening up large contiguous spaces for the performance test and video editing projects. The Windows Disk Defragmenter has a tool that lets you analyze the drive to see if it needs defragmenting. Well skip that test and defragment anyway, just to be sure your disk is in the optimal condition to take the performance test.
To defragment your capture drive:
1. From the Windows desktop, choose Start > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter (Figure 2.36). The Disk Defragmenter application window appears. continues on next page
Figure 2.36 The long and winding road to the Disk Defragmenter utility, a hard drives best friend.

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2. Choose the video capture disk by selecting it in the application window; then click the Defragment button (Figure 2.37). While youre waiting, go get a cup of coffee. Youre pretty much done, but if you care to watch, heres what you should be seeing: The program analyzes disk usage before defragmenting. Although you cant see it in the black-and-white screen shots, most of the small lines surrounded by white spaces are fragmented files that will be consolidated during the defragmentation process (Figure 2.38). In the defragmented disk, which is ready for testing, all files are consolidated and efficiently packed, leaving plenty of contiguous disk space (Figure 2.39).
Figure 2.37 Select your target drive and click the Defragment button to get started.
Depending on the size of the drive and how much data is on the disk, defragmenting can take anywhere from 30 seconds to several hours. Keep this in mind before starting this operation. Turn off all background programs and dont use the computer when youre defragmenting the drive. If any program writes data to disk while the system is defragmenting, the Disk Defragmenter may stop and then restart, extending the completion time significantly. Large files slow the disk defragmentation process. If you have large video files or other files on the capture drive that you dont need, delete them and any other extraneous files before defragmenting.
Figure 2.38 The Disk Defragmenter first analyzes your file and then starts to consolidate files, compacting them to the inner tracks of the drive.
Figure 2.39 The freshly defragmented disk has wide open spaces, perfect for efficient video capture.

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Testing Your Capture Drive
Now that your drive is freshly defragmented, lets see how it performs in the Pinnacle drive test. For perspective, keep in mind that DV streams from a camera at about 3.6 megabytes (MB) of video data per second. To successfully capture DV, a disk must be able to write, or store, at least 3.6 MB of data per second. To successfully transfer DV back to the camera, the disk must be able to read at least 3.6 MB of data per second. As youll see, the video disk on my HP xw4100 workstation can far exceed these requirements. In all likelihood, your computer will also pass this test with flying colors, but its better to test early to identify any problems than to experience balky operation during capture and editing.
Figure 2.40 Choose Setup > Capture Source to access Studios disk test utility.
To test your capture drive:
Figure 2.41 Click the Test Data Rate button in the lower-right corner to check disk performance.
1. From the Studio menu, choose Setup > Capture Source (Figure 2.40). The Pinnacle Studio Setup Options dialog box appears, set to the Capture Source tab. 2. Click the Test Data Rate button in the lower-right corner of the Capture Source tab (Figure 2.41). Studio starts the test, and the Data Rate Test dialog box appears (Figure 2.42). The test should take no longer than about 10 seconds, and then a Data Rate Test results screen appears (Figure 2.43). I passed! continues on next page
Figure 2.42 You should see this dialog box for 10 to 15 seconds.
Figure 2.43 Voil! I passed the test and am almost ready to get started.

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Studio lists these results on the Capture Source tab (Figure 2.44). You can retest at any time. For example, if you start experiencing dropped frames during capture or you cant write video back to the camera, retest and make sure that performance is up to par.
Figure 2.44 Studio notes the results in the Capture Source tabs Data Rate section.
Ive noticed big ranges in test rates when I test several times in sequence. So dont sweat itexpect some variance, and recognize that any score over 10,000 kilobytes per second (Kbyte/sec) should be fine.

To set the auxiliary file location:
1. From the Studio menu, choose Setup > Edit (see Figure 2.45). The Pinnacle Studio Setup Options dialog box appears (Figure 2.50). The Folder for Auxiliary Files section of the dialog box at the lower left contains a yellow Folder icon. continues on next page

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2. Click the yellow folder to open the Browse for Folder dialog box (Figure 2.51). 3. Click the desired drive and folder for your auxiliary files. Studio creates a separate directory structure off the selected drive and folder (Figure 2.52) and doesnt mix the files with your captured files.
According to the technical-support discussion forums at Pinnacles Web site, some users have experienced problems when changing the auxiliary file location in mid-project. At the very least, youll end up copying all auxiliary files from the old to the new location, which could be time consuming. At worstand this appears to be rareyoull corrupt your project file and have to start over. So make sure you have enough space before selecting the auxiliary file location.
Figure 2.51 Scroll down to choose the drive and folder for the auxiliary files.
Figure 2.52 Studio creates an entirely new folder for the auxiliary files and doesnt intermingle these files with those containing your captured video clips.

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About 16:9 Mode
The designation 16:9 is whats called an aspect ratio, which defines the relationship between horizontal and vertical display units in a display technology such as a television set. For example, all camcorders sold in the United States shoot in an aspect ratio of 4:3, because thats the aspect ratio most domestic television sets use to display video. In addition to supporting 4:3, most new DV camcorders also support the 16:9 aspect ratio. The 16:9 mode captures video in a widescreen format like that used in Hollywood movies, making it ideal if you have a widescreen television or high-definition television (HDTV) that supports widescreen footage. Check the documentation that came with your camcorder to learn how to enable and disable this shooting mode.

Studio and 16:9

Studio cant mix 16:9 and 4:3 video in a single project, and it assumes that the aspect ratio of the first video inserted into the project is the default mode. So if you capture in 16:9 mode in DV format, Studio should detect this and enter 16:9 mode automatically. However, if you capture in 16:9 mode using analog capture, or if you import 16:9 video into a project, Studio may not be able to recognize it as 16:9 footage. In these instances, you can trigger 16:9 mode by switching to 16:9 display mode in either the Capture Album or Edit Album. (For more information on switching to 16:9 views in the Capture Albums, see Chapters 3 and 4, Customizing Album Views. For more information on the Edit Album, see Working with the Albums Views and Tools in Chapter 6.) Note that Studio notifies you if you try to insert 4:3 footage into a 16:9 project, and vice versa, by displaying a status message like that in Figure 2.53. If Studio fails to produce this message and accepts the footage, the video using the mode that was loaded last will be distorted. For example, if you mistakenly loaded video using the 4:3 display mode into a 16:9 project and Studio accepts it, the 4:3 video will be distorted during rendering.
Figure 2.53 Studio shouldnt load non-widescreen (4:3) videos into a widescreen (16:9) project.
If youre using 16:9 footage, whether captured or imported, its good practice to use 16:9 display mode in the Edit Album. See Chapter 6, Working with the Albums Views and Tools. continues on next page

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About 16:9 Mode continued
Whens the Right Time for 16:9?
Before shooting in 16:9 format, consider where you and others will view your project. This format works best with older widescreen televisions and newer HDTVs. In addition, most software DVD players like Sonic Solutions CinePlayer and Intervideos WinDVD can play both 16:9 and 4:3 video. However, most standard TV sets (neither widescreen nor HDTV) will stretch the video vertically to full screen, distorting its appearance. Youll likely get similar results if you output your video to analog tape such as VHS. So while 16:9 may look great in your own living room, it might not look so great on grandmas older TV set, a definite factor to consider when choosing your shooting format. If youre unsure of the capabilities of the television or other device that will play your upcoming project, the best course is to test before shooting a major production. Shoot some video in 16:9 format and then capture and render to DVD, to tape, or to whatever format you intend to distribute. Make sure that the video is displayed correctly on your target device. Otherwise, you may be in for a nasty surprise when you show your video masterpiece.