Changing Stretch Mode

The Stretch Mode feature lets you preserve or change the original aspect ratio of your video source. You may choose from 4 different options that subtly change the size and appearance of your video onscreen. To change the stretch mode of a video source, select one or more video source and select Stretch Mode from the Edit Menu.

Stretch Modes

The four types of stretch modes are

Stretch

This option stretches the video to fit the current dimensions. Video Edit Magic changes the aspect ratio as well as the screen size of the video as found necessary. If there is a huge variance between the original size of the video and the dimensions that you have defined for it in the project, then heavy distortion will occur. It is best to avoid using this option unless there is not much difference between the original dimensions and the dimensions defined by you. This is the default stretch type used by Video Edit Magic.

Keep original dimension

This option preserves the original size AND aspect ratio of the video. If any of the original dimensions are smaller, black bands appear and if any of the original dimensions are larger, then the image is cropped near the edges along the opposite dimension.

Preserve Aspect Ratio

This option preserves the aspect ratio of the original file and zooms the video NEGATIVELY (zooms out) so that the video image fits the screen perfectly without any stretching. However, there will be 2 black bands at opposite edges of the picture in the X or the Y dimension, whichever is smaller than the defined dimension, by a lesser margin. For example if the screen size that you have defined is 320 x 240 and if the original dimensions of the video are 318 x 230, this option will cause black bands to appear in the X axis because the difference between the original and defined X dimension is not as great as the difference between the original and defined Y dimension.

Stretch while Preserving Aspect Ratio

Choosing this option zooms the video POSITIVELY (zooms in) so that it fits the screen perfectly without any stretching. However a part of the picture may be cropped in either the X or the Y dimension. For example if the screen size that you have defined is 320 x 240 and if the original dimensions of the video are 318 x 230, this option will zoom the video so that the smaller dimension (Y in this case which is smaller than the defined Y dimension by 10 pixels). However, since the original aspect ratio is maintained while zooming the smaller dimension to the desired pixel size, some part of the larger dimension (in this case X which is smaller only by 2 pixels) will be lost. This option is advisable if the clarity of the picture is more important than the contents near the edges of the frame.

Applying Stretch Mode

Stretch mode can be applied to sources in the timeline by selecting one of the three options from Apply Mode To

Selected Source (s)

If this option is selected then the selected stretch mode is applied to all selected sources.

Selected Track

If this option is selected then the selected stretch mode is applied to all the sources in the selected video track. Selected video sources in tracks that are not selected remain unaffected.

Track with Selected Source (s)

If this option is selected then the selected stretch mode is applied to all the sources in all video tracks that have at least one selected video source.