Black borders on clip

[Jeff930]

I am using Premiere Elements 2024 on an iMac.  I put the main video and audio on track 1.  I put another clip with a green screen on video track 2, and did a video merge to remove the green.  This worked perfectly.  The problem was, the effect was too large in relation to the main video.  I selected the added clip, and used the resize handles to reduce the size of it.  There were black borders (letterbox?) visible at the top and bottom of the added clip that were now visible in the video, a result of the sizing down.  Is there a way to get rid of these borders?

[Steve Grisetti]

There is a mismatch with at least one of your clips. Go to Premiere Elements' Edit menu and note what is says on the General page under Project Settings. 

Do you know the resolution of the two clips you're using to make your key effect? If not, you can use a program like MediaInfo (a free and valuable download) to see. 

[Jeff930]

Project Settings are 640 x 480.  The resolution of the main video is 464 x 256.  I did a freeze frame of the last frame of the video, and added a clip of that frame at the end of the main video on the same track. The resolution of the frame clip is 640 x 480.  Even though the aspect ratio changes from the main video to the frame clip, there is no change in appearance, which in itself I find curious.  Both have black borders at top and bottom, same size borders from main video to freeze frame clip.  I actually have 2 green screen clips on separate tracks.  Both start at the point where the freeze frame clip starts. Both green screen clips are 1920 x 1080 on the timeline. I say "on the timeline" because one of them is 2048 x 1080 when I look at its properties on the hard drive. I assume its resolution changed to 1920 x 1080 when I put it on the timeline?  Both green screen clips have black bars at top and bottom when I resize them down far enough to fit inside the main video.  I should mention that the main video and the freeze frame clip also have black bars at top and bottom.  Thanks for your help. 

[Steve Grisetti · Accepted solution]

Those non-standard resolutions are likely at the root of your problem, Jeff. Premiere Elements sticks with pretty standard resolutions and aspect ratios -- 16:9 and 4:3 -- although there are a few variations for social media sites in the newest incarnation of the program. I'm not sure it knows what to do with a 2048x1080 or a 464x256. So those clips are just not going to fill a standard size frame. Hence, letterboxing.

[Jeff930]

Steve, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to help me, and sharing your knowledge with me.  I understand what you're saying about standard resolutions and aspect ratios.  I see that the main video has a wacky resolution (464 x 256), and one of the green screen clips is weird too (2048 x 1080).  However, both green screen clips are letterboxing, including the one that's 1920 x 1080 even before it goes on the timeline.  However, I'm going to take a guess here.  Even though the one green screen clip is "normal" at 1920 x 1080, I'm mixing a lot of resolutions and aspect ratios in one project here, so I'm assuming Premiere is still letterboxing everything, even the 1920 x 1080 green screen clip, because of the "chaos and confusion".  Would you agree with that?  So my obvious next question is, is there a way for me to remove the letterboxing, at least on both green screen clips, so I can size them down to look good, and not have letterboxing in the video?  I'm prepared to lose some of the horizontal or vertical edges.

Thanks again for your assistance.

[Jeff930]

Steve, I think I've got it all solved.  I found a way to change all clips to 1920 x 1080 before importing them into the project.  All letterboxing is gone on all clips.  I can resize the green screen clips to my heart's content, and there are no black borders anywhere.  Thanks to your guidance and expertise, my issue is solved.  

[Steve Grisetti]

Great news, Jeff! Happy moviemaking!