Wrong aspect ratio in Premiere Elements 13 and 2018

[Ferro1945]

In PAL DV AVI files imported from 8 mm tape videos with Sony video camcorder the file metadata says that the pixels are 720x576. Actually they are 768x576, and so the aspect ratio is correct, 4:3. When imported in a Premiere Elements project, they are, however 788x576. And when the edited file is exported in PAL DV mode they remain the same. So every video is 20 pixels too wide. If I export in HD mode the exported file is 1280x720 as it should, but the video content width in the frame is 984 pixels, not 960 as it should be. So the actual content is 24 pixels too wide. I read about the Interpretation Rules.txt file that PE should use in determining the width of the file, and changed it, but it had no effect. So when I use PE in editing, I need to shrink the exported PAL SD video with another application to 768x576. And I cannot export HD videos at all. Is there a way in PE to overcome these problems?

[Ann Bens]

788x576 means the pixel aspect ratio is 1.0.

Right click on clip in project assets > Interprete footage and set the pixel aspect ratio to dv pal 1.0940.

See if that will set thing straight.

My advice is not to export to HD but let the player handle the upscaling.

[Ferro1945]

Hi Ann,

and thanks for the fast answer. I already use DV PAL pixel aspect ratio. If I change it to square pixels. the black background remains 788 x 576, but the actual video shrinks to 720 x 576.

The reason why I like to export also to HD is that in some cases the TV settings may broaden the SD file to fill the whole screen. Of course SD format is better in use with computers etc.

[Ann Bens]

4:3 SD file will never fill a 16:9 screen: if it does its either zoomed in or distorted.

[Jaclou]

Hi Ferro. There is obviously a problem in the way Premiere Elements handles different video file format. It seems that some have been forgottent. I use the 2019 version and I could not succeed by any means to export correctly my files. Mine were PAL DV AVI imported from a Sony cam; they are orifginally 768x576 (ratio 1.33 = 4:3) but they are imported in PE as 720x576 (ration 1.25 = 5:4) ! I also tried to play w the footage but without any satisfying result; I always end up with some black bars on top or laterally. :(( I know, my contrib does not help.

[Ann Bens]

they are orifginally 768x576 (ratio 1.33 = 4:3) but they are imported in PE as 720x576 (ration 1.25 = 5:4)

That is correct.

I always end up with some black bars on top or laterally

Might not have set the correct project settings or export settings.

Adobe change the Pixel aspect ratio some years ago.

It use to be: 1.0666 and 1.422 now its 1.0940 and 1.4587 hence the black stripes.

If you want to make it fit you need to uncheck the scale and manually adjust.

[Jaclou]

Thank you Ann for your reply.

I finally found a solution not by changing the pixel size but in the "Personalized" section (I'm unsure oof the exact name of this section in english). I just built a personnal config taking the mp4 HD720 as a model. In the advanced tab I just changed the H and W values and the aspect to D1/DVPAL 1,094 ... ans it seems that does the job.