How to Transform Your Footage with Cinematic Bars in Easy Steps

Adding cinematic bars to your footage is an effective way to enhance its visual appeal and achieve a professional, widescreen look. This technique refines composition and adds black bars to create a dramatic effect that captures viewers' attention.

In this article, we'll guide you through the steps to transform your footage with cinematic bars using various user-friendly tools.

What are the black bars in movies called

The black bars in movies are called "letterbox bars" or "letterboxing." These are horizontal black bars added to the top and bottom of the screen when a film shot in a widescreen format is displayed on a narrower screen, such as a standard television or monitor. Letterboxing preserves the original aspect ratio of the film, ensuring that viewers see the entire image as intended by the director without any distortion or cropping.



Why are cinematic bars useful

Cinematic bars, also known as black bars or letterboxing, are helpful for several reasons that enhance the visual experience of videos. They can transform ordinary footage into something that feels more polished and professional.

1. Enhanced visual aesthetics
2. Cinematic bars help preserve a film's intended visual aesthetics, maintaining the original framing and composition designed by the director. It ensures that viewers experience the movie as the director envisioned it without losing visual detail.
3. Consistent viewing experience
4. Viewers can enjoy a consistent and authentic viewing experience across multiple devices and screen sizes using cinematic bars. This consistency is crucial for maintaining the film's narrative flow and visual impact.
5. Preservation of the original aspect ratio
6. Letterbox bars maintain the film's original aspect ratio, preventing any loss of image content through cropping. This preservation is important for films shot in widescreen formats, which rely on their aspect ratio for storytelling and visual impact.
7. Professional appearance
8. Cinematic bars give movies a professional and polished appearance, providing a more immersive and cinematic viewing experience. The professional look can enhance the perceived quality of the film, making it more engaging for the audience.
9. Improved focus

The black bars can help viewers focus more on the content by reducing distractions from the surrounding environment, enhancing the viewing experience. This focused viewing environment can lead to a deeper emotional connection with the film.

Top 6 ways to add black bars in a video

Black bars in videos help you achieve a cinematic look or maintain a specific aspect ratio. In this section, we'll explore the top tools for adding black bars when editing on a PC.

1. CapCut desktop video editor: Make every frame cinematic with ease

Adding cinematic bars in the CapCut desktop video editor is an effortless way to enhance your videos with a cinematic feel. With an intuitive interface and various advanced features, CapCut makes it easy to achieve stunning visual effects. Whether you're editing for social media, film projects, or personal content, this editor provides all basic and advanced tools to give your videos a professional look.

How to add borders on CapCut

To add cinematic bars, first download and install CapCut by clicking the button below. Once it is completed, follow these steps:

Step
1. Import the video
2. Start by opening the Capcut and creating a new project. Press "Import" and select the video file from your device. Drag and drop it into the timeline to add black bars.
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4. Add cinematic effects to the video
5. Once your video is in the timeline, navigate to the "Effects" tab, where you'll find various options for adding cinematic borders or black bars. Select the "Cinema" effect and drag it onto your video. You can also use the "Mirror" feature in the mask section under the video tab. Adjust the slider from top and bottom. Preview the changes in real time to ensure they meet your expectations.
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7. Export and share

After adding the cinematic effects, click the "Export" button to finalize your video. Choose the export settings, such as resolution, format, bitrate, etc, that best suit your needs You can save it for future use or share it across various social media channels.



Key features

Here are the key features of the CapCut desktop video editor:

• Overlay for precision
• CapCut's overlay feature allows users to layer multiple video clips or images with pinpoint accuracy. Such precision ensures the smooth integration of elements for a polished final product.
• Accurate resizing
• Use the video resizer tool to adjust the dimensions of their media with exact measurements. This functionality ensures that all visual components fit perfectly within the desired frame.
• Enhanced visual effects
• It offers diverse advanced visual effects and filters to enhance the look and feel of your videos. These effects can be easily settled and customized to suit your project's style and tone.
• Cinematic color grading

With CapCut's cinematic color grading, users can apply professional-grade color adjustments to their videos. This feature helps create a cohesive and visually appealing aesthetic that elevates production quality.

2. DaVinci Resolve

DaVinci Resolve is another video editing software with advanced color correction and post-production capabilities. Adding black bars in DaVinci Resolve is straightforward, utilizing its precise cropping tools. The software lets you fine-tune the black bars' dimensions to match your project's needs.

How to add a film bar with DaVinci Resolve

Follow these steps to add cinematic black bars to your project:

Step
1. Install the DaVinci Resolve, open your project, and go to the edit page.
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2. Select the scene you want to add film bars to.
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3. Open the Inspector panel and scroll to the "Cropping" section.
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4. Adjust the "Crop Top" and "Crop Bottom" sliders to create the desired film bar effect.
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5. Fine-tune the cropping until you achieve the preferred cinematic look.
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Key features

• Professional color grading
• Renowned for its advanced color grading capabilities, DaVinci Resolve provides unparalleled control over video aesthetics and ensures that your videos maintain a high-quality look.
• Adjustment clips
• Use Adjustment Clips to add black bars, ensuring precise and customizable framing for various aspect ratios. This allows for greater flexibility in editing and styling your videos.
• Fusion integration
• Smoothly integrates with fusion for advanced visual effects and compositing, enabling you to create intricate visual enhancements.
• Multi-user collaboration
• It supports collaborative workflows, allowing many users to work on the same project together and enhancing team productivity.
• High-performance playback

It offers high-performance playback and rendering, making it suitable for complex projects without sacrificing speed or quality.

3. Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro is a video editing software that professionals use because of its robust and versatile features. It provides a comprehensive suite of video editing, color correction, audio editing, and more tools. One widespread use is adding cinematic bars to Premiere Pro to videos, giving them a widescreen, professional look.

How to add a black bars movie with Adobe Premiere Pro

Here is how to put cinematic bars in Premiere Pro:

Step
1. Open your project in Adobe Premiere Pro and navigate to the Timeline panel.
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2. Go to "File > New > Adjustment Layer" to create a new adjustment layer.
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3. Drag the adjustment layer onto the track above your video in the timeline.
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4. Go to the "Effects" panel, search "Crop," and apply it to the adjustment layer.
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5. In the "Effect Controls" panel, adjust the "Top" and "Bottom" crop values to create black bars.
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Key features

• Crop effect
• Add black bars using the Crop effect. This feature allows precise adjustments to frame your video perfectly, providing a straightforward method to achieve the cinematic look.
• Extensive toolset
• It features a comprehensive set of tools for editing, color correction, and audio enhancement for beginners and professionals. The robust toolset ensures that all aspects of video production are covered.
• Integration with Adobe Suite
• Smoothly integrates with other Adobe products like After Effects and Photoshop, facilitating a smooth workflow across different editing stages.
• Customizable workspaces
• It allows users to customize their workspaces to fit their editing needs, enhancing efficiency and comfort. This adaptability makes it easier to navigate the software and focus on specific tasks without distractions.
• Advanced audio editing

Provides advanced audio editing tools, enabling precise control over soundtracks and audio effects. This feature ensures that the audio quality perfectly matches the high standards of the visual content.

4. Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is a video production application for Mac users known for its powerful performance and advanced features. Adding black bars to Final Cut Pro involves using the Letterbox effect, which is simple to apply and customize. The software offers various aspect ratios and fine-tuning options to perfect the cinematic look.

How to add cinematic black bars in Final Cut Pro

Here is how to add cinematic bars in Final Cut Pro:

Step
1. Open your project in Final Cut Pro and go to the Timeline.
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2. Click on the "Effects Browser" and search for the "Letterbox" effect.
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3. Drag the "Letterbox" effect onto your video clip in the timeline.
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4. In the "Inspector" panel, adjust the "Aspect Ratio" to achieve the desired black bar size.
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5. Customize additional settings such as "Offset" to perfect the cinematic appearance.
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Key features

• Color grading tools
• It offers advanced color grading tools like color wheels, color curves, and keyframes, which enable precise color adjustments and help achieve the desired look for your video.
• Magnetic timeline
• The Magnetic Timeline allows for intuitive and efficient video editing, automatically snapping clips into place for smooth transitions.
• Optimized for mac
• Optimized for macOS, Final Cut Pro offers exceptional performance and speed, especially on Apple’s latest hardware.
• 360° video editing
• It supports 360° video editing, allowing you to create immersive video experiences. This feature is crucial for projects requiring a comprehensive and engaging viewer experience.
• Multicam editing

It provides multicam editing, simultaneously synchronizing and editing footage from multiple camera angles.

5. Filmora

Filmora is accessible and feature-rich video editing software ideal for beginners and experienced users. Adding black bars in Filmora is simple: apply the "Cinema Scope" effect from the "Effects" library. The software provides easy-to-use tools for adjusting the size and position of the black bars.

How to add cinematic bars in Filmora

Follow these steps to add film bars:

Step
1. Download and install Flimora on your device. Open your project in it and import your video.
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2. Add the video clip to the timeline for editing.
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3. Click on "Effects" at the top and search for "Frame."
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4. Drag the "Cinema Scope" effect onto your video clip in the timeline.
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5. Adjust the effect settings to achieve the desired cinematic bars.
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Key features

• Preset templates
• It provides diverse preset templates and effects that can be easily utilized in your videos, saving time and effort. These templates help quickly achieve professional-quality results.
• Motion tracking
• It includes motion tracking capabilities, allowing you to track the moving objects in your video and apply effects or text that follow the motion.
• Screen recording
• It offers built-in screen recording, making capturing and editing screen activity for tutorials, presentations, or gaming videos easy.
• 4K support
• Supports 4K video editing, ensuring your projects maintain high resolution and clarity. This is essential for creating modern, high-definition content.
• Audio equalizer

Features an audio equalizer that allows you to fine-tune the sound quality of your videos, enhancing the overall audio experience. This tool helps ensure that your audio is as polished as your visuals.

6. Clipchamp

Clipchamp is a browser-based video editor accessible to users of all levels. Adding black bars in Clipchamp involves using the "Crop and Rotate" feature, which allows you to adjust the aspect ratio and framing to include black bars. While it offers a range of basic to advanced editing tools, its cloud-based nature makes it easy to access and edit videos from any device.

How to add a cinematic format with Clipchamp

Step
1. Open your project in Clipchamp and import your video clip.
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2. Drag the desired video to the timeline.
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3. Click the "Stock images" on the left and select the "Cinematic" filter in the overlays.
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4. Apply the filter to your video clip on the timeline.
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5. Adjust the filter settings to refine the black bar effect and achieve the desired cinematic format.
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Key features

• Built-In stock library
• It offers a built-in stock library with various video, audio, and image assets you can use in your projects. This feature provides valuable resources to enhance your videos without additional costs.
• Template library
• It provides various customizable templates for different video types, including social media posts, advertisements, and presentations. By utilizing these templates, users can create professional-looking videos quickly.
• Simple interface
• It features a simple, intuitive interface designed for editors to use easily. This user-friendly design streamlines the editing process and minimizes the learning curve.
• Real-time collaboration
• Supports real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same project. This feature is advantageous for team projects and remote work.
• Cloud storage integration

It smoothly integrates with cloud storage services, enabling you to save and access your creation from anywhere. This integration ensures that your work is always backed up and easily accessible.

Conclusion

In conclusion, cinematic bars are good for enhancing the visual appeal and professional quality of your videos. They draw viewer attention, improve visual composition, and impart a cinematic feel to your content. While various tools can add these effects, the CapCut desktop video editor is the best choice. It offers a user-friendly platform equipped with precise tools and advanced features, making it easy to apply cinematic bars and make other creative edits to enhance your video content.

FAQs

1. Can I add cinematic bars to a video for free?
2. You can add cinematic bars to a video for free using editing software like Filmora, Final Cut Pro, CapCut, etc. However, the CapCut desktop video editor offers a user-friendly interface and precise tools to apply black bars effortlessly. This feature is accessible without cost, making it an excellent option for those looking to enhance their videos on a budget. Additionally, CapCut provides other advanced editing features to refine your content further.
3. What settings are best for black bars for movies?
4. The most commonly used aspect ratio for movies is 2.35:1 or 2.39:1, which creates the classic widescreen look. In the CapCut desktop video editor, you can easily achieve this by adjusting the crop settings to add black bars at the top and bottom of the frame. This setting provides a cinematic feel and enhances the overall visual impact of the movie.
5. Is it necessary to add cinematic bars to a video for a professional appearance?
6. While adding cinematic bars can enhance the visual appeal and give a video a professional look, it is only sometimes necessary. The CapCut desktop video editor offers various tools and effects that can also contribute to a high-quality appearance without the need for black bars. The decision to use cinematic bars depends on the style and mood you want to convey in your video.