I did the BSG edits and I do apologize for the cropping that seems to be annoying so many. In another thread I stated that one of the reasons for the cropping is I used some footage from the movie release DVD of BSG which was cropped letterbox. However there was another reason which is involving the transfer from DVD to editable avi files. I was using DVD2AVI at first, but it kept cutting video from the transfers at the beginning. So I went another round about way of transcoding to xvid/divx then to an avi I could take into premiere. Keeping all the quality settings at max. However the divx "bug" would be imprinted on the video here and there and the letterboxing helped hide that.
So if anyone knows a better (and easy) way to transcode the VOB files to AVI DV files please let me know.
Also, as I composited some of the cgi the letterboxing came in handy there to allow some manipulation of where the elements enter and leave the screen. Not a major thing, but I did make use of it.
Hope the cgi did not jar too much with the original footage. Being the source was vhs (for Return of Starbuck) I tried to make it work with the quality of the source. I know I could have worked much more on getting everything more detailed and matching, but this was really a fun exercise for me that I hoped would be enjoyed by some fans out there. I am impressed with the level of detail and accuracy that other fan editors put into their work and I'll say now that I am not claiming to achieve that level. I take my hats off to you all and glad I was directed to your site. Looking forward to viewing some of your work. And it will make me step it up a bit if I ever decide to re-edit BSG-Saga of a Starworld.
Dave