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The Daily Insight

What size are cinematic bars?

Author

Abigail Rogers

Updated on February 27, 2026

2.35:1
Simply put, letterboxes are small bars that you can apply to your footage to give them an irregular aspect ratio, while still retaining their 16:9 size. Letterboxes can crop footage shot in 16:9 to a more cinematic 2.35:1.

How do I find my cinematic aspect ratio?

How do you achieve the cinematic look of a wider aspect ratio, if you’re forced to shoot 16:9? The strategy is to shoot at 16:9, then crop the top and bottom of your footage in your editing software. There are several things you should take into account when cropping your 16:9 footage to a wider aspect ratio.

How to add black bars to video in Final Cut Pro?

This is the effect that will enable the black bars on your footage. Drag the effect to your timeline and onto your video clip (s). You will notice two black bars in Final Cut Pro eating at the top and bottom of your video right away. Let’s go over how to set your own custom aspect ratio.

What is the latest version of Final Cut Pro?

2. Redesigned from the ground up, Final Cut Pro combines revolutionary video editing with powerful media organization and incredible performance to let you create at the speed of thought. Latest Version: 10.5.4

How do I change the aspect ratio in Final Cut Pro?

Animate the Aspect Ratio with Keyframes Animate the aspect ratio of these Final Cut Pro black bars from the Letterbox effect tab. Click the diamond to add a keyframe found next to the Border Size options. Move your cursor toward the end of your video and add a keyframe at that point on the clip.

What is a Final Cut Pro letterbox?

In this tutorial, you’ll learn an important way to quickly give your video a cinematic look. That technique is called applying a Final Cut Pro letterbox. Letterboxing is the art of narrowing down an aspect ratio and giving your video a style of its very own! Basically, it’s adding those black bars you often see in other videos and films.