Slideshow-1280x720 Maintaining aspect ratio

[Tebutum]

Description of problem or question:
Hi Video folk,

A very simple query and I apologise in advance for my ignorance.

Trying to compress a MacBook Apple Photos slideshow MP4.
No matter what I do in Handbrake I can’t seem to maintain the 1280x720 aspect.
Result is always cropped square at 720 x 720.

Source: Magnetic Island, 1280x720, 29.8569 FPS, 1 audio track
Being a slideshow it is VFR. The opening slide is cropped square though wider slides appear later.
The uncompressed video is 498MB and viewable on Vimeo here
https://vimeo.com/284852321

I do have the correct and latest version of Handbrake.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Tim



Steps to reproduce the problem (If Applicable):




HandBrake version (e.g., 1.0.0):
1.1.1



Operating system and version (e.g., Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Windows 10 Creators Update):
macOS 10.13 High Sierra


HandBrake Activity Log ***required*** (see How-to get an activity log)

Activity Log
https://pastebin.com/1qBhLZvV

Code: Select all

[BradleyS]

Log appears to have been removed from pastebin.

In HandBrake's preferences you can increase the number of image previews used to calculate cropping, say from 10 to 30. Even better, you can disable cropping altogether by setting all sides to zero on the video tab.

If neither of these solve your problem, we'll need another log to dive deeper.

[Tebutum]

Thanks - that works. Much appreciated.
A few further queries from my small brain.
a) I assume Anamorphic = "auto" in this case since this delivers 920x518 while "zero" results in 720x406?
b) Is the default preset "Fast 1080p30" with "web optimised" checked affirmative the best preset combo in this case for say Vimeo or FB given source in 30 FPS?
Many thanks, Tim

[mduell]

Without the required log we can't say what you should use for anamorphic or what you're doing wrong.

No, use the Vimeo YouTube presets.

[Tebutum]

Thank you. The simple solution offered in the first answer has worked brilliantly.
Apologies regarding the lost log pasting.