Aspect Ratio Question

K

Kryptic7

1
Why are there two aspect ratio settings in TMPGEnc and what do they do? There is a "Source Aspect Ratio" setting under the Advanced Tab. This is pretty easy to understand. Simply select the aspect ratio of the source video. However, according to the tutorials, you must use this option to convert from widescreen to full screen. My question is this: what does the aspect ratio setting under the Video tab control?

I ripped a DVD that was in 16:9 format. This is what I did: I selected 16:9 Display under the Source Aspect Ratio setting in the Advanced Tab. Is this correct? What is the difference between display and say 525 line NTSC? Then I also selected 16:9 under the Aspect Ratio under the Video tab. I'm pretty sure there was a mistake made. Any help? Thanks in advance.

Mike
 
S

shadoe_phantom

1
ok will try to answer this as best as I can (cause a little confused reading your questions lol).
Source is obviously from the source you're getting from the video, however it isn't always as it seems.
I have had a few DVDs that appear to be 16:9 but when running it on DVD2AVI it clearly shows it is actually 4:3 (even though it looks like a widescreen movie with black bars on top & bottom).
The tutorials doesn't say to use this option to convert from widescreen to full screen, unless you want to do that by cropping the top/bottom & sides (for regular TVs 4:3), though on my regular TV set, I still prefer to have the black bars on top & bottom.
Now the aspect ratio settings under Video tab, are for how you want yours to come out. If you want to change the output that is. But you also have to change the framerate.
This is usually used if say you have a different format or something & you want to convert it into something else (PAL to NTSC). Though doesn't always turn out to be the best. However for the most part, if on NTSC, the settings in the video tab should be 4:3 529 lines (cause this is standard for most TV sets & gives overall best quality of line resolution for your final VCD) & 29.97FPS.
This is because from the source aspect ratio, TMPGenc will compensate or adjust the right settings needed from 16:9 to 4:3 as final end product (cause it will still look the same in the end, when you use the templates).
lol kinda confusing myself, & perhaps not the best way of explaining this lol. Anyhow, if this doesn't fully answer your questions or confuses you even more, drop another line. Will try to simplify it or give better response. Am sure ChickenMan will add/correct anything I just said.
 
K

Kryptic7

1
I too like to have the letterboxes on top and on bottom. What confuses me is this: why do I select a 4:3 ratio under the Video tab and 16:9 under the Advanced tab. Like I said, I understand the Advanced part. Obviously I have to select the aspect ratio that the DVD is in. However, why then don't I select 16:9 under the Video tab? I want to still preserve the widescreen so shouldn't I simply choose this as this is what I want it to be? However, when I do this the final result is not correct. However, selecting 4:3 525 line preserves the 16:9 ratio? Do you see how I am confused?
 
ChickenMan

ChickenMan

1
You are obviously not loading in a TMPGEnc Template, as they do not allow you to alter the Aspect Ratio unfer the Video Tab (greyed out). That is the aspect ratio of the final VCD, ALL VCD's must be 4:3 in final mpg else it isnt a VCD. The final dimensions of the pic are 352x288 PAL or 352x240 NTSC or FILM, fixed, no argument, no compremise, not alteration, chiseled in stone! 352:288 is 4:3 (NTSC, well thats another story !)

The Aspect ratio in the Advanced Tad is simple the Source Aspect Ration, with the main word being SOURCE. All new and most DVD's are in the 16:9 format, even if the film is 2.3:1, as all that means is its a 16:9 with black bars top and bottom. Then when a 16:9 movie is displayed on a 4:3 screen, further black lines are added to keep the aspect ration correct.

I hope I havent confused you further, Cheers.
 
K

Kryptic7

1
One more thing...

Ok, so I burned an SVCD with chapters using "Sefy's Guide" at w*w.vcdhelp.com I used the following programs:

SmartRipper
DVD2AVI
TMPGEnc
ChaperXtractor
TSCV

However, when I burned the SVCD, I only wanted it on two discs and not on three so I used a bitrate calculator to calculate how many kbps I would have to make the video in order for it to fit snugly into two CD's. So I did a two-pass VBR with an average bitrate of 1600 kbps and a max of 2500 kbps (the min I kept at 0). Again, I used the SVCD template for NTSC. So I encoded, added the chapters, and burned to a disc. However, when I play it back on my DVD player, the video seems shaky. I don't want to say choppy but it is kind of there. Anyways, are there any reasons this could be? Is it because I went BELOW the standard for SVCD? Shoud I have gone ABOVE the standard for VCD? Thanks in advance...

Mike

PS. I also played it on a friends DVD player and it also played "shaky" as he says. When I play it on the computer using PowerDVD, it will play just fine.
 
ChickenMan

ChickenMan

1
DVD players all vary in their ability to play back SVCD's, many dont at all. I would suggest lowering the MAX bit rate down to 2300 leaving all the others unaltered.

I aslo assume your NOT converting NTSC to PAL or vice versa. If you do, it will always be jerky.

Just do a small 10min part of a movie (use Source Range in TMPGEnc to mark out 5min) and burn to CDRW to test it before taking the bull by the horns!
 
R

rumzeiss

1
Kryptic7

that shit happens when you set a wrong "field operation" in dvd2avi; especially coding interlaced movies. i had sort of kind of probs by converting b5 movies to svcd.

if you have used "film" there and got such effects then try "none" for ntsc, et vice versa. you must of course stay conform to it in tmpg.

the bit rate as mentioned by c. depends on your dvd player. if it is full svcd compliant you shouldn't have any probs on playing the full bit rate. just check it out. personally i got a samsung and so i can play with the bitrate as i wish to.

what i found out is that the most problems are caused by converiting interlaced movies. some of them can be converted interlaced some got to be deinterlaced e.g. star trek tng in pal. and some just have to be pulled down. but anyway you have to test much to find the right way for your movies. there is no recipe for that. have fun on playin' mate.

/rumzeiss
 
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K

Kryptic7

1
Rumzeiss, I too have a Samsung. Model M301 to be exact. I'll try messing around with the video a bit like you guys said. That is what I should have done before encoding a whole movie. Oh well. You live and learn.

Mike
 
K

Kryptic7

1
Well, I've been doing my homework and reading up at w*w.vcdhelp.com. Apparently, I had done a framerate conversion without even knowing it.

In the DVD2AVI window, I thought that the framerate indicated in the stats windows was the framerate of the movie. Turns out I was way wrong! I did a preview of the DVD in DVD2AVI and under FPS it read around 22-24 frames per second. So, obviously, the movie was in NTSC Film format. So I saved it and used the normal NTSC template in TMPGEnc, giving me the messed up video I had.

So, I went back and selected "force film" under DVD2AVI and used the correct template for the movie. I encoded a small sample of the movie and it worked flawlessly. No more shaking!

Mike

PS: chickenman, I was told a little rumor and maybe you can help me out. I was told that the majority of DVD's in the US are in NTSC Film format. Is this true? I know that you don't live in the US but I know that you have a lot of experience with movies so maybe you can answer that.
 
ChickenMan

ChickenMan

1
Yes Mike most of the R1 DVD's are actually 23.976 FILM rather than 29.97 NTSC. I've even found the odd R4 at 23.975 NTSCfilm format rather than PAL !

The reason being the original film was recorded at 24 fps, so why change it.

When you run DVD2AVI, load vob's in and then hit F5, let it run for a while and if its > 95% FILM then as your done, tick Force Film and then load in the NTSCFilm Template in TMPGEnc. I updated my Tutorial a few days back and that point was emphasised a bit more.
 
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