How to...convert to letterbox format

[paull2k]

Hello, I have a couple of questions:
1) I was just wondering if anyone can tell me how I can convert my current video files to Letterbox format. How might I go about doing this?

2) Also, ChickenMan, a couple months ago when I posted here and asked how to make a menu for a VideoCD, ChickenMan, you told me to download a copy of TSCV, since that time I have been able to find a copy of it and have it on my d: drive, along with all my other video editing tools.

Now for the question about how to make a menu for a VideoCD, what is the best way to do this? The kind of menu I want is a menu that has a lot of still pictures on it, and you can map the image so different parts of the same image all link directly to different chapters throughout the video file. A lot of people have told me to use VCDEasy to do this task, but I have not had much luck with this, any help would very much be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ChickenMan]

Q1. What form are your "video files" in ? VCD? SVCD? DivX? and what are their sizes etc. A bit more info needed.

Q2. Waht you are trying to do is extremely advanced and I'm sure if it is at all possible with a VCD. The VCDEasy site has a Tute on how to use it for Menus. As for TSCV, I beleive doom9.net site has tutes on using it for Menus also.

The most advanced product for VCD Menus is the original Phillips VCD Tools. They are free but extremely difficult to find and use. But they may be able to do what you want to do, I doubt VCDEasy or TSCV can do what you want.

 

[paull2k]

In response to your first question, the original movie file was in Div3 format, I had to use bbMPEG to convert to MPEG-1, seeing as how in the movie, a few of the frames could be shown, but VirtualDub said they were corrupt, and had difficulty converting them to another file format. So I took the file, then converted to a standard MPEG-1 format in bbMPEG, then re-encoded them to PICVideo (MJPEG) format using VirtualDub. I did manage to Letterbox the video, I used the resize filter in VirtualDub, that seemed to work very well. The only thing is, I can't really read the subtitles very good anymore, seeing as the movie is Japanese in origin. The person made the subtitles too small to begin with, even when the movie was full screen. Is there some way I might go about fixing this?

 

[ChickenMan]

So your taken a DivX 3 avi, converted to MPEG1, then converted that to MJPEG. Two re-encodes loose a lot of quality from the origianl avi.

DVD2SVCD can convert your AVI directly to VCD (MPEG1) or to MPEG2 format and allow you to import a subtitle file as well as specify the font size to use. When you load the avi into dvd2svcd, set it up as required (read the dvd to VCD tutorial for help) and make sure Subtitles is enabled. Then as you hit the GO button, one of the options in the pop up window is to load an external subtitle file. Then continue and when the Subtitle window pops up, change the font size, etc to suit.

 

[paull2k]

ChickenMan, just one question for you, last night when I talked with you in #CDRSoft, on IRC, you said that I should get a Video Copy Enhancer to fix the problem, well I have one thing for you. I wasn't able to find very much information on the web about them at all, I do however think I found one at Maplin Electronics in the United Kingdom<--seems to be about the only country I can find that sells them online, AT ALL. Anyway, I was just wondering if this product here is indeed one or not http://www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=030503054616982&moduleno=29182&modulecode= . I hope so, cause that in US Dollars is about $64. Have you heard any good or bad things about that brand? Also, what was the brand name of the one you have again, I forgot it.