Letterbox resolution

[Jola]

Hi

I have converted an avi to dvd which had a resolution of 640 x 272. The result is a letterbox with 2" black bars at the top and bottom when viewed on a widescreen TV. This produces a slightly squashed effect.
Is this normal and if it is can it be converted to a larger picture?
Thx

 

[dreadycarpenter]

Hi

I have converted an avi to dvd which had a resolution of 640 x 272. The result is a letterbox with 2" black bars at the top and bottom when viewed on a widescreen TV. This produces a slightly squashed effect.
Is this normal and if it is can it be converted to a larger picture?
Thx

what did you use to encode to mpeg2?? most encoders choose there way to crop and resize, not always the best way, if you are using an encoder that supports AVS script like..TMPNGEnc or QuEnc then i suggest using FitCD.... good luck

 

[Jola]

Hi and thanks for the reply.
I used Cucusoft (lazy version) which generally does things ok but not on this occasion. I tried with NeoDVD, which is fast and good but it only encodes to or from 720x576 which results in tall thin characters. I tried Chickenmans tutorials but all the downloads required are newer versions than the tutorial and it's difficult to do the tute.
Neo say reformat to 720x576 before you start but I can't find an app which will do this.
Must be a way surely?
Cheers
Jola

 

[celtic_druid]

Well 640x272 is 2.35:1 and you should have black bars even on a widescreen TV.

As suggested by dreadycarpenter, resize with AVISynth.

 

[ChickenMan]

..... I tried Chickenmans tutorials but all the downloads required are newer versions than the tutorial and it's difficult to do the tute....

The Tute currently reads:-

1. DivX Codec 5.1.1 or later ( d/l from http://www.divx.com )
and Xvid Codec, the latest version ( d/l from http://roeder.goe.net/~koepi/xvid.shtml or http://nic.dnsalias.com/ )
2. AC3Filter - AC3 codec ( d/l from http://ac3filter.sourceforge.net/ )
3. DVD2SVCD 1.2.1 Build 3 or later ( d/l from http://www.dvd2svcd.org )
4. Cinema Craft Encoder 2.50 ONLY! ( d/l demo from http://www.doom9.net/ - the demo includes a Watermark in the finale encode)
5. TMPGenc DVD Author 1.5.20.62 or later ( d/l demo from http://www.pegasys-inc.com/e_main.html )
6. Nero 5.5.10.54 or later. I do NOT recommend ver 6.0.x ( d/l latest fully functional demo from http://www.ahead.de )

Where are newer versions than those listed above ? The only one is Nero as they just issued 5.5.10.56 a couple of weeks back. Identical featurs just some bug fixes and new recorders supported.

Maybe you have an old copy of the Tute, it does get updated regularly.

 

[Jola]

Thanks all for the replies.
CM - I guess you're right, The tute I followed was pre December 2003. I'll try this when I've freed some space.
Celtic Druid - In the meantime what resolution should I change it to in AVISynth?
Sorry but I don't know what resolutions relate to what.
Thx
Jola

 

[celtic_druid]

Well assuming that is PAL and you want to encode as 4:3 (no real point in 16:9 as the vertical res is already gone).

Resize to 704x320 and then add borders to fill to 720x576. If you did go for 16:9 then then you would have a greater vertical res, which would be great if your source wasn't only 272 pixels.

Keep in mind that the video will look wrong as it is being displayed 1:1. Not as bad as if it were 16:9 though.

Should also point out that the reason for resizing to 704 and not 720 is to take into account a TV's overscan which will hide the edges of a movie. This way it hides the black.

One last thing as already suggested FitCD can do the resizing, etc. for you.

 

[Jola]

Thank you very much for trying to help.
Problem is, I dont understand a word of it!
I've got AVISynth and I've managed to write a script of my avi which opens in Virtual Dub - why when it's only 1mb?
Is there a step by step tutorial for noggins on how to resize using AVISynth.
Sorry but this is way beyond me at this stage
Thx

 

[dreadycarpenter]

avi synth is a "frame server" it uses a scrypt file that is associated with the .avi, it has nearly unlimited abilities... such as cropping, resizing, adding borders and so on. you can learn all about it here.. www.avisynth.org
for the easy way use FitCD..in the mpeg resizing section open the .avi file set destination as dvd, leave everything else the way it sets it up.... "then save scrypt"
open TMPGEnc Wizard, choose DVD NTSC/PAL, open the scrypt file for your video>> and encode.... good luck

 

[celtic_druid]

1MB script? That would be some serious scripting.

As said (3 times now) a front end like fitCD should help make the process easier. AVISynth does come with some really nice docs too though. Take a look at the script fitCD generates though, it will probably give you more of an idea how it works.

 

[Jola]

Thx
I did what you said Mr Dreadycarpenter and everything seemed to convert ok (that's all I needed - some base line help for the novice - thx) and then I didn't know what to do with the result. In fear of being reminded of how many times I had been told this, I started to experiment and found that DVDlab would do the jobby. I then burnt with Nero and the result is exactly the same - letterbox!
I can copy the Fitcd screenshot if you wish but everything pointed to 720 x 576. It dvd views ok on 4.3 but it is like the size of a portable tv. It did that before anyway.
Can you think of anything I may have done wrong? I would just like to fill the screen.
Regards
Jola

 

[celtic_druid]

As I said the source is 2.35:1 and therefor supposed to be letterboxed even on a widescreen TV. If you want to fill the screen you either need to stretch the video or crop some of the sides off.

 

[Jola]

Tanks very much for your help.
In the end I reconverted using CM's tute and the result was perfectly ok.Maybe should have done hat in the first place!

Jola