How to 'un-squeeze' video to normal size - cropping, etc...pls help!

[rairjordan]

Hi there,

I have used KeepVid to download this file to my computer (it's a basketball clip):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRitGWfMGvs

You'll see, that the video is 'squeezed' into the middle of the screen, with clear black bars / borders either side. I have tried using VirtualDub 'resize' and / or cropping buttons (via filters) and had some luck getting rid of the huge left and right black borders - but the video remained squeezed when I watched the output file.

I would like to know if there is any way possible to make this file "normal" again, and stretch it back to a normal aspect ratio or size, if you know what I mean?

Thanks for any / all advice here, this is really bugging me! I love my Jordan clips, this would make my year!

Kind regards,

rairjordan

[jagabo]

I VirtualDub first Add the Null Transform filter. Apply cropping to that to remove the black bars. Then Add the Resize filter. Disable the Aspect Ratio setting then resize to whatever size you want.

[rairjordan]

I VirtualDub first Add the Null Transform filter. Apply cropping to that to remove the black bars. Then Add the Resize filter. Disable the Aspect Ratio setting then resize to whatever size you want.

Jagabo,

Thanks for the info - that seems to have (mostly) done the trick, however, now I am getting problems playing the output file - the sound is pretty much spot on, the video size has become 'normal', but the footage is either way slower than the audio, is greyed out / blurry or completely unwatchable (or a combination of all, some of those scenarios) - not sure what I have done wrong...

Can you please direct me to the most reliable version / codec info for MP4 files with VirtualDub? I have version 1.8.6 and I extracted a file named:

Quicktime_VD_v0.2.0.0_bin

that I copied into the 'plugin' directory within VirtualDub. I converted the above (my first post) YouTube clip using 'Keepvid' to the higher quality setting (MP4)...

One more thing - I would like to make the output file similar in size (around 45MB), so what are the ideal settings for this within VirtualDub? I am selecting DivX 6.8.5 Codec...I want an AVI file to be the end result, from this MP4 I am trying to 'correct'...

Any further help would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance...

[jagabo]

The MP4 (Quicktime) source filter doesn't work very well. I downloaded your video and saw the same problems. You should try using AviDemux instead. It can read the file without resorting any plugins or extra decoders. With AviDemux:

1) Open the MP4 file.

2) In the Video pulldown select MPEG-4 ASP (Xvid4). The default options are probably about what you'll want to use. I got a 45MB file using these instructions.

3) Press the Video Filters button. Add the Crop filter. For some reason it only allows you to crop 99 pixels off each side but you need to crop 108. So use two Crop filters to crop a total of about 108 lines off each side. I crop 54 off each side with the first, and 54 more off each side with the second.

4) Add the Resize filter to the size you want -- I used 480x360.

5) Back at the main window, in the Audio pulldown select MP3 (LAME). Press configure to pick a bitrate -- I used 128 kbps CBR.

6) Select File -> Save -> Save Video.

[rairjordan]

Fantastic! Thanks so much for your assistance jagabo - you are a champion and have made my year...I can now amend these files to suit my own needs.

Again, thanks a million - Merry Christmas to you...