Stretched Video Fix

[Field_Marshal_Mouse]

Hello.. I hope Im posting this in the right place.. I came here trying to find an answer to this prob on the forums but couldnt find one.
I hope this fix hasnt been posted before, & if it has, sry for reposting it (cuz I sure as heck couldnt find it anywhere else lol)
Lastly, Im sure its only a matter of time before this thread gets laughed at by all the experts lol.
I hope that this is of some help to somebody out there



Problem: AVI -> MPEG DVD Encoding / DVD Burning - Movies are stretched out (vertically).

Solution:

Tools I Used:
- GSpot v2.21
- Mainconcept MPEG Encoder
- NeroVision or Ulead DVD Movie Factory 3

Steps:

- Open your .avi in GSpot. Make note of the dimensions of the movie (Aspect Ratio). For my example, Im converting Signs, which is 576x304 (1.89:1) [=36:19]. 576x304 is the info. we need to know here to move on to the next step.

- Now, grab a piece of paper lol. A little bit of simple math in this step.
- The orig. avi file is 576x304, and DVD's (for some reason) only like 720x480, so after you encode & burn the movie, it will be stretched out, unless we do something about it.
- We're going to change the dimensions of the movie.
- Here are the formula(e) to use: width ÷ 720 = A . In my case, that is 576 ÷ 720 = 0.8
- Then: height ÷ A . Which for me is 304 ÷ 0.8 = 380
- Our new dimensions for the movie are now 720x380
- Good idea -> write down the new dimensions


- Open MPEG Encoder & load your .avi movie.
- Set it up like you usually would. I use DVD / Program (Video+Audio) / NTSC / LPCM (I use LPCM for no particular reason.. lol. Any suggestions here?)
- Click the 'Details' button, then the 'Crop & Scale' button.
- On the right-hand side of the Crop & Scale window, goto the Scale area, unclick the 'Keep proportions' checkbox, then enter the new dimensions we got in the last step, into the appropriate areas. (Note that they put Height before Width.. took me a few times through to realize that lol.. make sure you put your numbers in the right place)
- Now just push OK, OK, YES, OK, OK, OK, etc.. until you are back to the main window hehe.
- Now make whatever changes or settings you usually do, then you're ready to go.

When the avi comes out the other end, the finished MPEG will be 720x480. Your actual movie will be the same size (or slightly larger), but will have a black bar above & below it. So it will look (depending on the dimensions) slightly 'letterbox' style, and NOT stretched


P.S. All typo's are intentional. Your results may vary. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. Use at your own risk. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No animals were mistreated or abused in posting this thread. Batteries not included. Keep away from fire, open flames, and pregnant women. Driver does not carry cash. hehe

[flaninacupboard]

glad to see you're thinking about this, but your maths is all a little out of whack while your source .avi is 1:1 in terms of aspect ratio, your final MPEG will be either 4:3 or 16:9. it also depends if you're doing NTSC or PAL. your movie (576x304) should be 720x542 for 16:9 PAL (that's 1024 / 1.89) 720x406 for 4:3 PAL (that's 768 / 1.89) 720x452 for 16:9 NTSC (that's 854 / 1.89) and 720x338 for 4:3 NTSC (that's 640 / 1.89).

Let's not go into 704x and 352x

[Roderz]

The height you want is going to be 538 (pal) or 448 (NTSC)
Check out the link in my sig for more info

BTW when entering a new value in the crop and scale box - if you type the number in (as opposed to using the slider or spin controls) and just press OK - mainconcept will forget the new setting
to get round this little bug type in the number then press the TAB key (notice the slider jumps) then press OK.

edit
the reason mine and flaninacupboard figures differ is just down to the amount of decimal places you use. using nine decimal places would give 540 (pal) or 450 (ntsc) all figs are for 16:9 AR

[Field_Marshal_Mouse]

Thanks for your suggestions & input guys .. lol, like I said, Im a total noob at DVD stuff.. (I can build you a computer, blindfolded, but this is still new to me lol).
I'd be surprised if my math *wasnt* out of whack lol.. but all I know is that my dvd's are no longer stretched .. in this case, the end does justify the means lol.

ty again you two!

[FulciLives]

FitCD is a freeware program that will help you to resize video files such as going from DivX/Xvid AVI files to VCD or SVCD or DVD etc.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman