How to convert 640x480 to 720x480 ?

[webstar]

i'm building a dvd in studio pro using a bunch of .mov files. they are all 720x480 NTSC, except one which is 640x480 NTSC (and therefore will not import).

i am not too technical but have tried converting the 640x480 to 720x480 with programmes like mpeg streamclip, but of course that stretches out the image horizontally.

the problematic clip will not import into compressor or final cut either (and i do not have QTPro). i don't why because the others are fine. they're all from the same source, though i noticed that the file type of the 640 clip is H246 whereas the others are listed as DV/DVCPRO NTSC.

can anyone help me fix this problem ? any advice much appreciated. thanks !

mark

[Frobozz]

Don't change the resolution; change the format. Export the movie as DV from Streamclip.

[jagabo]

You can't convert a 640x480 video to DV without converting the frame size to 720x480 (DV encoders won't accept a 640x480 frame). In any case, stretching to 720x480 is the probably what you want to do.

The 720x480 videos are probably 4:3 DAR (display aspect ratio) with non-square pixels. The 640x480 video is probably 4:3 DAR with square pixels. The proper way to convert a square pixel 640x480 image to 720x480 4:3 DAR is to stretch the picture to 704x480 then add 8 pixels of black to the left and right borders. You may find that just stretching the frame to 720x480 is close enough.

[webstar]

thanks very much for the advice. exporting to DV using streamclip did the trick and it looks ok in studio pro, if a little stretched (though not as stretched as it appeared in the streamclip conversion preview).

i did this before seeing the second post from jagabo, but will try that next time. how would i add the 8 pixels of black to left and right sides ?