MiniDV to DVD to .wmv Aspect Ratio Playback Problems

[2therock]

I use my Panasonic PV-GS500 MiniDV camcorder to capture in 16.9 and burn it to a DVD via a home DVD burner. It plays back on the burner or another home DVD player to 42" plasma TV fine.

But playing back to a PC with the PC burner/player, or as an executed file it squeezes in the sides a bit.

Converting to .wmv does the same.

How do I get it to play back on a PC in wide screen aspect ratio.

Thanks

[jagabo]

I suspect you made a 4:3 DVD but you have your DVD player or TV set to stretch 4:3 to 16:9 while watching. Tell the player on your PC to stretch to 16:9.

[edDV]

Many if not most DVD recorders default to 4:3 lacking settings to flag the DVD as wide (16:9). This isn't an issue with the video, just the flag. In the past I've used software to correct the flag. I think the program was DVDifo but others will have more up to date recommendations. You would need to re-burn the DVD but not re-encode.

Alternately many DVD players have ability to play a 4:3 (horizontally squeezed) disc when set to wide. Others lack this ability.

[nic2k4]

I get that too with a Sony DVD camcorder. Even though it is set to record in 16:9 it really records in 4:3 and like edDV said, all you have to do is set the flag in the IFO. Why can't they just do it so it works like it's supposed is beyond me. Jagabo is probably right, your player and TV settings probably compensate and hide the problem. All I do is change the AR flag with IFOedit after authoring the disc. If you have a mix of AR on a disc, be careful to pick the IFO that belongs to the movie you need to fix.

[2therock]

Thanks Guys, I believe my mystery is solved.

I have an older RCA DRC8060N burner. It must be the culprit. As I said before the problem only shows on a PC, not when played back on a home type player.

So..... I have downloaded IFOedit. I will have to read up on it (its late) and I am green to this. I would like to ask about,

"Changing the AR flag with IFOedit after authoring the disc".
By authoring the disc, do you mean after you burn it you change the flag with IFOedit before closing the session?
Do I burn the disc in the home player but not close the session, then pull the disc and put it in the PC drive and open IFOedit and go in and change the flag? Then somehow close the session?

Thanks!

[edDV]

Sorry I forgot the correct name of IFOedit. I only know how to do this by extracting the finalized disc on a PC, changing the flag, then re-burning. Others may have a different way.

[nic2k4]

Authoring is laying out your video footage and creating menus for a DVD. I take home movies from a camcorder copy them to a PC and make DVD's with fancy menus. My program outputs all the files for that DVD onto the HDD, then I open the IFO's in IFOedit and fix the flags and save the results. After that, I burn the DVD using software like IMGburn or Nero.

Since you burn with a recorder, it "authors" the menus for you; you just get a generic menu. For you to fix the flags, you first must rip the DVD to your PC with DVDDecrypter (for the error handling). Open the IFO's that need fixing in IFOedit; you would look for files like Vts_01_0.ifo. You should leave Video_ts.ifo alone, that one usually is for the menu.

The first thing you see when you open an IFO is the general file attributes in the bottom window. Look for title set movie attributes and just double click the text on the video line, a panel will open with all the settings you can change. Don't forget to hit save and repeat if there are other files to fix. When all is well, burn a new DVD using your program's DVD Video template.

You can see that the way you generate DVD's is not very efficient. You could improve things by using a re-writeable in the first place or don't record in 16:9. Better would be to get a firewire card for your PC, they're really cheap, like $10 and some editing software. There are some nice free programs you can use, but they tend to be harder to learn. The entry level version of commercial software like Adobe Premiere Elements or Sony Vegas movie studio cost about $80, but can be had on sale for a lot less. You may already have software, if you got NeroVision Express as part of your DVD burner bundle. There are others, sometimes even cheaper. You just need to look for software that can capture and edit DV video.

[2therock]

Mercy! And Thanks,

I do have a firewire card on the PC but just need a cable. I take it the firewire advantage will allow me to skip the camcorder to home DVD transfer and just firewire it to the optical drive?

I really appreciate the guiding hands I'm getting here. I am in a time sensitive situation where presentation to a client is paramount. The reason I went to the home DVD unit is because anything I did in on the PC strips the "Time Stamp" from the play back. I must have the time stamp and proper aspect ratio.

I use windows movie maker and the aspect is good but no time stamp. Argh! Does it get erased or is there a flag I can edit to get it back?

Thanks Again.

[2therock]

Me Again, I have been looking around in the programs suggested here and am amazed of the control I can access. I am just orientating my self to the look and feel of the programs and reading.

I wanted to ask if time stamp flags are in the grasp of these programs. Can they be flagged on or off. MS Movie & DVD Maker strips it out.

[nic2k4]

Since I'm using a DVD camera, I'm not sure what goes on with DV timestamp; with DVD, it's recorded as a subtitle. Best would be to start a new thread and ask which DV capture and editing program preserves timestamp for display.

[2therock]

OK, I am getting ahead of myself on the date stamp, sorry.

I need do some help on the original issue. I have read a few googled pages on how to do this but the terminology gets above me and I get some errors. Hang with my guys. I build my own PC's and it will click, I just need some nudging along. This is brand new to me.

1. I use DVDdecrypter to strip off the DVD to a folder I created named "VIDEO_TS". Then close Decrypter.
2. I open Ifoedit and go to the the folder and look at "Vts_01_0.ifo." Sure enough it is flagged in 4:3.
3. There is only one title set. I changed the 4:3 to 16:9 and checked the Auto Pan & Scan and Auto Letterbox.
4. When I save it comes up with an error "There's something wrong! The IFO Endsector does not match the file size."
5. I do an ok and get by that and get the "Save as a BUP?" And I choose yes.
6. I get the same file size mismatch message. I do an ok and get by it.
7. I can play it with Ifoedit but don't know how to burn it to a DVD now. I have DeepBurner Pro.
8. When I play it in Ifoedit I get a "No valid DVD-Video volume could be located. Do you still want to continue? I choose yes and she plays.

I have never worked with ISO or Image files. Am I getting close?

[2therock]

OK Guys,

My perseverance paid off. I am a private investigator and we are a very diligent kind of people. To keep the client happy and coming back my vids have to be displayed correctly, include the time stamp, an not be so shakey they puke when they view them.

Enter myself moving into a MiniDV camcorder and finding out MiniDV to DVD or HDD is NOT a plug and play experience when it comes to viewing them on a variety of display devices in the correct aspect ratio.
HDD, or flash drive camcorders are not an option in my state as the videos are not court admissible when transferred. A HDD camcorder can be held by the court as long as 5 years. A flash drive chip is not cost effective enough for that yet either. But you can submit a $2.25 MiniDV tape as is.

So, I get this camcorder and run into my dilemma. I came here and got the push I needed.

My workflow:

1. XFR tape to set top DVD burner. (To save the time stamp)
2. Open and rip the files to a new folder created and named VIDEO_TS with DVDdecrypter.
3. Open the VTS_01_0.IFO with IFoEdit and edit anything in there that says 4:3 to 16:9 and and putting a check in the Auto Pan & Scan and Auto Letterbox settings.
4. Open the VTS_TS.IFO file and doing the same.
5. Save.
6. Shut IFoEdit down and reopen.
7. At the bottom chose Disc Image.
8. Browse it to the folder containing the folders created by DVDdecrypter. There are two fiolders there. VIDEO_RM & VIDEO_TS.
9. Double click on the VIDEO_RM folder and get a box to browse for a place to output to that also allows for a name change and a Volume label entry field as well.
10. Choose "Create Image and it shoots it to the chosen folder.
11. Shut down IFoEdit and open DVDdecrypter.
12. Choose "Mode" and make sure I have the ISO/Write mode in place.
13. Browse to the image file I just created in the top field and make sure my DVD optical drive is selected in the lower field.
14. Execute the burn. BAM!

I could not have came close if it were not for you guys.

[nic2k4]

When I save it comes up with an error "There's something wrong! The IFO Endsector does not match the file size."

First thing you should do after starting IFOedit is click open and load Video_ts.ifo, then click the Get VTS Sectors button. That should fix the IFO's. Close IFOedit and re-open it to edit the AR flag. Creating the ISO image file with IFOedit is one way to do it. It does some error correction in the process, but you could save some time by not doing that since the Get VTS Sectors button already fixed the IFO's. You would just burn the files directly with IMGburn using the DVD video template.

I'm not sure if it's a typo, but you realize that iin your description you're working on files in the VIDEO_TS folder and creating the image file with files from the VIDEO_RM folder?. Just to be safe, after you're done ripping the dvd, delete the VIDEO_RM folder. That's a different format, you should use the files in the VIDEO_TS folder.

[2therock]

[QUOTE=nic2k4;2001105]

When I save it comes up with an error "There's something wrong! The IFO Endsector does not match the file size."

First thing you should do after starting IFOedit is click open and load Video_ts.ifo, then click the Get VTS Sectors button. That should fix the IFO's. Close IFOedit and re-open it to edit the AR flag. Creating the ISO image file with IFOedit is one way to do it. It does some error correction in the process, but you could save some time by not doing that since the Get VTS Sectors button already fixed the IFO's. You would just burn the files directly with IMGburn using the DVD video template.

I hear you. I'll be looking at that. IMGburn looks identical to DVDdecrypters burner but I see no DVD Template. Are they one in the same?

I'm not sure if it's a typo, but you realize that iin your description you're working on files in the VIDEO_TS folder and creating the image file with files from the VIDEO_RM folder?. Just to be safe, after you're done ripping the dvd, delete the VIDEO_RM folder. That's a different format, you should use the files in the VIDEO_TS folder.

Not a type-o. In my experimentation when I got to the IMGburn stage to choose what to burn the RM folder was on top so I started with it in order to remember to try the next one in the event it failed. It worked so I did not return to that point and try the TS folder but now I will.

[nic2k4]

Sorry haven't used IMGburn in a while, for some reason I thought there were templates. Anyway, click the write files/folders to disc button, add the VIDEO_TS folder, then click the mode tab and set the file system to UDF and on the device tab set the write speed to 4x.For a video DVD to work the IFO and VOB files must be in a folder with the name VIDEO_TS and the file system is UDF. Using a slower recording speed ensures your video will play without stutters.

What machine did you test your disc in? The files in the VIDEO_RM folder shouldn't work on a regular player. It's strange you didn't edit those files and they would show with the correct AR.

The 2 programs look alike because they're made by the same guy.

[2therock]

I have a Liteon LH-20A1L in my home built PC Vista 64bit.
I have an RCA DRC8060N DVR set top. A cheap-o I got from WalMart that (a few years ago) everyone on other forums were saying was the poor mans DVR. It has been great. s-video XFR files even look fine. Can't wait for the firewire look.

I even took the DVD to a neighbors to play just in case and it works.

Thanks