Authoring&burning anamorphic widescreen- can it be done?

[redlester]

Not sure if this should be in capturing forum, but I'll try here.

I am on the verge of buying a new camcorder because my old one has no analogue input. I want to be able to do digital capture from my old VHS tapes to burn with my Sony DRU500.

I'm also keen, now that I have my DVD burner, to transfer my own camcorder movies to DVD.

Looking at the available camcorders, and in particular the JVC ones, I notice that they now seem on certain models to be able to record in anamorphic widescreen mode, which is great as I have a 16:9 TV.

My question relates to capturing, authoring and burning of anything shot in anamorphic format. Will it work? Will I be able to capture in 16:9 and burn to an anamorphic DVD that will play widescreen on my TV and ALSO will play letterboxed on a 4:3 TV - in the style of a commercially produced anamorphic disc?

When I capture the video, will I have to work with it in 4:3 "stretched" mode during editing, authoring etc. or does it depend on what capture card I get?

[Dragonsf]

I don't know about anamorphic DCR, but I presume, that the DV output will have a framesize of 720x576 (PAL) or 720x480 (NTSC).
If you capture at this size, you're lucky.This sort of avi can be converted into an anamorphic DVD using Tmpgenc or CCE.(There was a thread about this, how to set the bits in the encoder or using ifoedit).
Such authored DVDs can be played in letterbox (on 4:3 TV-sets) or in widescreen on 16:9.

[ktnwin]

Yes, I have done that. I video taped with my Dig8 Sony camcorder in the 16:9 mode, captured to DV AVI, do some editing then authored DVD.
In all steps, the software(s) behave like they are working with a normal DV AVI file (captured at 720x480). The only thing you need to care about is to set the DAR flag correctly in your autoring program to indicate 16:9 aspect ratio.
This way, the DVD disc will fit the wide screen TV and when played on a regular 4:3 TV, it will be squeezed vertically with black bars on top and bottom.

[Rogue3]

Yes, I have done that. I video taped with my Dig8 Sony camcorder in the 16:9 mode, captured to DV AVI, do some editing then authored DVD.
In all steps, the software(s) behave like they are working with a normal DV AVI file (captured at 720x480). The only thing you need to care about is to set the DAR flag correctly in your autoring program to indicate 16:9 aspect ratio.
This way, the DVD disc will fit the wide screen TV and when played on a regular 4:3 TV, it will be squeezed vertically with black bars on top and bottom.

I can second that, as I do this with my Sony Dig8 too. You capture and edit just like normal, the only thing you need to do is turn on the 16:9 flag in your authoring program (I use Maestro).