divx 512x384 best to encode to 720x480 or 352x240 for dvd ?

[MIKEMAN]

is a divx file that is 512x384 best to encode to 720x480 or 352x240(or 480) for dvd authoring?
and if 720x480 how do i avoid any stetching plz?
thx!
by best i mean video quality btw

[guns1inger]

Personally, I would go to 720 x 480, but I would use virtualdubmod to resize, add letterbox borders and apply an unsharpen mask to bring back some of the details. I would then frameserve to CCE and encode. I certainly would not drop back to VCD res, although half-D1 is definately an option.

Check out the download in my sig for resizing and a brief set of instructions on using virtualdub to do it successfully. If you are comfortable with avisynth, try FitCD - it will generate a script for you as well.

[DRP]

The "best" option (and what I do) would be to create a DVD-SVCD and do the encoding at 480x480 encode. That of course will require a DVD player that doesn't mind that resolution on DVD disc. Fortunately both of mine have no issue playing DVD-SVCD discs. You might wanna test your player out with that format - you could get lucky and find that it plays them just fine in which case you can save yourself a lot of work.

2guns1inger: If you choose to go bigger than smaller, why wouldn't you choose 704 instead of 720? Afterall 704/656 (after overscan letterboxing) is closer than 720/672. The only reason I know of for using 720 is when you want to use 16:9 DAR which in this case you clearly wouldn't want to do since the source is 4:3.

[MIKEMAN]

the problem is its about 60 small divx files, so the v-dub mod thing might take too long. i know my dvd player doesnt read dvd svcd. and im not sure what u mean by 704/656 . whats the 656 all about pls?
im still kind of a novice but is there a way to add letterbox and therefore not have to do too much against the original 576x360 or whatever the res was?
if that makes any sense. one other thing i'd like to know is if i have a divx with a 576x360 with 600kb/s (which is what most of these files are around)
what data rate should i use when encoding?if the divx is 600kb/s would i set the output mpg to be 600kb/s? or more if i went to 704x480 res?
thx a lot again guys.

[hwoodwar]

I would go with half D1. Half D1 (352x480 NTSC) is a legitimate resolution for all DVD players and is the closest "legitimate DVD resolution" to the original. Avoiding stretching would depend on what mpeg encoding software you are using. With TMPGEnc I just set the Video Arrange Method to Center (keep aspect ratio).

[DRP]

the problem is its about 60 small divx files, so the v-dub mod thing might take too long.

Join the 60 files together with Easy Video Joiner or similar first. Then you're only processing one file instead of many.

i know my dvd player doesnt read dvd svcd. and im not sure what u mean by 704/656 . whats the 656 all about pls?

I'm assuming you'll be wanting to watch the end result DVD on a conventional CRT television. Those sort of screens overscan a lot. That means the picture continues past the edges behind the plastic trim of the set where you can't see it. This means you are always missing out on seeing some of the picture around the edges. SONY televisions seem to overscan the most from my experience. By adding a black border to your encode you can ensure that the bit lost in the overscan is only useless black border thereby leaving you to see the full picture frame as was intended.

The 656 is the inner frame size you would use for an overall outer encode size of 704. ie. the black border you create is 24 pixels wide on the vertical sides.

im still kind of a novice but is there a way to add letterbox and therefore not have to do too much against the original 576x360 or whatever the res was?

In TMPGEnc you simply encode with Centre (custom size) setting. In this case without DVD-SVCD playability, I would choose CVD resolution and use a frame size of 352x480 with an inner letterboxing frame size of 328x448 for your 512x384 input.

if that makes any sense. one other thing i'd like to know is if i have a divx with a 576x360 with 600kb/s (which is what most of these files are around)
what data rate should i use when encoding?if the divx is 600kb/s would i set the output mpg to be 600kb/s? or more if i went to 704x480 res?
thx a lot again guys.

It isn't related to the bitrate of the input file at all. The only considerations when deciding upon a suitable MPEG bitrate are video duration and resolution. For VCD (352x240) keep the bitrate between 1150 and 1856kbps. For CVD (352x480), keep it between 1600 and 2500. For SVCD (480x480) keep it above 2000 and below 2500 for CD-R or 4000 for DVD-R. For DVD resolutions like 704/720x480 you'll need at least 2500 up to 4000 for an AVI input like what you're describing here. AVI inputs generally don't improve at all with bitrates above 4000 on DVD, so don't bother unless you just wanna fill the space on the disc.

[Stormin Norman]

Why not just add borders with Avisynth, and keep the same resolution.

you can go like this in your script if you wanna keep same resolution.

AVISource("C:\avi")
AddBorders( 104,48,104,48 )

Then load the script into ur favorite encoder of choice. You'll prolly have a black border but resolution will be the same.

[iThinkYouBrokeIt]

I would use 720x480, and though it will be stretched, the stretch really isn't that bad. Especially when viewed on a television, it would not be noticeable.
If you were concerned about overscan, then you can either do center - keep aspect ratio as others suggested.
or, you can do center - custom size and set to 648x432 (which is 90% horizontal and 90% vertical because overscan, on average, cuts off 10% of the image)

I personally would do that last option. it seems like it would be the best resolution setting.
As for the bitrate, just use the highest bitrate you can while not running out of disc space