Question about 16:9 footage

[netBEUI]

I checked the FAQ and couldn't find an answer to this.

I have 16:9 footage from a Canon DV Camera (sorry, don't know the model number because it came from a friend's camera). I am 99.9% sure the footage isn't TRUE 16:9, it's probably just matted on the top and bottom. I don't have the original footage, only these WMV's that my friend captured with Movie Maker, although I could probably get the original miniDV tape from him if I had to.

When I view these WMV's they looked stretched top to bottom, eg - everyone looks tall and skinny... Anyway, can someone tell me how I make it look normal. I have Vegas Video, After Effects and various other software at my disposal and I am fairly computer literate. Do I only need to convert to a specific frame format or is there something else that I have to do? When I right-click and view the properties for any of these WMV's the current format is 720x480.

[thecoalman]

That is the way 16:9 is recorded to take advantage of the full 720x480 resolution. There's a flag in the video to specify the aspect whether it be 16:9 or 4:3, a standalone DVD player or the software your using to play the video will adjust it to the correct aspect.

But......I've tried to figure out how to set the 16:9 flag in windows media encoder but can't seem to figure it out... Not a problem for me because any WMV's I create are for the web anyway so I adjust them to the correct dimesion.

Anyhow, perhaps someone else knows how to set the flag as that would be the best solution. One thing to note, if your going to use these videos to convert for playback on DVD get the original tapes and avoid WMV.

[netBEUI]

Does anyone know what I need to do to display the video properly? Do I shrink it down manually and if so by how much? Is there a template in TMPEGENC that I should be using? Are there any specific tools or guides that anyone can suggest?

[chaseru]

I've got a Canon Optura Pi, which can shoot in 16:9 mode. I believe it provides an anamorphic 16:9 mode. The original file will look stretched vertically when it is played back normally.

I edit the file with Virtualdub and frameserve to TMPGEnc normally. When you author a DVD you have to tell the authoring software that the source is 16:9. If you do, it will show with black bars on a 4:3 TV and fill the screen on a 16:9 TV. I have been shooting my home videos 16:9 and with the Optura Pi's progressive scan feature for a year or so, since I will be playing the videos back on 16:9 TVs for know on.

[ofbarea]

When I view these WMV's they looked stretched top to bottom, eg - everyone looks tall and skinny... Anyway, can someone tell me how I make it look normal. I have Vegas Video, After Effects and various other software at my disposal and I am fairly computer literate. Do I only need to convert to a specific frame format or is there something else that I have to do? When I right-click and view the properties for any of these WMV's the current format is 720x480.

If you only need these files for computer screen playback, deinterlace the video and resize it from 720x480 to 720x360.

[FulciLives]

You mentioned using TMPGEnc so I am assuming you intend to convert this to MPEG-2 DVD format?

If so use the 16x9 WS template in TMPGEnc and all will be fine although truth be told you really should go back to the source and have your friend capture to DV AVI format and not WMV format. You will get better quality in the end but beware that DV AVI format is something like 13GB to 14GB per 60 minutes of footage. So either borrow the cam and do the DV AVI capture yourself or have your friend do it and borrow it on an external HDD (if one of you have an external HDD).

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Cornucopia]

To Make a 16:9 flagged WMV:

• [Properties]
  [Compression] TAB
  [Edit] Button
  .....[General] TAB
  .....[Allow non-square pixel output] Checkbox : Check it
  [Video Size] TAB
  [Pixel Aspect Ratio] Dropdown
  .....Choose DV NTSC 4:3, DV NTSC 16:9, Anamorphic, etc.

Play around with segments to find out what looks right...

Caveat: Some option combinations give errors like "not supported by that codec", then you must restart the app/session from scratch.

Scott