how do I enhance a dvd for widescreen tvs?

[ArtOfLosingMFZB]

I have a DVD that is widescreen but it isn't Enhanced for Widescreen tvs. How do I go about Enhancing it? If possible, I would like to make it enhanced, and then put it right back in with the original DVD menus. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[MovieDud]

@ArtOfLosingMFZB,
Hello my friend. I had several non-anamorphic dvds that I didn't want to replace with the new anamorphic dvds so I used Dvd Rebuilder which allows you to take a non-anamorphic 4:3 letterbox and convert it to anamorphic (enhanced for 16X9). It looks better on my 55 inch Mitsubishi Widescreen (16X9) HDTV than if I zoom the picture. If you use Rebuilder the process will be found in the advanced features. I use the Pro version and it is found in advanced features under the options tab and then in the sub group of AVS Expert Options ( Convert from LB 4:3 to 16X9). After you have placed the video files on HD open them with Rebuilder and then go to options - AVS Expert options - 4:3-16:9 then go to the main screen and hit backup...that's it. If you need anything else just let me know.
MovieDud

[MovieDud]

Quick thought...don't forget to use the Menus and movie option as well. I usually only do movie only, but I haven't had any problems using the Menus and Movie options, even when converting from 4:3 to 16:9.
MovieDud

[ArtOfLosingMFZB]

Alright great, thanks! That sounds like a very simple way to go about this, I'll definately give it a try. Quick question tho, can I rip the DVD to my HD using DVD Decrypter and can I edit from the ISO or do I have to get VOB files?

[MovieDud]

I believe that vob files is the only way. I actually use Shrink or Reocde 2 to elimanate credits so that rebuilder is processing credits, but when credits are not an issue then I use Decrypter or Dvd Fab Decrypter...all work welll with Rebuilder. I will have Rebuilder create an Iso image along with video files that I will burn with ImgBurn or decrypter. rebuilder is not set up so that it can burn the iso image automatically with Imgburn.
MovieDud

[ArtOfLosingMFZB]

alright i tried this twice and each time I went to convert the video to widescreen and it did absolutely nothing. didn't convert the video at all. what possible things went wrong? And is there another way to do this? I just want to crop the video and make it anamorphic, with no video compression at all. Any other programs that will let me do this?

[guns1inger]

Does DVD Rebuilder (freeware) do this, or only the Pro version ?

[Cornucopia]

...I just want to crop the video and make it anamorphic, with no video compression at all...

Those are mutually exclusive. If you do things like cropping the video, you MUST re-encode! If you're going to re-encode, during the encoding is when you set the AR

Let's say you want to go from a widescreen 16:9 DVD that is actually LB 4:3 720x480.
You would:
Crop 60 pixels off top and bottom to make 720x360.
Resize back to 720x480 (you'll probably have to deinterlace as well here).
Set encode to 720x480 16:9 AR...
Then author as 16:9 Auto, 16:9 LB, or 16:9 PS (not 4:3). (I prefer the 1st 2).

Scott

[ArtOfLosingMFZB]

alright, I got it figured out with using the HC converter. And it worked....mostly. What happened was it cropped most of it but this particular DVD contains some "interleaving" so for some reason it didn't crop the interloven parts. any idea how to fix this?

[FulciLives]

alright, I got it figured out with using the HC converter. And it worked....mostly. What happened was it cropped most of it but this particular DVD contains some "interleaving" so for some reason it didn't crop the interloven parts. any idea how to fix this?

Do you mean that the DVD is INTERLACED and not PROGRESSIVE ???

One has to be VERY carefull how you crop and resize INTERLACED video.

I would crop first then ...

You need to separate the fields ... resize ... then weave the fields back together.

This is best done with AviSynth but can be done with VirtualDubMod.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[ArtOfLosingMFZB]

...damn. I'm not that experienced. Am I pretty much screwed in terms of an easy way to do this?

EDIT: And no, I don't think INTERLACED is what I'm trying to explain. Here is the situation for this particular DVD. There is an English and Japanese language track. When you play the English track, the opening and end credits are redone and alternate English versions are shown. But if you choose the Japanese audio, than the original Japanese credits show. Look at it as two different Angles, because that what it shows up as on DVD Decrypter (and in DVD-Rebuilder it says "Mulitiple angles or interleaving detected"). So at the beginning and end, nothing got cropped because of these two different angles. Any solutions?

[FulciLives]

...damn. I'm not that experienced. Am I pretty much screwed in terms of an easy way to do this?

EDIT: And no, I don't think INTERLACED is what I'm trying to explain. Here is the situation for this particular DVD. There is an English and Japanese language track. When you play the English track, the opening and end credits are redone and alternate English versions are shown. But if you choose the Japanese audio, than the original Japanese credits show. Look at it as two different Angles, because that what it shows up as on DVD Decrypter (and in DVD-Rebuilder it says "Mulitiple angles or interleaving detected"). So at the beginning and end, nothing got cropped because of these two different angles. Any solutions?

I've never had to deal with a multi-angle movie like this one but I think if you rip it with DVD Decrypter in IFO mode you should be able to select the version you want meaning it should give you the whole movie (with opening and ending credits) but you have to pick if you want the Japanese or English version for the credits as you will only get one or the other.

Might want to check our GUIDES section as their might be a guide on ripping a multi-angle movie there.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[ArtOfLosingMFZB]

ok thanks, i'll try that. quick question though, do you think that if I got CinemaCraft encoder and used that instead of HC that it would fix this problem or is it just a problem with DVD-Rebuilder?

[guns1inger]

It is an issue with the complexity of branching DVDs and trying to disassemble and re-assemble them correctly. Does it really matter which set of credits you have ?

[FulciLives]

ok thanks, i'll try that. quick question though, do you think that if I got CinemaCraft encoder and used that instead of HC that it would fix this problem or is it just a problem with DVD-Rebuilder?

I don't see how the problem could have been the encoder.

The problem rather had to do with the way the DVD was ripped and/or "processed" afterwards. I've never used DVD-Rebuilder so I don't know what it does or rather how it does what it does.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[manono]

You need the Pro version of DVD-RB for it to handle Angles/ILVU properly. I don't think he said, but I don't guess he's using the Pro version, and that's most likely the reason why the Angles parts didn't get cropped and resized for 16:9.

[ArtOfLosingMFZB]

yeah, you're right. I'm not using the Pro version. I'll have to get the Pro sometime today and try encoding again tonight. You'd think they'd mention that it won't crop those Angles/ILVU sections properly unless you have the Pro version and that seems like a weird thing to exclude from the Freeware. Oh well, thanks for all the help. It's greatly appreciated and I'll check back to confirm if it worked or not.

[manono]

...and that seems like a weird thing to exclude from the Freeware.

Ahh, but there you're wrong. Being able to keep the angles is incredibly difficult, and the Pro version of DVD-RB is just about the only app that can do it easily. But as guns1inger suggested, if you don't need the angles, strip them out, and create a 1-angle DVD using the regular free version of DVD-RB. If it's a Japanese film, you want to watch it in Japanese with English subs anyway, don't you?

[ArtOfLosingMFZB]

If it's a Japanese film, you want to watch it in Japanese with English subs anyway, don't you?

correct. but i won't have to choose because DVD-RB Pro worked like....a pro! Great program, I'm glad I got it. Thanks for all the help and for future reference, if anyone has a similar question or problem like mine in the future, then now we know what works! thanks again.