Anamorphic production **need advice**

[drewzor]

Hello all, My DV camera records anamorphic 720x576 dvsd interlaced Pal. Its been some time now but I have managed to grasp conversion for my pc. Now here is my next questions.

1)How do I burn anamorphic material ... as 4:3 or 16:9
2)How can i produce anamorphic material from non-anamorphic sources
3)Finally what software should i use to make sterio to 5.1 AND create alternative sound tracks on dvd.

I'm sorry if this question has been asked before, I have looked through the forum and have found reference to VI-5.1 converter and Avi-Mux, however, the explinations and conclusion were not definative.

Thank you for your help.
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[guns1inger]

1. 16:9 - that's what it is if it is recorded as true anamorphic DV

2. You have two choices for existing 4:3 footage. Method 1: You can crop 72 pixels from the top and 72 from the bottom, then resize back to 576. This will give you footage that can be encoded as 16:9 for correct playback. This is best done in an editor that allows you to pan the original image with keyframes so you can keep the action within the non-cropped area. Otherwise you risk chopping off head etc.
Method 2 : Pillarbox the original 4:3 within a 16:9 frame with black vertical bars either side. You don't have to crop the image, however it won't blend as well if edited into 16:9 material

3. VI is probably the easiest method I have seen. I wrote a guide for it a while back -> https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=292142 using Sound Forge and Vegas. Ideally you still need a multi-track editor capable of 5.1 output. If you want to create the mix from scratch then you definately need a multi-track editor, preferably with the ability to pan across the whole sound field. Vegas is particularly good at this.

For alternative audio tracks - say a commentary - any audio editor will do. You are better off recording to a seperate device, like a mini-disc recorder or similar - then transfering it to the PC. Edit and encode.

Finally, you need an authoring tool that allows multiple audio tracks per title - DVD Lab Pro or DVD Workshop 2 can do this.

Taking any stereo track and trying to convert it to 5.1 isn't easy. You have to set your expectations to a realistic level. The best you can really hope to achieve is to create an ambience in the surround fields, rather than a truely dynamic surround experience. If that is what you want, you have to do it the old fashioned way - edit, pan and mix.

[drewzor]

Great! thank you for a very clear explination. I was going for a surround sound style like just playing the track to rear channels (as well as front) when something in particular happens. kinda like stereo but front and rear..

Isn't 720x576 anamorphic 5:4 ??? it plays back as 16:9 768x432 however.

Could you please suggest software suitable to shift image keyframes or are you talking about the motion and position settings like in premiere?

Thanks again Guns1inger

[guns1inger]

I don't use Premiere, but that sounds about right. In Vegas it is called Pan and Crop.

Don't get confused when watching video back on your PC. The PC has square pixels - the Pixel Aspect Ratio (PAR) is 1:1. For TV playback the PAR varies depending on format and Display Aspect Ratio (DAR). So PAL 4:3 has a different PAR to PAL 16:9, which is different again to NTSC 4:3, which is different to NTSC 16:9

For the DV, the aspect ratio is 720 x 576 (PAL), regardless of whether or not it is 4:3 or 16:9.

[drewzor]

Forgive my stupidness,, I'm really confused know as what to burn my dvd for playback on tv?
I understand the 1.1 square pixel and non square pixel on televisions, it was one of my first hurdles when i got this camera and i still get confused..
I found out by playing a sample file and taking a screen shot to find what dimention it was playing back at.. now i just resize my footage to 768x432 if its puter based or i just leave it alone in dv and edit.

Now that I'm finished I dont know exactly what scale to burn it. As a 4:3 or 16:9.. I know you say its 16:9 but i remember reading somewhere the advantage of anamorphic 16:9 is that it plays correctly (no matter what setting on 4:3 television)

Since then I have noticed that almost all highdef capture (leadtek dvt200h) on my puter is anamorphic.

I have burned at 4:3 it comes out great in widescreen but with substanial black bars at top and bottom (only) ... 16:9 has no black bars but I'll be sending it to friends and family with 4:3 televisions.. and dont know if it will play correctly or chop the sides..

My goal is to get that "compatitbility" that i read about...so there is no need to change settings on their dvd players..

[manono]

Hi-

16:9 has no black bars but I'll be sending it to friends and family with 4:3 televisions.. and dont know if it will play correctly or chop the sides..

It'll play correctly and without cropping from the sides. The DVD player will add black bars for output to 4:3 TV sets. Don't you reckon that your friends with 4:3 TV sets sometimes play 16:9 retail DVDs without problems?

[BJ_M]

burn it at 16:9 is the correct setting ... it will play correctly on 4:3 tvs also

[guns1inger]

First, ignore the playback resolution. This is something set arbitrarily by your playback software, and has no bearing at all on working with DV or DVD.

If it is 16:9, encode it as 16:9 and author it as 16:9. On a widescreen TV it will fill the screen top to bottom, edge to edge without distortion.

On a 4:3 TV, assuming the player has been setup correctly, it will playback as letterboxed widescreen, with bars top and bottom. Some players, when set to 4:3 playback, will effectively zoom to the centre to fill the screen, and crop off the edges. Personally, I'd rather have the bars.

You cannot have a widescreen (16:9) disc that plays back widescreen on 16:9 TVs and fullscreen on 4:3 TVs. If that is what you want, produce two version of the video - one 16:9, the other cropped and zoomed 4:3, and let the viewer choose which meets their needs.

[drewzor]

Ok.. thank you so much for the explination of some very beginner question to me. Its much appreciated.