cant convert avi

[edit888]

I have a program which produces avis which are 1244x844 at 15 frames per sec.
I would like to convert these to mpgs (PAL format) or some form that can be edited in a video editing program. I have tried editing the avis in several (eg, Pinnacle Studio, Sony Vegas) but whilst they read the avis, they change the aspect ratio and I have to kee the original aspect ratio. I do not mind if the finished product contains side or top bars.

I have tried to convert them using tmpgenc but when I load the avi, all I get is a black screen. Any conversions I try result in black screens.

Any help much appreciated
Thanks
Chris

[guns1inger]

Start with g-spot or mediainfo to identify what sort of compression is currently being used. I am guessing from the resolution and framerate that these are screencam type videos.

Converting these to a standard video format (.e.g PAL) will require resizing and changing the framerate, either by speeding it up, or adding in duplicate/blended frames. The resizing needs to retain the aspect ratio, but add the minimal black bars required to fill the frame.

If you can open the video in virtualdub you can use the resize filter to resize, then alter the framerate and save either to a lossless compression format (huffyuv or lagarith are good), or to DV AVI (requires the cenocida DC codec be installed), which can then be edited easily in most editors.

[edit888]

Thanks for your reply.
According to gspot, the codec is 4CC CRAM Microsoft Video 1 (The codec is not installed)
xy is 1244x844, bitrate 67425k, fps 15
There is no audio.

The avi opens ok in virtualdubmod(v1.5.10.2).

I would like some help what values to use in the resize filter (and how to calculate them) to maintain the original aspect ratio.

Thanks
Chris

[guns1inger]

Assuming the pixel aspect ratio is 1.1, you need to resize to 720 x544, then add borders to get to 576. This will give you standard PAL 4:3 for DVD or DV output. I used FitCD to derive these numbers. You can also use it to create a script to resize and change the framerate.

[Midzuki]

Hoping that you can take the time to understand some basic Avisynth:

AVISource("Path-To\filename.avi")
ConvertToYUY2(interlaced=true)
BilinearResize(720, 520)
SeparateFields()
SelectEvery(6, 0,1, 0,1, 2,3, 2,5, 4,5)
Weave()
AddBorders(0,24,0,32)

Open this .AVS file in HCenc, and make sure the video will be compressed in interlaced mode.
HTH.

[edit888]

Thanks for you help, worked a treat