16:9 .mts to 4:3 DVD

[Spiny Norman]

Advice please. I want to scale down a 16:9 mts file of 1920x1080 to 704x576 4:3 mpg2 / DVD. So it needs not just shrinking but also cropping.

This is because I want to mix footage from both sources and the output has to be DVD (PAL) anyway so it's scaling down rather than blowing up. The idea was to do the shrinking and cropping in one step.

But when I try to do this with Super Encoder the results didn't look good. The dimensions came out OK but there was some unsharpness visible around edges of objects for example. Worse than in the mpg2. I tried with and without deinterlacing, but it feels like I'm not getting the maximum clarity out of it.

What settings (or even other software) would you suggest? Is this possible in one step?

[_Al_]

You could make a compromise, creating 720p project, that's an idea also. Downscale HD interlaced and upscale SD, both 50p/60p , better than creating interlaced SD. You do not hurt HD footage much at all this way.

Suppose you use HD camcorder interlaced footage 25i/29.97i . Are you familiar with Avisynth? To change interlaced footage and downscale and make it interlaced again is best to do with Avisynth.

[LigH.de]

Is the HD content "pillarboxed" (black bars at the left and right side) and you want to crop the middle 4:3 part out and encode it 4:3 fullscreen? Or do you want the 16:9 HD widescreen content to be "letterboxed" (black bars at the top and bottom side) inside the 4:3 DVD content?

Both can be achieved with a quite small AviSynth script. But we need to know the direction. Then you can feed e.g. the HC encoder with the AviSynth script and receive MPEG-2 video of good quality.

[Spiny Norman]

You could make a compromise, creating 720p project, that's an idea also. Downscale HD interlaced and upscale SD, both 50p/60p , better than creating interlaced SD. You do not hurt HD footage much at all this way.

Suppose you use HD camcorder interlaced footage 25i/29.97i . Are you familiar with Avisynth? To change interlaced footage and downscale and make it interlaced again is best to do with Avisynth.

Well, the basis is the SD DVD. I prefer not to re-encode that. I just want to splice in some shots from the other camera, it doesn't have to be HD at all.

The HD footage is not letterboxed; I would simply lose the edges of the footage in 1 process to minimize the amount of re-encodings. My problem is that Super Encoder leaves me with something that meets the requirement, but that's visually actually worse than the SD picture.

Avisynth, well, I'd appreciate any help if it can be fed to me on noob level; because I never took the time to learn how to use it properly.

[_Al_]

Try AVStoDVD , it uses Avisynth, it might treat HD interlaced footage right while changing resolution, or at least much better then other software. But not sure how you expect to actually mix that former HD and SD footage.

But I do not know how you plan on mixing those footage's. If they are in different titles on DVD, it is ok, but if you cut those videos together, not sure if this is applicable. It might re-encode that SD video. Or you try it. If both footage's are in the same title, mpeg2 parameters have to be the same.

[Spiny Norman]

Try AVStoDVD , it uses Avisynth, it might treat HD interlaced footage right while changing resolution, or at least much better then other software. But not sure how you expect to actually mix that former HD and SD footage.

But I do not know how you plan on mixing those footage's. If they are in different titles on DVD, it is ok, but if you cut those videos together, not sure if this is applicable. It might re-encode that SD video. Or you try it. If both footage's are in the same title, mpeg2 parameters have to be the same.

Once they are both mpg2 (based) files with the same dimensions, I plan to just use tmpgenc dvd author for some frame accurate cutting and replacing; then finally I will use the audio track from the SD source. That camera was in one place the whole time during the event I recorded, so that has the best continuity. Only for some shots we will go to camera 2 so to speak. (If ONLY I had put the fixed camera on widescreen mode, then it would all have been 16:9! But what can I do, ask a couple to restage their wedding?)

[_Al_]

You'd need to encode that HD into mpeg2 that has the same video parameters like your DVD has, to be assembled into new DVD later on.

Not sure if you find a solution for you. To fix DVD like that to your satisfaction and one with quick solution.

I'd get a mpg stream with PGCDemux extracted from DVD. (if your soft of your choice later loads DVD perhaps not)
Then I'd fix that mts using avisyth into SD video encoded losslessly.
Then using VideoRedo or even that Tmpgenc for editing , or myself even Vegas 8.0c (i might be lucky) to get one final mpeg2 stream, but not re-rendering those SD parts that were not edited out, but that software would have to render those parts exactly to the same parameters like original SD. So not only render would have to be "smart", then there is to load it into DVD authoring software and not to re-encode again. That tmpgenc perhaps might make that DVD right in there.

Point is to not have re-render SD video again only that HD video and using proper resize, you'd need to go around like that, changing HD video first separatelly into SD lossless video.

Or first just try that avs2dvd first what it actually does. I do not use it.

[Spiny Norman]

You'd need to encode that HD into mpeg2 that has the same video parameters like your DVD has, to be assembled into new DVD later on.

Not sure if you find a solution for you. To fix DVD like that to your satisfaction and one with quick solution.

I'd get a mpg stream with PGCDemux extracted from DVD. (if your soft of your choice later loads DVD perhaps not)
Then I'd fix that mts using avisyth into SD video encoded losslessly.
Then using VideoRedo or even that Tmpgenc for editing , or myself even Vegas 8.0c (i might be lucky) to get one final mpeg2 stream, but not re-rendering those SD parts that were not edited out, but that software would have to render those parts exactly to the same parameters like original SD. So not only render would have to be "smart", then there is to load it into DVD authoring software and not to re-encode again. That tmpgenc perhaps might make that DVD right in there.

Point is to not have re-render SD video again only that HD video and using proper resize, you'd need to go around like that, changing HD video first separatelly into SD lossless video.

Or first just try that avs2dvd first what it actually does. I do not use it.

Yes that is exactly what I want to do. Unfortunately tmpgenc is too old to support .mts files, and VideoReDo cannot crop the picture. I appreciate the input though.

Going to try AVStoDVD first.

[Spiny Norman]

OK, AVStoDVD seems quite nice for basic functions, but it can't crop the picture, am I right?
So that leaves avisynth which I will have to learn how to operate first.

[_Al_]

You might want to specify what are the properties of that mts and DVD, mediainfo for those.https://www.videohelp.com/software/MediaInfo . If installing watch for some adware or use portable versio only. Because if MTS is not interlaced you might avoid using Avisynth. The bottom of this problem is resizing of interlaced footage. Because if progressive, that Super Encoder would do a good job a guess.

[Spiny Norman]

You might want to specify what are the properties of that mts and DVD, mediainfo for those.https://www.videohelp.com/software/MediaInfo . If installing watch for some adware or use portable versio only. Because if MTS is not interlaced you might avoid using Avisynth. The bottom of this problem is resizing of interlaced footage. Because if progressive, that Super Encoder would do a good job a guess.

Yes, resizing, and cropping (the picture).
But if not avisynth or Super, then what?

[_Al_]

I meant what are the media properties, if it is interlaced at all etc., download mediainfo and post what it says about MTS and one of those DVD VOB's.