CCE resize help

[WanHunLo]

I am following the guide 'Getting the best out of CCE'.
I am using DVD2AVI 1.76, CCESP 2.50, and AVIsynth 2.07 with the MPEG2DEC plugin on Windows XPPRO SP1

I have lots of PAL MPEG2 footage with resolution 544 x 576 (reported by DVD2AVI). I am trying to convert this to make it DVD compliant.

I am able to convert the footage with TMPG and it is resized to just the right size. Fills the whole screen.

When I convert it with CCE (much prefered) it has converted it to 720 x 576 but now has left and right black borders. I guess I need to do some resizing. This is where I become stuck. I have tried various resize commands and the results still have the black borders but the picture is completely scrambled, just a mess of colours and lines.

Can anyone tell me the resize command to use to convert this to full screen.

PS. the footage is all regular Pan & Scan not wide screen

[DJRumpy]

You need to use the BicubicResize (or BilinearResize ), and possibly CROP if your source has borders already.

Assuming your source is fullscreen already (you did say it was 4:3..althouth how they can call it that with a PAL resolution is beyond me ), then you would use AVISynth to resize it like so:

AVISource("c:\myvideo.avi")
BicubicResize(720,576)

This will take a full screen image, and resize it to 720 x 576.

[WanHunLo]

I have tried the resize commands you have mentioned but the file that was created is just a mess of colours.

I didnt try avisource though as I am using MPEG2DEC. Do I need to create an avi file to do the resize?

Thanks.

[DJRumpy]

If your using MPEG2DEC, then your source is MPEG in nature. I'm guessing you used DVD2AVI to create a project file? If your using AVISynth, the easiest way to test, is to simply open the AVS script using Windows Media Player. It's not necessary to create an AVI.

If it plays properly, you know you have it right. You should also open the .AVS script in VirtualDub, and verify your files dimensions (720x576).

[WanHunLo]

I can open the avs file with windows media player and it plays it ok.
I can open it with virtual dub and selecting file information shows :-
720 x 576, 25.000 fps (4000 us)

If I use this avs file with CCE:-

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth2\plugins\mpeg2dec.dll")
mpeg2source("D:\wa9.d2v")
ResampleAudio(44100)

The output file from CCE is 720x576 picture is ok but left and right black borders.

If I use this avs file with CCE:-

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth2\plugins\mpeg2dec.dll")
mpeg2source("D:\wa9.d2v")
BicubicResize(720,576)
ResampleAudio(44100)

Then the output file is black screen with a little bit of messed up red colours at the bottom.

Do I need to run virtual dub frame server or is having avisynth installed enough? You will have to excuse me as I am a newbie to frameserving.

Is there a different or easier way of achieving this with CCE. My primal concern if image quality as apposed to speed.

Thanks for all your help.

PS forgot to mention my source is 4:3 and I want my output to be 4:3

[BodyMaker]

Give FITCD a try its a more than exellent Utility from the tools section of this site

And it will do all the resizing and make the AVS script for you

[DJRumpy]

WanHunLo, make sure you have no options selected under the VIDEO settings. Especially the DVD Compliant, or any of hte HALF options. You should be able to encode with nothing checked there. Try unchecking everything. You can use the TRIM function in AVISynth to get a very small clip to encode (say 20 seconds or so). It makes testing much easier. It looks like this:

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth2\plugins\mpeg2dec.dll")
mpeg2source("D:\wa9.d2v")
BicubicResize(720,576)
ResampleAudio(44100)
Trim(5000,5500)

The first number is the starting frame, the last number is the ending frame. Use 0 for either to mean beginning or end respectively.

AVISynth is enough. You don't have to frameserve from VirtualDub, as AVISynth is a frame server.

What resolution is your source video? Also, how wide are these black borders? Are they in your source video, only smaller?

[WanHunLo]

My original footage has no black borders but I do have DVD compliant checked.

When I dont resize, the output footage (just looking at the footage within the black borders) looks the same size as the the original footage. Looks like 720 with the borders.

I will try unchecking various video settings with the tips that you gave me.

Hopefully I will able to narrow it down.

Many thanks,

Will keep you posted.

[DJRumpy]

It should. Resizing your AVI with AVISynth, and unchecking the 'DVD Compliant', will tell CCE not to mess with your resolution. You should get the expected output.

You might drop your .AVS script onto VirtualDub, and use the FILE | FILE INFORMATION menu, to make sure the resolution looks right.