Mpg Movie Looks Good But..

[gifted_retard]

Ok i have a lil problem here, but nuthing to really fret much over..

I encoded my 1st movie finally with TMPGEnc and it looks nice, (Used CQ_VBR) but its too elongated..What i mean is the peoples faces and background objects look like those old lame 70's romance movies with Bo Derick lol, like at the end when they show the credits b4 the movie fades(Yea im old lol)..

I like my movies to be in FULL SCREEN 4:3, and just to look normal as if i was watching it on TV..I also dont like that "theatre" effect with that annoying black strip on the top and bottom of the layout(thats 16:9 right??)..Just annoying, as i prefer a full screen look..

Now i noticed in TMPGEnc when i clik CLIP FRAME, i get all the aspect ratios and can just clik one and it sets it up that way..Now im not sure how to do that, or if thats the right way to set it up..So need help on that part..

Also TMPGEnc doesnt allow me to choose any Bitrates, or other settings when i use VCD Film Option in the WIZARD..So i have to choose the template "UNLOCK" so i can do my own lil thang (which i prefer as i can tweak the movie to my liking)..Thing is when i clik SETTINGS, it tells me the source ratios i.e. 1:1 VGA, 4:3 and 16:9 also..But doesnt that not matter anyways, cuz wont the movie be encoded to 352 x 240 no matter what i choose as the SOURCE RATIO??

Oh and on the ADVANCED TAB, yet again there is another setting for ratios and what not, and ohhhh no ive gone crosseyed#@%@!

Can anyone rescue me here?

Thx

[mats.hogberg]

A VCD will always be 352*240/288 no matter what. If your original is 16:9, you either encode 1:1 and use the wide screen setting on your TV to widen it. This wont for apparent reasons not work on a 4:3 TV, if it hasn't a "faked 16:9" setting.
If your source is 16:9, and you want to see the whole picture at its correct proportions on a 4:3 TV, there's no alternative but to add black bars top and bottom. That's achieved by "Full screen (keep aspect ratio)" on the Advanced tab, Video arrange method.
If you want it reduced to 4:3, you have to cut left and right with Clip frame. That way you lose much of the movie.

/Mats

[gifted_retard]

Ahh ok i get it..sheesh..Yea i was doodling around just now actually with those settings, seems to work like u said..Thx

My DVD has settings for 16:9 WIDE, 4:3NORMAL and 4:3 LETTERBOX..

So hmmm..What if i make a movie in 16:9 keeping the ratio, is there a way to tinker with the DVDs controls and somehow widen the movie as i want it?

BTW saw ur response to the other guys post about that header trick..I made a normal SVCD at 480x480 and when i played it, just like that guy, i can HEAR it, but cant SEE it..Now should i make it a SVCD at lower resolution?..But somehow isnt that defeating the whole purpose of the higher resolution of the SVCD?..Oh and i used a CDRW, cuz like most, im sick n tired of throwing CDs in the trash..Total waste of time and money to keep doing that ..Wondering also, if a CDRW is screwing it up, and i should maybe use a CD R?..I tested it in WINDVD tho, and it played fine, just cant SEE on my HOME DVD..Played VCDs on CDRWs also, so i cant see y a SVCD wouldnt work on Rewritables either ..

[mats.hogberg]

CD-RW's are more "compatible" to manufactured CD's, so even if a pleyer says it can't play CD-R, it may well accept a CD-RW. The lower res suggested is just beacuse it's half DVD hoizontal rez, full DVD vertical. Your player might swallow this with more ease. The res is not the only advantage of SVCD - it's also higher bitrates and VBR.

/Mats

[gifted_retard]

Ok ill give that a shot and get back to u Matt, thx a bunch..U been a great help no doubt

Hey i have one more thing to ask about TMPGEnc..In one of the option tabs b4 u encode there is a feature to tone down "BLOCK NOISE"..It said it helps reduce the artifacting and those ugly blocks ur so much used to seeing sometimes in movies..Now it does say tho, that if u use that, the movie will look and become "SOFTER", but u wont get hardly any block noise..

What i want to know is whats this "SOFTER" thing mean?..Will i just be trading off one degradation for another lol??

Tuff to have ur cake and eat it too with all this geez

[mats.hogberg]

Actually never used the block noise filter, but I imagine it's the same effect as a slight "blur" in an image editor. I'd rather have some blocks during (a few) action scenes than a whole movie that makes me want to constantly polish my glasses...

/Mats

[ZippyP.]

I use it and it depends on the quality of the source. Lots of blocks noise, then crank both settings to 50. Medium quality, leave at default of 20. Low block noise and high quality, leave it off. I've never done a direct comparison of the "softness" that it causes so I don't even notice that. It does reduce macroblocks which I do notice.

[gifted_retard]

hehe yea true..i was kinda thinking the same thing a lil, in that u may as well take a few hits on quality, then try to keep tweaking and have it look worse..

good point there tho, i guess the source is what makes the difference, rather than the output file..

the default on mine is 35 INTRA BLOCK and 35 NON INTRA BLOCK..

should i just stick with that default or use 20, if 35 is too much?..Like Matt said, i dont want to have to wear trifocals to see it

Movie im doing is MAD MAX (The 1st one from 79)..The movie is a lil older so the quality of the movie itself is a lil rusty, but the mpg i made DOES look very good..(Too late now, just for future movies i do..Doin Road Warrior next)

[ZippyP.]

Sorry, you're right, the default is 35. View the movie on it's own before you convert and judge for yourself what you think might be required. You also could try converting a few short clips at different settings. It really is personal preference but I never found anything to be fuzzy at any setting.

[gifted_retard]

great man, thx alot : )

just ran into another problem tho..im trying to burn it but nero sez the MPG cant fit on a CD..Now i know A/V can be burned at nearly 800mb, since it doesnt use Data Correction..Plus i know for sure i have burned atleast 780mb in the past on CD Rs with no probs..But for some odd reason it doesnt want to burn this file, at only 730..Weird man lol..

When i get that message about "CD will have errors or u may DAMAGE ur recorder", should i just go ahead anyway?..Cuz i have overburned much bigger files b4, so i dunno y its saying that..Not sure if its this particular file or what..Just i always get nervous when i see that "D" Word

[ZippyP.]

Are you burning as a VCD or SVCD? They are burned in mode 2 and can go to the full 800MB limit. If you're just copying the file to CD, then you are creating an ordinary data CD which has the lower mode 1 limit.

[gifted_retard]

Its a VCD, and the file was just under 800mb..I cut the MPG to 2 files (CD 1 and CD 2)..Then i Drag n Drop them to Nero and it scans it..I get an error saying its not a compliant VCD but Nero always does that, and i just tell it to continue and burn, and i never have problems..

But this file keeps spitting the CD back out saying that its too big, when in fact ive burned up to 790mb in the past..

I just dont get it

[ZippyP.]

I use Vcdeasy and have never had a problem. It even lets you overburn.