displaying 16:9 mini dv footage as letterbox on SVCD?

[kingoflubrication]

some friends and i shoot short films and sketches on mini-dv. when my friend first got his mini-dv camera we shot some footage in 16:9 mode (enhanced for widecsreen tvs), not really knowing what to expect. well, of course, now we realize that when we shoot in 16:9, and watch the footage on a regular television, the image will be sort of stretched, or smooshed, depending on how you see it. i was just wondering if it is possible to encode the footage using TMPGEnc or FlasKMPEG (or anything else), so that when i burn the footage to an svcd and play it in my dvd player on a regular 4:3 television, it is letterbox format, and the image does not appear warped. i would appreciate any help or info. thanks.

[ktnwin]

Definitely yes, I have done this a few time because I shot a few footage using letter box format myself.
In TMPGENC, specify input format to be 16:9 and output format to "presever aspect ratio". This will squeeze the picture in the vertical direction and the resulting VCD/SVCD will play just like a wide screen DVD disc.

[kingoflubrication]

ok, i think i need a little more detail with the settings - i have just started using TMPGEnc. when i open TMPGEnc and click on the setting button and under the Video Tab the are several options and i set the Aspect Ratio to 16:9 Display. then, under the Advanced Tab there is source aspect ratio which i set to 16:9 display. also, under the advanced tab is Video Arrange Method, which i have set to Center (keep aspect ratio) and have also tried Full Screen (keep aspect ratio). also in the Video Tab under size i set it to the standard svcd size 480 x 480. trying these i have still been unable to get my dvd player to play in letterbox. thanks for your help.

[kinneera]

Under the video tab, select 4:3 aspect ratio (this is the aspect ratio of the output video). Under the advanced tab, select aspect ratio 16:9 (this is the aspect ratio of the source video), and make sure "preserve aspect ratio" is selected. This tells TMPGEnc to encode the 16:9 video as 4:3, which is does by automatically creating letterboxing.

[MadMax_911]

Under the Video Tab set Aspect Ratio to 4:3 Display.
And under the Advanced Tab set Source Aspect Ratio to 16:9 display. Also set Video Arrange Method to Full Screen (keep aspect ratio)
Use the rest of the opitions from the templates.

[kingoflubrication]

you guys were all a great help. thanks