SD Video but not sure

[KayAt]

I have a professional videographer sending me dvds from his camera. He says the video is SD 4:3, however, when I play the DVD on my old 4:3 tv, there are definitely black bands top and bottom.

I've used GSpot to identify and it says it's 720 x 480 and 4:3 but when I open the VOB file in MPEG Streamclip or VirtualMod, the picture is tall and skinny. If I import that into Vegas Pro 10 it is also tall and skinny.

Are there any tools that will tell me exactly what frame size I'm getting? TMPGenc identifies it as 16:9, so do I just make an avi with them?

I'm just starting to work with this video (I've used Sony's deform in the past but it's not reliable for exact correct look) and have a lot more coming this spring so your help would be appreciated.

[Case]

The aspect ratio is set in the MPEG-2 video (VOB) and in the IFO (for the VTS). They should be the same, but if they are not, then the DVD player should follow what the IFO says. If that is the case, then opening the DVD would look different than opening a VOB file.
Try IfoEdit to see what it says about your video.

[aedipuss]

sounds a little weird that the owner would be wrong about the aspect ratio. i'd convert the vobs to their native mpeg-2 with vob2mpg and import that into vegas. if it still looks like it should be widescreen right click on the mpeg-2 file and go to properties and change the aspect ratio to 16/9.

[edDV]

A 16:9 VOB will look "tall and skinny" when viewed as square pixels. To set Vegas for 16:9 you first set project to wide, then make sure the imported video properties show 16:9 (wide). If set correctly, the preview window should show 16:9.

[KayAt]

thanks aedipuss, I'm going to download that and try it. edDV, the problem is that Vegas won't import a VOB so I have to convert it which is the step I'm having trouble with. After it's converted, Vegas just looks at it as it's designated

[KayAt]

Well, that was interesting. VOB2MPG is the first program that showed the preview in the 4:3 format but the picture is tall and skinny again. At least TMPGenc knew it was 16:9. Another question, should I deinterlace to progressive in TMPGenc when I will be converting to MP2 in vegas for authoring a DVD anyway?