Cropping AVC M2TS File

[557953]

Hi,

I have a .M2TS file containing ACV video and AAC audio, the res is 1440x1080i 16:9 @29.970fps however this is a TV rebroadcast I recorded of something that was shown some 20 years ago in 4:3 thankfully they have not stretched the image all out of shape to make it fit the current 16:9 ratio but there are rather large black bars running down the sides of the screen to leave just the standard 4:3 picture in the middle, and I would really like to remove them, I intend on converting the file to Mpeg2 so I know i'm reverting it to SD which is fine as the quality should still be better than an old VHS recording of the same footage.
I tried converting it in Procoder to 4:3 as I know this is a good program for 29.970fps to 25fps conversions (PAL being my favored format, though this is not essential) however this leaves me with even more black bars than I started with as it adds them to the top and bottom of the screen also.
I'm not sure if it is best to crop the M2TS file first and then encode the outcome of that or if it can be done during the encoding.

If any more info is needed about the file please say and I will provide it.

Be great to get this issue resolved and any help will be greatly received.

[FulciLives]

You will probably need to use AviSynth to get this done properly.

Would be nice if you could upload a sample of this video. Maybe cut out a small section of it. It doesn't need to be long. 10 seconds is probably enough. Try to pick a spot with some movement inside the frame so we can judge the interlacing etc.

[557953]

Sure no problem on the sample just cut a 30sec one now which has changed the format to .ts from .m2ts but i hope that's ok the stream should be the same I guess.