How to Edit/Convert 352x480 MPEG for Youtube?

[jc1]

I have a video from OTA TV capture on a Pinnacle tuner. VLC info:

Codec: MPEG-1/2 Video (mpgv)
352x480
Frame rate: 59.94
Decoded format: Planar 4:2:0 YUV

I've never messed with this odd resolution before and must have used the wrong capture setting. How should I edit/convert this for youtube so it looks good? I can't figure out the best resolution or codec. The raw video looks fine in VLC but if I leave it 352x480 for editing will youtube fix the width? I tried starting with 800x480 in VSDC and conversion adds a 1/2" black bar/border at the bottom and light black (grey) 1-2" borders around segments where the video gets smaller that originally had nearly black borders (empty space).

[jagabo]

Assuming 4:3 DAR, just stretch it out to a 4:3 frame size like 640x480.

[Cornucopia]

352x480 is a common enough resolution for older Mpeg1 or 2 files that use a lower bitrate for those NTSC captures. It's also known as "1/2 D1". The PAR is double the width of a standard 4:3 DAR video (16:9 is not a valid DAR for these sizes, acc'd to mpeg, smtpe, ebu, etc), so that gives you 2 * 10/11 or 20/11. Notice I used 601-based PAR, because 352 is clearly derived from 704, not 720.

And jagabo is correct about what to do with it when prepping for youtube - just stretch it out to 640x480. That leaves the vertical dimension alone and corrects/converts from this "weird" PAR to 1:1, giving an appropriate, youtube-friendly 4:3 DAR.

Scott

[jc1]

Thanks, I converted to 640x480 H.264 avi no aspect correction and I'm getting big ugly 1" top/bottom grey borders and nearly 2" black side borders in VLC. Even when not in VLC full screen mode the raw video looks much better/larger, fills up the screen top to bottom with no borders and there's just 3/8" side borders, so I'm hoping to maintain that. If it helps I took a test snapshot of the raw with VLC and the resulting image is 853x480. So it looks like VLC is stretching it to that size while maintaining great quality (the video doesn't look stretched at all). VLC playback is set to default aspect ratio and appears to be 16:9 because when I choose 16:9 nothing changes. If I choose 4:3 the width gets reduced and video looks squished.

As a test I uploaded a clip of the raw video to youtube and got this message:

You uploaded a wide-screen (16:9) video. If your original was 720p or greater (i.e. 1280x720 or greater) we encourage you to submit your video at original resolution to enable better quality playback.

It looks great in youtube, same as VLC with no big borders. Now to figure out how to maintain that when editing in VSDC. I might end up using the youtube editor.

More raw info from Mediainfo:

Complete name : F:\video.mpg
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 288 MiB
Duration : 10mn 18s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 3 908 Kbps

ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Format settings, GOP : Variable
Duration : 10mn 18s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 3 830 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 3 675 Kbps
Width : 352 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.756
Time code of first frame : 00:00:00:00
Time code source : Group of pictures header
Stream size : 282 MiB (98%)
Color primaries : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics : BT.601
Matrix coefficients : BT.601

[jagabo]

It's unusual for a half D1 video to have a 16:9 DAR.

Telling us how big your borders are isn't helpful unless you also state how big your screen is.

[jc1]

This Pinnacle tuner has about 18 different capture settings and it's best to keep it on "native" to capture HD. I guess I had it on a lower setting.

Screen is 15.4" 1280x800.

I tried converting to 853x480 MPEG2 16:9 and it works! It's actually 848x480 because VSDC changes 853 to 848. No big borders, same as raw in VLC. Also tried 848x480 H.264 avi and it works. So maybe the VLC snapshot resolution is ideal for this project? I think I'll try uploading the raw to youtube and editing it there just to keep the quality a little better.

[jagabo]

Your source is 16:9 DAR. So resize to any 16:9 frame size. Most codecs will not allow odd frame sizes so programs won't allow 853x480. They'll at least change it to 854x480 or 852x480. Many programs also try to keep mod 16 (integer multiples of 16), hence the 848x480 frame size (16 x 53 = 848).

[El Heggunte]

[JUST-FOR-THE-NOTES]

It's unusual for a half D1 video to have a 16:9 DAR.

Because resizing from 853 to 352 results in an excessive loss of detail.

[/JUST-FOR-THE-NOTES]

[jc1]

Thanks for all the help. Now I'm starting another video edit. Mediainfo says it's 720x480 but the VLC snapshot (attached) is 720x540. How can I get rid of the big grey top and bottom bars and smaller grey outer border and make the video larger if possible?

General
Complete name : F:\video.mpg
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 475 MiB
Duration : 10mn 29s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 6 330 Kbps

Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Format settings, GOP : Variable
Duration : 10mn 29s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 5 948 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 6 300 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.574
Time code of first frame : 00:00:00:00
Time code source : Group of pictures header
Stream size : 446 MiB (94%)
Color primaries : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics : BT.601
Matrix coefficients : BT.601

Audio
ID : 192 (0xC0)
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 2
Duration : 10mn 29s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 19.2 MiB (4%)

[manono]

Mediainfo says it's 720x480 but the VLC snapshot (attached) is 720x540. How can I get rid of the big grey top and bottom bars and smaller grey outer border and make the video larger if possible?

Why'd you encode as 4:3 when you already know it's 16:9? Can't you tell the golfer is too tall and slender?

jagabo already suggested cropping away the black bars and resizing to some 1.78:1 ratio such as 854x480. You probably don't want to make an MPEG or DVD, either 4:3 or 16:9, if the ultimate goal is to upload it to YouTube.

If your program doesn't let you crop and resize to rid yourself of the black bars and get it in the correct aspect ratio, maybe it's time to learn a different program.

[jc1]

Post #9 is about a whole new project and capture from a different source and I copied the raw info above, so the source is 4:3 and I haven't recoded. This time it's the raw video that has black bars. I haven't started to edit it yet and want to know the best settings and resolution to use to get rid of the bars and increase the size if that can be done without losing quality. The program lets me crop and resize.

[jagabo]

Post #9 is about a whole new project and capture from a different source and I copied the raw info above, so the source is 4:3 and I haven't recoded. This time it's the raw video that has black bars. I haven't started to edit it yet and want to know the best settings and resolution to use to get rid of the bars and increase the size if that can be done without losing quality. The program lets me crop and resize.

You can't reencode with a lossy codec without losing some quality. The easiest way is to resize to a 4:3 frame size, crop away the black borders, then encode.

[jc1]

Should I resize to 1920 x 1440 or will that big of an increase not look good? I know I can just try it and see how it looks but I want to know if it's a good idea.

[manono]

Oh, I see I was wrong and apologize. I hadn't noticed you said it was a different project, and this one really is 4:3.

Mediainfo says it's 720x480 but the VLC snapshot (attached) is 720x540.

The video is stored in the MPG at 720x480 but is resized for playback by VLC to 720x540, a 4:3 or 1.33:1 ratio.

I haven't started to edit it yet and want to know the best settings and resolution to use to get rid of the bars and increase the size if that can be done without losing quality. The program lets me crop and resize.

I don't use this VSDC and doubt many here do, but maybe someone can help. Anyway, in AviSynth speak, you crop:

Crop(8,60,-12,-54)

to remove the black bars from the original 4:3 MPG. That's 8 from left, 60 from top, 12 from right, and 54 from bottom. I won't go into the blown whites which may be a result of how the picture was taken (although I doubt it). Here it is cropped and resized to 848x480 (which may not be the correct final aspect ratio):

[jagabo]

Should I resize to 1920 x 1440 or will that big of an increase not look good? I know I can just try it and see how it looks but I want to know if it's a good idea.

How good it looks will depend on the software you use. But standard definition video is never going to look like high definition video. Especially something that appears to have come from VHS tape.