Rip DVD 4:3 content with pillarboxing

[jasonmanley]

Hello, this is my first post here so please go easy on me.

I would like to rip some DVD's I have where the content is 4:3. I would like to maintain the 720x480 dimensions. Presumably by introducing 'pillarboxing' at the sides of the 640x480 content.

This gif is an example of what I'm trying to accomplish. Notice the 4:3 content with the black 'pillarboxing'. I want my rips to appear just as this gif does.


[Attachment 86866 - Click to enlarge]

[cholla]

Any good DVD ripping software should copy the DVD as is .
So if the DVD now appears to have 4:3 with pillars it should be the same when copied.

You did not post if the DVDs you want to rip are commercial DVDs.
Those would be copyrighted & have various copy protections.
If that is the case then you will need a software that will decrypt the DVD rip.

[jasonmanley]

Any good DVD ripping software should copy the DVD as is .
So if the DVD now appears to have 4:3 with pillars it should be the same when copied.

You did not post if the DVDs you want to rip are commercial DVDs.
Those would be copyrighted & have various copy protections.
If that is the case then you will need a software that will decrypt the DVD rip.

Thank you for your response. Let me provide some context. These are commercial DVDs that I own and have already been ripped to my hard drive, over a terabyte worth. I have them all neatly stored in VIDEO_TS folders.

I came across someone else's previous rips and they were done in the fashion that I show I the gif. I want to finish what is missing from their collection of rips with my own copies, but done in the same manner.

I'm on a Mac with Apple Silicon, so my software options are limited to that. I have looked at Handbrake but wonder if there is maybe a better option.

Here is the EXIF data from the other rips that I am trying to mirror. I'm trying to get as close as I can in all phases. Suggestions are very welcome:

File Size : 1435 MB
File Modification Date/Time : 2025:03:15 17:11:02-04:00
File Access Date/Time : 2025:03:16 14:08:42-04:00
File Inode Change Date/Time : 2025:03:15 23:46:19-04:00
File Permissions : -rw-r--r--
File Type : MP4
File Type Extension : mp4
MIME Type : video/mp4
Major Brand : MP4 Base Media v1 [IS0 14496-12:2003]
Minor Version : 0.2.0
Compatible Brands : isom, iso2, avc1, mp41
Media Data Size : 1430352660
Media Data Offset : 48
Movie Header Version : 0
Create Date : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Modify Date : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Time Scale : 1000
Duration : 1:31:48
Preferred Rate : 1
Preferred Volume : 100.00%
Preview Time : 0 s
Preview Duration : 0 s
Poster Time : 0 s
Selection Time : 0 s
Selection Duration : 0 s
Current Time : 0 s
Next Track ID : 3
Track Header Version : 0
Track Create Date : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Track Modify Date : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Track ID : 1
Track Duration : 1:31:48
Track Layer : 0
Track Volume : 0.00%
Image Width : 720
Image Height : 480
Graphics Mode : srcCopy
Op Color : 0 0 0
Compressor ID : avc1
Source Image Width : 720
Source Image Height : 480
X Resolution : 72
Y Resolution : 72
Bit Depth : 24
Video Frame Rate : 29.97
Matrix Structure : 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Media Header Version : 0
Media Create Date : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Media Modify Date : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Media Time Scale : 48000
Media Duration : 1:31:48
Media Language Code : und
Handler Description : SoundHandler
Balance : 0
Audio Format : mp4a
Audio Channels : 2
Audio Bits Per Sample : 16
Audio Sample Rate : 48000
Handler Type : Metadata
Handler Vendor ID : Apple
Encoder : Lavf52.94.0
Encoding Time : 2013:05:27 16:36:34-04:00
Media Class Secondary ID : Unknown Content
Media Class Primary ID : Video
Image Size : 720x480
Megapixels : 0.346
Avg Bitrate : 2.08 Mbps
Rotation : 0

[DVDFab Staff]

HandBrake takes a bit of manual setup. When setting up your encode, you’ll want to:
1. Set Anamorphic to “None.”
2. Set the output resolution to 720x480.
3. Add pillarboxing manually by adjusting the cropping and padding (typically 40 pixels on each side for a 640x480 video).
4. Keep the Display Aspect Ratio at 4:3.

It's been a while since I last did this, so I hope my memory serves you well! ��
Also, if you're ever curious about DVDFab, I'm more than happy to answer any questions too — haha.

[davexnet]

HandBrake takes a bit of manual setup. When setting up your encode, you’ll want to:
1. Set Anamorphic to “None.”
2. Set the output resolution to 720x480.
3. Add pillarboxing manually by adjusting the cropping and padding (typically 40 pixels on each side for a 640x480 video).
4. Keep the Display Aspect Ratio at 4:3.

It's been a while since I last did this, so I hope my memory serves you well! ��
Also, if you're ever curious about DVDFab, I'm more than happy to answer any questions too — haha.

720x480 is SAR 1.5; it will be stretched if played back on a regular TV.
However any details are conjecture since the use case has not been explained

[DVDFab Staff]

HandBrake takes a bit of manual setup. When setting up your encode, you’ll want to:
1. Set Anamorphic to “None.”
2. Set the output resolution to 720x480.
3. Add pillarboxing manually by adjusting the cropping and padding (typically 40 pixels on each side for a 640x480 video).
4. Keep the Display Aspect Ratio at 4:3.

It's been a while since I last did this, so I hope my memory serves you well! ��
Also, if you're ever curious about DVDFab, I'm more than happy to answer any questions too — haha.

720x480 is SAR 1.5; it will be stretched if played back on a regular TV.
However any details are conjecture since the use case has not been explained

You are absolutely right that 720x480 uses a pixel aspect ratio that stretches to 4:3 or 16:9 for playback depending on display flags and player behavior. Much depends on the final use case.

[Alwyn]

I can't see anything in that Properties readout that shows it's Display AR is 4:3.

If a DVD had black side bars/pillarboxing, then the rip will have the same side bars, because they would have been burnt-in which the video was created/encoded to MPEG 2 for DVD authoring.

I note that the "rip" is actually AVC, so it's not the original rip, which would have been VOB. The original has been re-encoded to AVC and probably the aspect ratio has been altered, because that GIF is not DVD-compliant.

Could you post a short clip of the original rip? You can use AVIDemux in Video "Copy" and Audio "Copy" mode so it isn't recoded.

The other thing that would be helpful would be a MediaInfo readout of the original rip.

AVIDemux and MediaInfo have Apple versions.

720x480 is SAR 1.5; it will be stretched if played back on a regular TV.

Depends, if they're square pixels (as they appear to be from that GIF), my TV would just add more black on the sides, so retaining the correct aspect ratio for the actual video.

[cholla]

Any good DVD ripping software should copy the DVD as is .
So if the DVD now appears to have 4:3 with pillars it should be the same when copied.

I'm on a Mac with Apple Silicon, so my software options are limited to that. I have looked at Handbrake but wonder if there is maybe a better option

I have no experience with Mac. So I can not help you there.
To decrypt with Handbrake in Windows you need to copy & paste the libdvdcss-2.dll into Program Files.
If Mac has an equivalent to Windows Program files it it possibly the same.
Even then Handbrake will only create ,mkv or .mp4 files.

If a DVD had black side bars/pillarboxing, then the rip will have the same side bars, because they would have been burnt-in which the video was created/encoded to MPEG 2 for DVD authoring.

You explained this a bit more than I did.