Can I fix an .avi movie to get proper dimentions?

[HartsVideo]

Hi,

I have an .avi movie that is out of proportion, the pancake effect. Is there a way that I can fix it to get the proper dimensions?

[AlanHK]

Sounds like wrong aspect ratio.
Try to fix with MPEG4 Modifier.

[guns1inger]

It depends on what type of avi, and what you are playing it back on.

Mpeg4modifer can change the flags that describe how an Xvid/Divx AVI file should be displayed. Unfortunately not all standalone players or software players observe these flags, so it may have no effect.

[HartsVideo]

I use Media Player Classic and VLC Media Player. The movie is DivX 5.0.2.

When I change VLC Media Player aspect ratio from 16:9 (544x304) to 5:4, the dimensions are correct.

I downloaded and installed MPEG4 Modifier and put custom dimensions as 5:4, but it didn't change the ratio in the saved file. Is there something else that I need to do?

[jagabo]

You need to set your player up to respect the aspect ratio. In MPC it's View -> Video Frame -> Keep Aspect. There are other settings which could effect this too -- whether it's using its internal or DirectShow file splitters and codecs.

[HartsVideo]

I used G-Spot to see the info about the file. The first screenshot is the original findings of G-Spot. The second screenshot shows the info when I pressed "2" on the bottom of the window. The third screenshot is WMP, it has Keep Aspect Ratio as the default. I can change it to 5:4 when I watch the video but I'd rather change it permanently.

[HartsVideo]

G-Spot #2

[HartsVideo]

MPC default setting - Keep Aspect Ratio

[HartsVideo]

Do they give any info that might be of help?

[guns1inger]

The gspot output shows what you already know - that the display aspect ratio is set to 16:9 (1.78). Obviously you have done something wrong wth mpeg4modifier if you cannot get it to change the settings in your video.

[HartsVideo]

I loaded the file, checked Custom on the column that has the title "Display AR" and placed 5 in the first box and 4 in the second box on the bottom.

I was hoping that G-Spot would show something that would help.

[guns1inger]

And saved a new video ?

[AlanHK]

I loaded the file, checked Custom on the column that has the title "Display AR" and placed 5 in the first box and 4 in the second box on the bottom.

Since it's 25 fps TV, almost certainly it should be PAL 4:3.

[HartsVideo]

Yes, I saved it as a new video, by adding "5 to 4" at the end of the file name.

I set it to PAL 4:3 and it did the trick, great aspect ratio. Does 25 fps TV always mean that it should be PAL 4:3? Where did you see "TV"?

[guns1inger]

No. As with most recent US material (in fact, probably moreso), most PAL tv material is in fact 16:9

[HartsVideo]

How would I know if it should be PAL or NTFS, and whether it's from a tv cap or a dvd?

[guns1inger]

PAL 25 fps
NTSC 23.976 or 29.970 fps

As to the source - no way to tell. If you download crap (and like it or not, mots of the avi files out there are just different shades of crap), you take your chances.

[HartsVideo]

Thanks for the fps info . . . it's good to know. It'll help.

I appreciate everybody's help

[jagabo]

If the video is full frame (not cropped) you can set the Display Aspect Ratio (rather than the Pixel Aspect Ratio) and you don't need to worry about whether the source is PAL or NTSC. You can also do this if you just know what the DAR is.

Setting the pixel aspect ratio is telling the player the relative dimensions of each pixel. The final display aspect ratio will be the frame size times the pixel aspect ratio.

Setting the display aspect ratio is telling the player not to worry about the shape of individual pixels or the dimensions of the frame, just display it with the specified aspect ratio.

[AlanHK]

No. As with most recent US material (in fact, probably moreso), most PAL tv material is in fact 16:9

Does 25 fps TV always mean that it should be PAL 4:3? Where did you see "TV"?

I was talking about this file in particular, and its name suggested it was from a 1976 TV series (not movie); TV is either 4:3 or 16:9, and that 5:4 looked okay suggested that it wasn't 16:9, and anyway no one was producing or broadcasting TV in 16:9 in 1976, AFAIK. Thus 4:3. The 25 fps was in GSpot; thus PAL.

[HartsVideo]

So othat 25fps doesn't always mean PAL . . . all the other items considered in total suggested 4:3 PAL?

What if, say a movie that was made in 1943 or 1967 in the US had its aspect ratio off . . . if the 16:9 ratio elongated the movie and VLC Media Player showed that the aspect ratio was good at 5:4, should I choose a Custom Ratio of 5:4?

[AlanHK]

So othat 25fps doesn't always mean PAL . . . all the other items considered in total suggested 4:3 PAL?

PAL is 25 fps.
I would say 25 fps is PAL "always", in practice, though if you wanted to you could make a file that wasn't.

What if, say a movie that was made in 1943 or 1967 in the US had its aspect ratio off . . . if the 16:9 ratio elongated the movie and VLC Media Player showed that the aspect ratio was good at 5:4, should I choose a Custom Ratio of 5:4?

If you like. But while there are several "widescreen" aspect ratios, those old-fashioned squarish ones are "always" 4:3 (again, same qualification: they could theoretically be different, but I've never seen it).

See https://www.videohelp.com/glossary?A#Aspect%20Ratio,%20Display%20Aspect%20Ratio,%20DAR

[jagabo]

Analog PAL video alwaus runs at 25 fps (50 fields per second really). Analog NTSC video always runs at 29.97 fps (59.94 fields per second really).

When you select 4:3 PAL Pixel Aspect Ratio in Mpeg4Modifier you are specifying that the pixels are the same shape as a 4:3 PAL DVD, regardless of how the video has otherwise been treated (cropped, borders added, etc). Basically, you are saying the pixels are ~9 percent wider than they are tall. So a 400x400 frame size with 4:3 DVD sized pixels will turn out around 436x400 pixels when drawn on a square pixel display.

When you select 4:3 Display Aspect ratio in Mpeg4Modifier you are specifying that the final shape of the picture should be 4:3 regardless of the frame size of the video. You're telling the player to stretch or squish the image in whatever way is necessary to create a 4:3 display. Any frame size will result in a 4:3 display.

So the frame rate of your video, 25 fps, implies it was from a PAL source. Unfortunately, give its odd frame size, 544x304, there is no way of saying exactly how it was treated and how it should be displayed. You'll have to eyeball it.

[Relayerman]

Use WinAVI and select Advanced button. Choose the Adjustment option and change width to 75%. Leave Height at 100%. Takes about 40 minutes to re-encode the AVI to new file. I had same issue a few times and this did the trick with no problems.

[HartsVideo]

PAL is 25 fps.
I would say 25 fps is PAL "always", in practice, though if you wanted to you could make a file that wasn't.

I don't burn my video files, I watch them on my pc, so getting the right aspect ratio, whether PAL or NTSC, is what's important to me.

I understand all the other advice given . . . the age of the file, 4:3 PAL Pixel Aspect Ratio and 4:3 Display Aspect ratio, and the newer ratios of 16:9.

Thanks for the explanations. They helped me to understand, not just do. I appreciate it a lot.

Merry Christmas everybody!

[guns1inger]

Use WinAVI and select Advanced button. Choose the Adjustment option and change width to 75%. Leave Height at 100%. Takes about 40 minutes to re-encode the AVI to new file. I had same issue a few times and this did the trick with no problems.

Needless re-encoding with a low quality encoder. I guess it is a solution, but far from the best one.

[HartsVideo]

For future reference, in case I ever need it, what's a good quality encoder?

[guns1inger]

Autogk for mpeg source, Xvid4PSP for most sources. There are others, but that is what I use.

However if you can use something like mpeg4modifier to alter the header information instead of re-encoding, you are better off. Every time you re-encode with lossy codecs you reduce the quality. Every time.

[HartsVideo]

Thanks guns1inger

[jagabo]

To create AVI I use a combination of AviSynth and VirtualDub. For MPEG2 I use AviSynth and HcEnc or CCE.