I would like to know if there is a faster and/or better way to convert a WS 2.35:1 imbedded in a 4:3 frame to a WS 2.35:1 Anamorphic. Here's the way I do it and it gives me very good quality.

1 ) I rip the whole movie to HDD.

2 ) Using DVD2AVI I crop the movie to get rid of the black bars (720x272). I adjust the luminance if necessary and I save as .d2v project

3 ) I convert using VFAPI

4 ) I Resize to 720x360 and expand frame and letterbox image to (720x480 using VirtualDub to frameserve to CCEBASIC

5 ) Encode with CCEBASIC with a 2-pass VBR (Min: 2000 ; Avg: 5000 ; Max: 8000)

6 ) I process the resulting .mpv through DO PULLDOWN (29.976 fps and progressive)

7 ) I author with TMPGEnc DVD Author , muxing the video and the audio.

8 ) Burn the video_ts and audio_ts to DVD-R using Instant CD/DVD


The whole process takes around 7 to 8 hours with the encoding taking most of the time (5-6 hours). I do that on my second PC (Athlon 1.2 GHZ) which gives me time for more serious work (e.g. gaming...) on my primary PC.