newbie widescreen idvd question

[irs-away]

i searched the forum and found some posts, but they don't seem to be working for me when i try them.

I have an anime episode subbed of last exile, right. and so i want to import it into idvd (3 episodes actually) and just make a nice simple dvd with custom menus that i created. no problem. idvd recognizes them and everything, but since they're in widescreen, it squashes the video to make it fit when it converts to dvd format.

keep in mind that i converted all my .avi's into .mov using divx doctor 2.

the video files info is as follows:
640 x 360
23.98 fps
millions of colors
3ivx d4 4.0.4
sound in mp3 48000 hz stereo

i tried importing the video into imovie and then just using a widescreen effect to auto-resize and add the black bars mask to the video, but i get error -40 everytime i try to import any of these episodes.

i was going to try to resize the video in quicktime pro (it's regg'd), but it only lets me move the video around in the size option under video movie properties. then i would have added a black mask underneath it in quicktime pro, but since i couldn't resize it (like enter in a size i want it to be...) what's the point of adding a mask?

i think the quicktime way is the only way i can do this, but i can't figure out how to resize it properly.

the other problem is, i need a black picture of any size that is in quicktime format, but i don't have any programs on the mac to make pictures, let alone to save them to a quicktime format so i can import it into quicktime pro.

i also don't want to just convert it using ffmpegx into a bin/cue file (even though i can merge more than one episode into one big .mov file) and burn it to dvd without menus and a slideshow.

my crappy squashed dvd came otu sweet with all the custom backgrounds, audio and menus i made and i was able to fit 3 (i wish 4 - if i edit the video's, i bet i could get them to 4 video's at 90 minutes instead of 4 video's at 98 minutes total) on the dvd.

any help would be greatly appreciated. email me at:
alebratu at optonline. N E T
if you can make a black mask quicktime file for me.

hope someone can offer somethign helpful. i'm at a stand-still.

[mikepenn]

A company called virtix makes a 16:9 plug in for imovie.

[geek rock]

is there a program for os x that can edit IFO files?

if so, you should be able to use that to just set your existing widescreen video files to be flagged as 16:9. that way they'll be automatically letterboxed on a 4:3 TV.

-Mark

[irs-away]

mike penn: yes, i have it installed, but i'm unable to use it because importing keeps giving me a error -40 message most fo the way through the importing process.

geek rock: i don't know. the thing is, i am trying to do this through idvd and ifo files aren't created until the cd is actually burnt to disc. (i would imagine)

[galactica]

there is no IFOEDIT equivalent for OSX that I am aware of, unless you are a HEXEDIT master.

it can be run with VPC and works quite nice.

[irs-away]

i'm pretty sure gumby has an ifo editor. check it out
gumby.misplacedmac.com

this still doesn't help me. i can't edit an ifo on a .mov file, can i?

[geek rock]

i'm pretty sure gumby has an ifo editor. check it out
gumby.misplacedmac.com

this still doesn't help me. i can't edit an ifo on a .mov file, can i?

burn your movie in idvd as it is to a DVDRW, then copy it back to the hard drive and do the ifo editing, then burn another disc with the edited files. it's a little bit of extra time, but it's quicker than re-encoding your discs.

-Mark

[irs-away]

what do you edit and what do you change? there are many ifo files. i'm new to this, so please...

[galactica]

VTS_01_0.IFO file hex address 200

Open your VTS_01_0.IFO in HexEditor,
Locate hex address 200
Make changes as need, then save.

Here is an example: 16:9, 740x480, AC3 audio

0000200: F9 00 00 01 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

Aspect Ratio
43 = 4:3
F9 = 16:9

Resolution NTSC (PAL)
00 = 720x480 (720x576)
1 = 704x480 (704x576)
0A = 352x480 (352x576)
0C = 352x240 (352x288)

Audio Coding
00 = AC3
02 = Mpeg-1
03 = Mpeg-2ext
04 = LPCM
06 = DTS

this may help you out. Explains how to use HexEdit to change the ifo settings. I believe you want to open the largest .ifo in your folder and edit that one, but then again it could be all of them!

Im not entirely sure how to go about it in IFOEDIT (for VPC) if you have that, im just now learning that app! but I imagine it can handle it.

ill look around some.