How To Maintain 16:9 Ratio Throughout Whole Process

[minko]

I have a Sony DCR-HC42 MiniDV Camcorder.

I record in 16:9 Format - Beautiful video

I capture with WinDV - DV-AVI 16:9 Format - Beautiful Video

I use Windows Movie Maker to assemble movie, light formatting/editing, and save as 30 MBS AVI 16:9 Format - Beautiful Video

I use Sonic MyDVD to maked DVD - Skinny & Tall Video (NOT Beautiful).

I've seen posts about Anamorphic (sp?) but I can't grasp the concept.

Question #1 - Which application should I be using to make a DVD that will allow the final product to be viewed in good proportions in Letterbox Format on 4:3 TV's or Natively in 16:9 Format on Widescreen LCD TV's?

Question #2 - Is Question #1 even worded correctly?

Question #3 - Can someone point to a good article about differences in Screen formats?

[parlitu]

Cinema Craft Encoder has Pan Scan option under Advanced menu.. can create a Mpeg2 file that will display ok on a 4:3 or 16:9 tv.

[guns1inger]

You need to replace MyDVD with dediacted encoding and authoring applications that support 16:9 footage.

Most good encoders (tmpgenc, main concept, CCE, ProCoder) support 16:9 encoding.

DVD Lab (any version) supports 16:9, as does DVD Workshop 2 and a number of others.

How do you want it to be presented on a 4:3 TV ? My preference is that it appear letterboxed, which is taken care of by the DVD player assuming it has been setup correctly, and your DVD authored correctly as 16:9. Pan and Scan is a difficult process to get right if you want it done correctly (that is, not just centred on the frame, but following the action) and isn't worth the time IMO.

[minko]

You need to replace MyDVD with dediacted encoding and authoring applications that support 16:9 footage.

Most good encoders (tmpgenc, main concept, CCE, ProCoder) support 16:9 encoding.

DVD Lab (any version) supports 16:9, as does DVD Workshop 2 and a number of others.

How do you want it to be presented on a 4:3 TV ? My preference is that it appear letterboxed, which is taken care of by the DVD player assuming it has been setup correctly, and your DVD authored correctly as 16:9. Pan and Scan is a difficult process to get right if you want it done correctly (that is, not just centred on the frame, but following the action) and isn't worth the time IMO.

How do I want it presented on a 4:3 TV? I also want it to appear letterboxed. When I buy or rent a DVD, I specifically buy or rent the Widescreen version whenever possible. I have only 4:3 aspect TVs, at the moment, but I don't believe I'll ever buy another again. I've set my DVD player to playback Widescreen DVDs in Letterbox format.

How do I want it presented on a Widescreen TV? As if it were made for that format.

[guns1inger]

Then encode it as 16:9 and author it as 16:9.

As for the ones you have made so far - you might be able to change the AR flag in the video using restream, and the AR flags in the IFO files can be changed using IFOEdit. Might be able to rescue the work you have done so far.

[jagabo]

Both 4:3 and 16:9 DV and DVD use a 720x480 frame size. The only difference is how the video is displayed. You don't really need to do anything special until the last step -- encoding the DV as MPEG2 for DVD. At that step you just specify that the source is 16:9 and you want an anamorphic 16:9 MPEG file.

You can also use DVDPatcher to mark your already encoded MPEG2 files as 16:9.

[minko]

Then encode it as 16:9 and author it as 16:9.

As for the ones you have made so far - you might be able to change the AR flag in the video using restream, and the AR flags in the IFO files can be changed using IFOEdit. Might be able to rescue the work you have done so far.

guns1inger,

That is some great advice. I'll look into changing the AR flag using the options you cited.

I figured all work done to date was simply awash. It would be great if I could rescue them.

parlitu,

Thanks for your advice also. I don't think the Pan/Scan options sound like the format I want, but CCE may be the right avenue - Still trying to learn more about that particular application.

Any other responses, especially to Question #3 would be greatly appreciated.

[minko]

jagabo,

Thanks for the advice - I'll look into DVDPatcher as well!

[jagabo]

jagabo,

Thanks for the advice - I'll look into DVDPatcher as well!

DVDPatcher (I only discovered this program recently) is much faster than Restream because it patches the selected video file rather than restreaming the data into a new file. To change the display aspect ratio it only has to change a single byte.

[mikiem]

"I've seen posts about Anamorphic (sp?) but I can't grasp the concept. "

*Very basically* without a lot of detail...

A smaller video frame has less data to store, and means a smaller video file. Anamorphic is when you take a frame, make it narrower, then tell the player to stretch it back out. You have less data to store, so can use less compression, & hopefully that makes up for detail lost in shrinking the width.

With DVD's, there are 2 main aspects as posted earlier: 4:3 & 16:9. Generally they take wider video, I think about 853 but don't quote me, and resize to 720 width. If the player doesn't know to stretch it out, it looks skinny & narrowed. If your original video is less then full height, and still 720 width, or if you want to resize, encoding letterboxed is an option, & in fact, most widescreen DVDs include additional letterboxing as many directors feel too limited at 16 x 9. Letterboxing can be done quickly in V/Dub or TMPEnc.

[jagabo]

The first anamorphic films used a special lens that distorted (squashed horizontally) a widescreen image so that it fit onto a normal film frame. Then a special lens was used on the projector to restore the widescreen image.

The same is done with digital data on DVDs. The widescreen image is packed into the same 720x480 area as a 4:3 image. The DVD players knows how to restore the 16:9 display aspect ratio.

[mikiem]

"The first anamorphic films used a special lens that distorted (squashed horizontally) a widescreen image so that it fit onto a normal film frame. Then a special lens was used on the projector to restore the widescreen image. "

Trivia AFAIK this is still how a LOT of it's done. If you think about it, perhaps the best way in some cases... Given a camera's CCD (s), & the number of pixels that translates into, in a camera that does fullscreen and widescreen, I'd rather use all those pixels then just the ones in the center.

[Cornucopia]

I have a Sony DCR-HC42 MiniDV Camcorder.

I record in 16:9 Format - Beautiful video

I capture with WinDV - DV-AVI 16:9 Format - Beautiful Video

I use Windows Movie Maker to assemble movie, light formatting/editing, and save as 30 MBS AVI 16:9 Format - Beautiful Video

I use Sonic MyDVD to maked DVD - Skinny & Tall Video (NOT Beautiful).

I've seen posts about Anamorphic (sp?) but I can't grasp the concept.

Question #1 - Which application should I be using to make a DVD that will allow the final product to be viewed in good proportions in Letterbox Format on 4:3 TV's or Natively in 16:9 Format on Widescreen LCD TV's?

Question #2 - Is Question #1 even worded correctly?

Question #3 - Can someone point to a good article about differences in Screen formats?

Well, it looks like a Google search shows that model to have a true 16:9 imager, that records onto the DV tape anamorphically! Very good.

I then assume that WinDV correctly captures and displays the picture in non-letterboxed widescreen?

What about WMM? Does it display as wide 16:9 or as letterboxed? If wide, then it is also correctly interpreting the 16:9 flag that is embedded in the DV-AVI file. (That's more than I hoped for for WMM!)
If it doesn't, use a different editor.

Now, please try a separate encoder that supports Anamorphic 16:9...TMPGEnc, CCE, Mainconcept. Also most batch converters too--Cleaner, Squeeze, ProCoder--just make sure you've got the right template.

When you author (with TDA, DVDLabPro, DVD Workshop2, DVDArchitect, and most of the other higher end apps), set up the project as 16:9 from the get-go. Personally, I hate P&S, so I would go with forcing LB on playback with 4:3 monitors. You could always leave it in "Auto" and let the end-user's player decide. Those are the choices:
For 16:9 monitors -- Full rez widescreen
For 4:3 monitors -- Cropped P&S or Shrunken Letterbox (or very rarely, left as squished anamorphic for Full screen--like those old western credits! )

re: reStream or DVDPatcher, I believe it's too late for that. Most likely MyDVD either cropped or shrunk/letterboxed the DV video before finishing the encoding, so changing the AR flag probably won't help (it'll actually hurt matters)

Try reading the FAQ over at DVD Demystified http://www.dvddemystified.com/. There should be some good info about Anamorphic widescreen DVD there...

Scott

[minko]

The DVD Demystified link is a real jewel -

I haven't been able to test whether or not ReStream or DVDPatcher can rescue my previous projects. I'll report back when I know the answer

Thanks to all who've replied