Widescreen video on an ipod, deforms video.

[CoyoteStarfish]

Alright, new here. I did search and found no suitable answers so here goes!

I've been converting DVD rips and other various video files to MP4 format using Videora iPod Converter (great little tool) and whenever I transcode anything widescreen (DVD Movies, TV shows such as Star Trek: Enterprise) it converts it down to about the correct size, the aspect ratio seems fine on the computer preview but when it is on the device it stretches the video corner-to-corner.

With some research I have a general understanding of why it does it, what I need to know is how to maintain the proper ratio on the iPod.

The "letterbox" bars would be acceptable, rather than a pan/scan type of fix.

For the record, using:
Videora iPod Converter
Set on MPEG4 QVGA 512kbps Stereo/128kbps

For DVDs I use DVD Decrypter following the outline on the Videora website.

Great website, hope I can find some answers!

Thanksguys!

[CoyoteStarfish]

UPDATE:

Found a simple solution; padding the image to achieve letterbox bars and make a 4:3 video file out of a 16:9 or other widescreen format.

Take the width of the video - in my case 320. By that, calculate the height of a 4:3 image based off of that width, in this case 240. Now subtract the actual video height (178) from the calculated height (240) and you should have 62. Use this number, divided up any way you like to pad the top and bottom of your image by doing the following..

In Videora iPod Converter:
Settings -> Select desired profile -> Edit Profile -> Video -> General 2

Now input your padding values in Top and Bottom. In my case, I put:

Top: 30
Bottom: 32

The offset is due to the fact that FFmpeg spits out an error if either padding value is NOT divisible by a value of 2. So it would not accept 31 as top and bottom. I hope this helps someone else!

[Guiboche]

You shouldn't have to letterbox the video for the iPod. It can playback 320x172 (the 16:9 pixel aspect) fine.

The iPod keeps the aspect ratio, and adds it's own black bars.

I'm guessing the conversion problem is coming from that Videora iPod Converter, as it seems to want to force a 320x240 conversion.....

[CoyoteStarfish]

You shouldn't have to letterbox the video for the iPod. It can playback 320x172 (the 16:9 pixel aspect) fine.

The iPod keeps the aspect ratio, and adds it's own black bars.

I'm guessing the conversion problem is coming from that Videora iPod Converter, as it seems to want to force a 320x240 conversion.....

That is just the thing, it didn't force a 320x240, it forced a 320x178 (rather than 320x172) that actually played fine and kept the correct ratio in Quicktime and iTunes on the PC, but as soon as it went to the iPod it stretched corner to corner.

[rumplestiltskin]

You shouldn't have to letterbox the video for the iPod. It can playback 320x172 (the 16:9 pixel aspect) fine.

The iPod keeps the aspect ratio, and adds it's own black bars.

I'm guessing the conversion problem is coming from that Videora iPod Converter, as it seems to want to force a 320x240 conversion.....

That is just the thing, it didn't force a 320x240, it forced a 320x178 (rather than 320x172) that actually played fine and kept the correct ratio in Quicktime and iTunes on the PC, but as soon as it went to the iPod it stretched corner to corner.

Unfortunately, it's a Videora issue, not the iPod. The app is not setting the proper flags to tell the iPod that it's a "wide-screen" video and that it should letterbox it automatically. Try a different tool. Perhaps MPEG Streamclip will work for you.