320x240 avi's to Half-D1 Resolution

[louv68]

Hello all.

I would like to convert some 320x240 4:3 NTSC avi's to DVD. I believe they are DivX3. In your opinion, would it be best to convert them into Half-D1 resolution? If so, is there a freeware application you can recommend that can do this?

I attempted using the Half-D1 setting in FAVC, but it gave me an odd resolution - something like 352x480 (I'm not on my home computer right now, so I'm not sure if this is accurate.) All I know is that I now have considerably large bars on the left and right. Will my DVD players correct this to full screen automatically? I thought the conversion would have made it 352 x 240? I know I can convert it to 720x480 with no problem, but wouldn't this further degrade the picture? Thanks for your input.

[mats.hogberg]

352x480 is 1/2 D1 (NTSC). If flagged correctly (4:3) it should look OK on the TV.
I would keep it 352x240 (also a valid NTSC DVD res) if I was you. Resizing should always be avoided if possible.

/Mats

[Alex_ander]

There can be reasons for resizing to full screen (if you have enough space to use higher bitrates and the picture is worth it): resizing to half-D is uni-dimensional and further resizing it in a player in the other dimension is not the same as bi-dimentional resizing in proper software.

[louv68]

352x480 is 1/2 D1 (NTSC). If flagged correctly (4:3) it should look OK on the TV. I would keep it 352x240 (also a valid NTSC DVD res) if I was you. Resizing should always be avoided if possible.

Thank you for your reply. What freeware software can I use to keep it at 352 x 240 and also not getting too complicated?

Thank you too Alex_ander

[mats.hogberg]

Don't know, as I rarely do AVI to DVD, and when I do, even more rarely use all-in-one converters. Maybe someone else have an idea?

/Mats

[Mr_Odwin]

You can just select VCD Resolution in FAVC if it worked out for you. That equates to 352x240.

[louv68]

You can just select VCD Resolution in FAVC if it worked out for you. That equates to 352x240.

Do you mean it will convert it to VCD resolution or make it a VCD? The thought did cross my mind. I actually attempted what you said in Avi2DVD last night, but tried to force it as a DVD. The resulting video was located at the upper 1/4 of the screen and was all jarbled. If I do convert it to VCD, wouldn't this really degrade the picture? I haven't played around with VCD's enough to know how good a quality they can be. The last one I made, made the picture look like SLP on VHS.

[RabidDog]

You could make a HI-bitrate VCD (mpeg1) not strictly to the standards, but they are playable on most players and they can keep all the juice from the files you have. I sometimes made VCD's with 1800 bitrate and they looked pretty good and there was no problem playing them on any of three players. ALternatively create them as mpeg2 in the same dimensions and author them as a dvd (320x240 is a valid NTSC dvd ratio) ie with menus etc etc.

They would look jarbled or gumbled if you try 1/2 D1, you need 1/4 D1 (CIF)

they must be pretty old if they're divx3 ?

[Mr_Odwin]

You can just select VCD Resolution in FAVC if it worked out for you. That equates to 352x240.

Do you mean it will convert it to VCD resolution or make it a VCD? The thought did cross my mind. I actually attempted what you said in Avi2DVD last night, but tried to force it as a DVD. The resulting video was located at the upper 1/4 of the screen and was all jarbled. If I do convert it to VCD, wouldn't this really degrade the picture? I haven't played around with VCD's enough to know how good a quality they can be. The last one I made, made the picture look like SLP on VHS.

It will make a dvd and it will be vcd resolution. FAVC makes dvds, not vcds. So, you can still have a menu, chapters, etc.

[louv68]

You can just select VCD Resolution in FAVC if it worked out for you. That equates to 352x240.

Do you mean it will convert it to VCD resolution or make it a VCD? The thought did cross my mind. I actually attempted what you said in Avi2DVD last night, but tried to force it as a DVD. The resulting video was located at the upper 1/4 of the screen and was all jarbled. If I do convert it to VCD, wouldn't this really degrade the picture? I haven't played around with VCD's enough to know how good a quality they can be. The last one I made, made the picture look like SLP on VHS.

It will make a dvd and it will be vcd resolution. FAVC makes dvds, not vcds. So, you can still have a menu, chapters, etc.

Thanks. I'll give it a go at it tonight.

[louv68]

Mr_Odwin,

Selecting VCD Resolution in FAVC worked great. Thank you for the suggestion.