Need help quickly converting (stretching, really) a 4:3 mpeg into 16:9

[rhaynes999]

I have a lengthy (2 hour) mpeg-2 file. I created it using capture software for this tv-to-USB video creator called Dazzle. I fed it 16:9 video, and it captured all of it, but squished it into 4:3. So all of the info is there, but its squished.

I'm trying to create a quick DVD using DVD Creator Pro software. When I input the video, it comes in as 4:3, and when I play it on my DVD player it's the same squished 4:3.

Is there some way to convert this- or tell it to be- 16:9 without totally re-compressing the video?

I did it in TMPGEnc, but its totally re-compressing the video and its taking hours.

[rhaynes999]

Oh, I did try VirtualDub for MPEG-2, but it seems to want to save as AVI.

[guns1inger]

DVD Patcher can patch the VOB files with a 16:9 header flag. IFOAR2WS can change the IFO files to match. Then burn a new copy.

[jagabo]

The only difference between a 4:3 and 16:9 MPEG file on DVD is only a flag that tells the player which aspect ratio to use. They are both 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL). All you have to do is tell you DVD authoring software the file should be displayed at 16:9.

[rhaynes999]

The only difference between a 4:3 and 16:9 MPEG file on DVD is only a flag that tells the player which aspect ratio to use. They are both 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL). All you have to do is tell you DVD authoring software the file should be displayed at 16:9.

Any idea how to do that in DVD Lab Pro? It seems to want to just take the aspect ratio of the video and use that, and not change anything?

[guns1inger]

You have to patch the video first, as the 16:9 flag is usually added during the encoding. Once patched, DLP will happily see it as 16:9. DLP sets the AR of the VTS based on the AR of the video it contains.

[rhaynes999]

Thanks everyone, the DVDPatcher seemed to work well, and I found something on the same site called ReStream which seems slightly better- and I think it worked!

[guns1inger]

Both are great tools. ReStream has the limitation of only working on an elementary video stream, whereas DVD Patcher can patch program streams (MPG files) and VOBs, so it can be used to fix an already authored DVD, something ReStream cannot do. Keep both in your kit, as there is a place for both.

[netmask56]

You can fix it with VSO ConvertXtoDVD (current version) and it is quite quick.

[guns1inger]

You can fix it with VSO ConvertXtoDVD (current version) and it is quite quick.

Does it re-encode the video ? The patching methods are compliant and lossless because there is no re-encoding.

I get the impression, from the number of times someone here posts "ConvertXtoDVD can do it", that people are using ConvertXtoDVD to solve problems with files by re-encoding, rather than using the proper tools to fix the issue. While ConvertXtoDVD may be able to solve the problem by re-encoding the file, this causes a generational loss in quality, whereas the proper methods do not. ConvertXtoDVD is not a general panacea to all DVD related issues.

[rhaynes999]

You can fix it with VSO ConvertXtoDVD (current version) and it is quite quick.

Does it re-encode the video ? The patching methods are compliant and lossless because there is no re-encoding.

I get the impression, from the number of times someone here posts "ConvertXtoDVD can do it", that people are using ConvertXtoDVD to solve problems with files by re-encoding, rather than using the proper tools to fix the issue. While ConvertXtoDVD may be able to solve the problem by re-encoding the file, this causes a generational loss in quality, whereas the proper methods do not. ConvertXtoDVD is not a general panacea to all DVD related issues.

Yep! This was exactly my original issue. I didn't want to re-encode. The quality is one thing, but for a 2 hour DVD quality mpeg... it takes FOREVER! I figured there was a way to just patch the file.

And, indeed, after playing around with everything DVDPatcher was the way to do this. Thanks again!

My only minor complaint with DVDPatcher is when you load a file, it doesn't pre-set all the options to what the original video was at.

So if you want to change the aspect ratio, you do that but then you have to remember to go one-by-one to the other options to make sure you put them back to where they were. For example, the height and width need to be put back to 720 x 480 even though the video was always 720 x 480 and I have no intention of changing that.

[wulf109]

IFOEDIT allows you to change the flag in the ifo file. No processing required.

[usually_quiet]

IFOEDIT allows you to change the flag in the ifo file. No processing required.

Sometimes that is not enough. It depends on the player you have. Mine seems to want the flag in the video itself to be 16:9 as well.

[guns1inger]

Ditto. It varies form player to player, so to be safe I do both.

[darkknight145]

You can also use VideoRedo, if your file is a compliant MPEG2 just open the file then hit save as and select the aspect ratio in the options,won't need to re-encode