converting NTSC DV 4:3 to look good in square pixels ...?

[Bansaw]

I've got some footage in 720x480 NTSC DV 4:3, pixel aspect ratio 0.9091.

I need to get that to a square pixel output to show on a computer screen.

What square pixel project settings do I need to have this look good?
(I am using Sony Vegas)

[manono]

I've got some footage in 720x480 NTSC DV 4:3, pixel aspect ratio 0.9091.

I need to get that to a square pixel output to show on a computer screen.

What square pixel project settings do I need to have this look good?
(I am using Sony Vegas)

Crop 8 pixels from each side (or a total of 16 if the black isn't divided evenly) and resize to 640x480.

[jagabo]

Or just resize the entire 720x480 frame to 640x480 (or any 4:3 frame size ratio you want). By the spec, the full 720x480 frame contains the 4:3 image. But many DVDs, especially those recorded from analog video tape, use the inner 704x480 because that is the spec for ITU D1 analog to digital conversion. Nobody in the industry seems to care about the difference. In any case, the difference isn't visible unless you break out a ruler and measure the picture. The deciding factor may be if there are ~8 pixel black borders at the left and right edges of the frame.

[manono]

It's DV AVI, though, and not a DVD. It's most likely from an analog source, I would guess, and that's why I didn't qualify my response. I also agree that even just resizing the whole thing to some 1.33:1 ratio (if it doesn't have any black bars, for example) won't make a lot of difference because most likely no one will be able to tell the difference anyway.

[poisondeathray]

What square pixel project settings do I need to have this look good?
(I am using Sony Vegas)

But you don't change the project settings in vegas. They should match the footage, ie. NTSC 720x480 , lower field first, PAR 0.9091 .

What you do change are the render settings to 640x480 plus whatever format you are using.

If you render to a progressive format, vegas will deinterlace depending on what you have set in the project settings (i.e. if it's set to blend, it will blend; if it's set to interpolate, it will interpolate) . Neither is very good (vegas doesn't do a good job of deinterlacing), but most people leave it set to interpolate if they use vegas to deinterlace

[Bansaw]

What square pixel project settings do I need to have this look good?
(I am using Sony Vegas)

But you don't change the project settings in vegas. They should match the footage, ie. NTSC 720x480 , lower field first, PAR 0.9091 .

What you do change are the render settings to 640x480 plus whatever format you are using.

If you render to a progressive format, vegas will deinterlace depending on what you have set in the project settings (i.e. if it's set to blend, it will blend; if it's set to interpolate, it will interpolate) . Neither is very good (vegas doesn't do a good job of deinterlacing), but most people leave it set to interpolate if they use vegas to deinterlace

Thanks...
I have actually a mixture of footage. Some from 720x480 PAR 0.0901. And some from another camera which is giving me square pixel format at a different frame size.

[poisondeathray]

Can you provide more information on the other mixtures of footage? use mediainfo (view=>text) if you don't know

You usually set the project properties to the dominant footage (whatever you use the most of)

All different spec footage will be conformed to those timeline settings (project properties)

What are your end goals (is it only a 640x480p29.97 or 59.94p?) progressive export? or multiple exports like DVD-video plus something else ?

[jagabo]

It's DV AVI, though, and not a DVD.

Ah, I misread the original post and title as "DVD", not "DV"!