Aspect ratio change (permanent)

[DB83]

@jaggabo

Followed your last comments and, yes, mediainfo now reports the video as 16:9. Except it still displays in players, as before, at 1:1. I assume therefore that the issue is the PAR. Any ideas how that can be fixed ?

[jagabo]

It worked in most players I tried. MPCHC, VLC, SMPlayer, PotPlayer. WMP showed it square. KMPlayer showed the picture with a 16:9 aspect ratio but in a square window with letterbox bars. Make sure your players are set up correctly.

[DB83]

I do not see how I can set up my players any differently. Both mpchc and vlc play this 'square' with AR set as 'default'. Of course if I manually set the AR to 16:9 then all is well. But I had that before the remux. I am not using current versions of either player but I fail to see that making any difference.

Other videos, both 4:3 and 16:9 ones display perfectly correctly with these settings.

[jagabo]

H.264 AR Changer can change existing SAR flags in an h.264 stream but I don't know of any tool that will insert SAR flags into a stream that doesn't have them. This video doesn't have SAR flags. That leaves setting the AR flags in the header as your only resort. Most players can be configured to obey AR flags in MP4 or MKV headers.

[DB83]

Well I (and possibly the OP) am obviously missing something if you configured both mpchc and vlc to obey the AR flag without a manual over-ride.

Really scratching my head on this one since, for fear of repeating myself, other vids, in particular mpgs, other mp4's and wmv's, are fine. The only real difference with these is that they have the proper pixels and the DAR flag. With this remux I see the DAR at 16:9 but it also quotes the original DAR and it seems the player is ignoring the former.

If there is no 'magic' setting then it must be a version anomoly.

Sorry to be a PITA but esentially this is the OPs topic question.

Edit: Just for a laff I d/l'd the latest version of vlc. Playback is still the same.

[ceteganda]

Hi, all
DB83, I'm with you through step 5.

1. So the program creates a DVD folder within a folder I create. I assume that I can create the output folder on the desktop so I can find it easily later?
2. I haven't downloaded IMGBURN yet, but before I start creating coasters, does IMGBURN then want the DVD folder inside the folder I created, or both folders? Or does IMGBURN work in conjunction with AVStoDVD and create the DVD automatically, instead of having to load the DVD file into it as a separate operation?
3. MP4MUXER? Is this a program which needs to be used as part of the process, in order to modify the original file before loading it into AVStoDVD?

P.S. I probably mentioned it in my original post, but I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium, 64 bit; anyone having a problem with either program, using Windows 7?

Thanks again! You guys deserve a medal for taking this much time and effort for a rookie.

[DB83]

1. Do not think so. The easiest way is to alter the destination folder to a root directory eg c:\ (ideally not on your OS hdd)
2. No. You just import the 'video_ts' folder not the folder inside the folder) into imgburm.
3. No. If I read jagabo correctly that should enable the mp4 file to be permanently written to and display as 16:9. Unfortunately, to date, I have not got this to work.

PS. Not as far as I know. 32 bit programs run fine on 64 bit OS. Not the other way around tho.

[jagabo]

duplicate post

[jagabo]

Well I (and possibly the OP) am obviously missing something if you configured both mpchc and vlc to obey the AR flag without a manual over-ride.

Well, it looks like the MP4 file I was testing with wasn't directly from Mp4Muxer. I had run several experiments and deleted most the files except an MKV file created with MMG (mkvtoolnix) and an MP4 file which I thought was the output of Mp4Muxer. But that file might have been the Mp4Muxer file remuxed with ffmpeg. So I downloaded the MP4 file from Youtube again and started over. I found this:

The MP4 file created with Mp4Muxer with 1280:720 display flag did not play with a 16:9 DAR in any of the players I mentioned except SMPlayer. So most players don't seem to understand the DAR flag that Mp4Muxer adds to the MP4 header.

Remuxing the output of Mp4Muxer with a batch file:

 ffmpeg" -i %1 -vcodec copy -acodec copy "%~n1.ffmpeg.mp4"

resulted in a file that played with 16:9 DAR in all players except WMP (note that WMP's behavior will depend on what DirectShow MP4 reader/splitter and codecs you have installed).

So ffmpeg saw the 1280x720 DAR flag and added something to the MP4 header that most players seem to understand. MediaInfo showed both files to have a 720x720 frame size with 16:9 DAR. Things like this why I never use MP4 myself. I've settled on MKV as my container of choice.

By the way, you can remux the original MP4 video with 16:9 DAR flags with ffmpeg with the following batch file:

 ffmpeg" -i %1 -vcodec copy -acodec copy -aspect 16:9 "%~n1.ffmpeg.mp4"

So you don't need to use Mp4Muxer at all.

[ceteganda]

I'll give it a shot and keep all my fingers and toes crossed! Looking at the options in IMGBURN, I'm assuming the option I want is "write files/folders to disc" and load the video_ts folder created by AVStoDVD?

Thanks

[DB83]

@ceteganda. Yes. That's the one.

@jagabo. By some modern miracle, having NEVER used ffmpeg before (and probably never again , I actually, after a few false starts - using actual filenames rather than batch names - got it it work.

Only tested in vlc but, as you say, at AR set at 'default' we have a winner. Done with the first command line as I was 'playing' and 'cursing' in no particular order before you posted the 2nd version.

Thanks for your input.

[jagabo]

@jagabo. By some modern miracle, having NEVER used ffmpeg before (and probably never again , I actually, after a few false starts - using actual filenames rather than batch names - got it it work.

If you use the batch file you can drag/drop files onto it.

[DB83]

If the OP wishes to try this, it may be easier if you were give the code for the full batch file. Again, I must confess I have not used these for more years than I have fingers and the '%...." always confused me hence the actual substitution.

[jagabo]

I don't know where he has ffmpeg installed. But since he's using a 64 bit version of Windows; if using 64 bit ffmpeg:

"c:\program files\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe" -i %1 -vcodec copy -acodec copy -aspect 16:9 "%~n1.ffmpeg.mp4"

or if using 32 bit ffmpeg:

"c:\program files (x86)\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe" -i %1 -vcodec copy -acodec copy -aspect 16:9 "%~n1.ffmpeg.mp4"

Give the batch file a suitable name like "Remux MP4 16x9.bat" and put it anywhere that's convenient (in a folder with your MP4 file? On the Desktop?). Then drag and drop files onto it. If you put the bat file in your SendTo folder you can right click on any file and select "Remux MP4 16x9.bat" from the SendTo item on the context menu.

Sample bat file attached (in ZIP).

[DB83]

@jagabo.

Thank you. If I said that I had forgotten about the 'trick' of drag 'n drop on to a batch file I would be a liar. I'll come over as a complete wuzzock in saying that it is really a cool move and, yes, it does save having to re-write the batch every time.

It would be interesting if someone could explain why this one with ffmpeg works whereas the other one, which has an identical mediainfo report, does not.

But, for now, if the OP wants maximum quality (or does not want the dvd) this is the way to go.