720x480 MPEG-2 --> 640x360 MP4 (remove bars)

[moxiecat]

I have a 720x480 MPEG-2 file that I need to upload to YouTube. It's a widescreen shot, but the top and bottom bars are embedded in the picture. I would like to crop the image so that YouTube receives a file that is widescreen.

I'm using Handbrake to convert it to MP4, and I'm mainly posting here to make sure that the size/cropping parameters I'm using are correct. In the Picture Quality - Size pane:
Width: 720
Height: 360
Keep Aspect Ratio: unticked
Anamorphic: Custom
Display Width: 640
PAR Width: 8
PAR Height: 9
Cropping: "60" in top and bottom boxes, 0 in left and right boxes

At the bottom, the line reads:
Source: 720x480, Output: 720x360, Anamorphic: 640x360 Custom

Questions:
- Are these settings correct for what I am planning to do?
- Will YouTube accept an MP4 that is 640x360, or will it stretch it in some weird way?
- Is there any way (or reason) to try to change the parameters to 853x480? Yes, I know that will make the picture fuzzy and why, and when I tried it in Handbrake, I couldn't get it to work anyway. I only wondered if that would make the file more compatible with YouTube, since that's the size that is recommended for SD widescreen.

Thanks for your help.

[jagabo]

What's the DAR of the MPEG 2 video? 4:3 or 16:9?

[smrpix]

I usually use 640x360 with 1:1 par for client screeners.

There's no reason not to try a short section, 15 seconds or so, at both 640x360 and 852x480 and see which you like better. (853 is technically correct, but don't use uneven numbers.) YouTube re-encodes everything.

[moxiecat]

The MPEG-2 loads as 4:3 in both MPEG Streamclip and Womble MPEG Video Wizard, so I'm pretty sure that's the DAR. When I exported the MPEG-2 out of Womble (used for editing the file) at 16:9, the picture became stretched and distorted, and the black bars were still there.

I had a lot of trouble trying to get Handbrake to increase the dimension to 853, but I can try again.

[smrpix]

I had a lot of trouble trying to get Handbrake to increase the dimension to 853, but I can try again.

Handbrake will never allow 853 for the reasons I mentioned before.

[moxiecat]

Smrpix, last week I exported a number of anamorphic, widescreen, SD videos out of Handbrake. The size of the resulting MP4 was 853x480. So yes, it does allow 853 width, and in fact, defaulted to that export size when I imported those videos (MPEG-2 720x480 with a 16:9 flag) into the program.

[jagabo]

As far as I know, there's no way to increase the frame size in Handbrake. The 853x480 you saw was not the encoded frame size but rather the calculated size after adjusting for DAR or SAR. But it probably won't even display at that size because most video is YUV 4:2:0 subsampled and 853 is not a legal size for that type of chroma subsampling (only even values are legal). It will end up 852 or 854 on the screen if you watch it 480 pixels tall.

[moxiecat]

Looks like I'm sticking with 640x360 then. I will also try encoding the MPEG-2 as a larger size MP4, with crops, in MPEG Streamclip; at least that would show if the resulting file looks horrible or not (and compare them on YouTube).

Thank you for the assistance.

[jagabo]

Why don't you encode at the source's frame size (just cropping black borders) and sample aspect ratio? That way you don't lose any detail from downsizing.

[newpball]

I have a 720x480 MPEG-2 file that I need to upload to YouTube. It's a widescreen shot, but the top and bottom bars are embedded in the picture. I would like to crop the image so that YouTube receives a file that is widescreen.

First thing, did you already try to upload the video and see if you try to find a solution for something that is not a problem in the first place?

The biggest mistake one can make is to destroy vertical resolution, unfortunately that seems a rather common operation, people simply do not seem to understand what they are doing.


Could you upload a few seconds of your source using DGIndex?

[Skiller]

For better quality on YouTube you should actually upscale to 720p, or even 1080p, because relatively speaking YouTube allocates more bitrate for the higher resolutions than it does for the lower ones. It's pretty stupid (I mean why not give 480p more bitrate so it doesn't look so crappy?), but that's the way they do it.

[manono]

For better quality on YouTube you should actually upscale to 720p, or even 1080p, because relatively speaking YouTube allocates more bitrate for the higher resolutions than it does for the lower ones. It's pretty stupid (I mean why not give 480p more bitrate so it doesn't look so crappy?), but that's the way they do it.

I was going to say that if he makes it 640x360 he'll only get a 360p video on YouTube and suggest at least going for 852x480 so he can get 480p. Me, I don't really see the need to upscale 360 lines of vertical resolution to twice that, but your reasons are valid for your sources. It's just that he has a crappy 4:3 MPG source and won't be upscaling to 720p using NNEDI3_RPOW2 or some other decent upscaler, so I sort of fail to see the point.

The biggest mistake one can make is to destroy vertical resolution,

He's not. After cropping, 360 is all there is.