Convert 2.35:1 to 16:9 for including additional scenes in a movie

[Yanta]

We're still in lock down so I was hoping to use the time to create some edited movies for personal use. I want to integrate deleted and/or additional scenes between various versions (like theatrical, extended, unrated, directors cuts etc).

I am editing the 1979 Theatrical version of Alien. It is 16:9

I also have the Directors cut disc and I want to take two scenes from the DC and add them to the theatrical cut to create my own personal cut. The DC is 2.35:1.

I used VideoRedo to cut the various scenes that I want

When I started the join the video ended up with a black bar that takes up 50% of the screen. I'm guessing that's because the scenes are at different resolutions.

I tried using MKVToolNix but that didn't work.

Is there a way I can convert my DC disc to 16:9 so I can complete my personal cut?

EDIT: I used xMedia Recode to change resolution. Playing that re-encoded section looks perfect with potplayer, but as soon as I join it with VideoRedo the black bars are gone and image stretched for the DC scene and present in the theatrical scene.

Clearly I have no clue what I'm doing, but I want to learn

[ProWo]

Alien (1997) has an AR of 2.39:1 according to IMDB, so the 16:9 version (if it doesn't have black bars) is cropped. To insert a part of the DC you have to crop it and maybe resize it to the same resolution as the TV (you don't write anything about the resolution of the two movies).
So if your TV version has a resolution of 1280x720 (16:9) and your DV version has a resolution of 1280x536 (2.39:1), then you have to cut out an area of 954x536 (16:9) from the DC image and resize it to 1280x720. The framerate of the two movies must of course also be the same. This is only possible with re-encoding.
Then you can merge the two parts with Videoredo.
For the encoding part you can use my clever FFmpeg-GUI.

[Yanta]

Here's the resolution information for each file.
Both unedited versions have black bars.

Theatrical version

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings                          : CABAC / 3 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 3 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 1 h 56 min
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 26.3 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 40.0 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.529
Stream size                              : 21.4 GiB (98%)
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.25 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-4 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / slices=4 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=1 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=1 / weightp=0 / keyint=24 / keyint_min=1 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=24 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=26292 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=40000 / vbv_bufsize=30000 / nal_hrd=vbr / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Directors Cut

ideo
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings                          : CABAC / 5 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 5 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 1 h 55 min
Bit rate                                 : 12.1 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 817 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.35:1
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.322
Stream size                              : 9.81 GiB (78%)
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=48 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=25 / lookahead_threads=4 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=0 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=8 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=17.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

[davexnet]

Can you provide a short video sample of both versions? 10 -15 seconds should be enough

[ProWo]

Crop the 2.35 movie like this:
Left 236, top 1, right 236, bottom 0.
This gives an resolution of 1448x816. Resize this to 1920x1080 and encode to new video.
With my clever Ffmpeg-GUI this can be done easely.

[aedipuss]

alien 1979 was always 240/1. what have you got, some cropped tv version of the movie? you're missing a lot of the visible part of the film i'd get the real thing and then there won't be any issue between the 2 versions.

[hello_hello]

Yanta, do you use Avisynth at all? If not, there might be too much of a learning curve, but if you already know Avisynth it's pretty easy. Post back to let us know if you've used Avisynth and if you're happy to re-encode both videos. I'd resize both to 1280x720 so the director's cut doesn't need to be upscaled after it's cropped to 16:9, use Avisynth to select the frame ranges from each video you want to encode, join the sections together in a script and encode the whole lot as a new video.

By the way, if the Director's cut is standard YV12 video, the height must be a multiple of two, so 817 pixels is theoretically impossible. Has it been encoded to another color format?

[Yanta]

@hello_hello. I've never used avisynth. I'm just starting out and have a lot to learn.

@aedipuss: The disc was one I got from my brother who got it from a $2 store. It's very hard to find (at least, not paying $40 or more)

@ProWo: I'll give it a go. It crashes. See below..

@davexnet: Attached (hopefully). These were both cut at 00:03:00 - 00:03:10

Clever FFMpeg-Gui..

See the end of this message for details on invoking 
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception (0x80004005): The system cannot find the file specified
   at System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo)
   at clever_FFmpeg_GUI.Module1.ShowVideoTracks()
   at clever_FFmpeg_GUI.Form2.Show_Tracks()
   at clever_FFmpeg_GUI.Form2.Button2_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.3690.0 built by: NET472REL1LAST_C
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework64/v4.0.30319/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
clever FFmpeg GUI
    Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.7.1
    CodeBase: file:///H:/ffmpeg/clever%20FFmpeg%20GUI.exe
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.VisualBasic
    Assembly Version: 10.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 14.7.3190.0 built by: NET472REL1LAST_C
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Microsoft.VisualBasic/v4.0_10.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.3690.0 built by: NET472REL1LAST_C
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.3640.0 built by: NET472REL1LAST_C
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.3190.0 built by: NET472REL1LAST_C
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.3630.0 built by: NET472REL1LAST_B
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.3190.0 built by: NET472REL1LAST_C
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
Accessibility
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.3190.0 built by: NET472REL1LAST_C
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Accessibility/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Accessibility.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Runtime.Remoting
    Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 4.7.3190.0 built by: NET472REL1LAST_C
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Runtime.Remoting/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Runtime.Remoting.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
    <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

[davexnet]

You'll probably get some other suggestions, but this is my first thought. Simply crop the top and bottom of the theatrical cut
to match the other, then join them:

thv=lwlibavvideosource("C:\Users\davex\Desktop\ALIEN.Theatrical (1)-002.mkv")
thaud=lwlibavaudiosource("C:\Users\davex\Desktop\ALIEN.Theatrical (1)-002.mkv")
thv=crop(thv,0,140,-0,-140)
dcv=lwlibavvideosource("C:\Users\davex\Desktop\Alien (1979) - 1080p [Directors Cut] (1)-002.mkv")
dcaud=lwlibavaudiosource("C:\Users\davex\Desktop\Alien (1979) - 1080p [Directors Cut] (1)-002.mkv")
th = audiodub(thv,thaud)
dc = audiodub(dcv,dcaud)
th ++ dc

Then encode in Virtualdub2

[ProWo]

@ProWo: I'll give it a go. It crashes.

Try with the newest beta:
https://files.videohelp.com/u/292773/clever_ffmpeg_gui_newest_beta.7z