How the h... do I remove those black bars?!?

[Renton]

Before converting fra Avi to mpeg1 I would like to remove the black bars at the upper and bottom part of a movie. Anyone have a good trick? What does it do to the picture on my tv?

With respect
Renton

[kinneera]

I think we need a howto guide regarding aspect ratios...this question comes up too often.

Those black bars are preserving the aspect ratio of your video. Removing them will either distort your video or reduce the quality of your video.

Is there anyone left in the world who understands why movies are often letterboxed?!?! It's the same friggin concept!!

[Renton]

Pardon Me!
But I kind of have a life besides converting AVI files. And as I have only converted 1 movie I did not find the question that stupid.
Do I understand you right......the bars must stay!?
Flat on the ground..
Renton

[kinneera]

I apologize if I seem a bit testy, but I must admit I'm still fairly amazed that so many people seem to be unfamiliar with the concept of letterboxing.

But yes, the short answer is that the black bars probably should stay. Your AVI is probably a rip of a widescreen movie, thus the aspect ratio was 16:9, which will not look right for obvious reasons when played back on a 4:3 aspect ration screen without them.

[Renton]

Thank you. You learn something new every day.
regs
Renton

[pacmania_2001]

If you want to get rid of them when encoding the avi file in TMPG look in the settings tab and their will be a thing in their about aspect ratios.
This wasnt that stupid a question. I havent seen one about it lately but then again i dont really spend much time in the conversion forum

[z68h]

Renteon Wrote:
Pardon Me!
But I kind of have a life besides converting AVI files. And as I have only converted 1 movie I did not find the question that stupid.
Do I understand you right......the bars must stay!?
Flat on the ground..
Renton
-------------

the question was not stupid but did you try the SEARCH feature on the forum to see if it had been asked before?

-mark

[thxkid]

Do like most people, zoom up, loose the bars and have a crappy looking video just like VHS.
Or
Leave it like it is, preserve the correct ratio the director wanted you to see with out cutting off 20% in a 1:85 ratio or 40% in a 2:35 ratio. Enjoy a must better looking picture, might be smaller but it is a sharper picture than when it is zoomed up.