xvid to DVD - resolution and aspect ratio woes

[tarrickb]

Hello all..
i have a xvid source file with the following properties:
FPS = 23.97
Resolution = 576x240
Aspect (i think) = (2.40:1) [=12:5]

I'm using TMPGEnc to conver to MPEG-2 and need help with the resolution/aspect ratio settings. When i set the resolution to 576x240 and have the aspect ratio at 16:9 the video is stretched.

What options can replicate my source???? Thanks!

[jagabo]

Set Source Aspect Ratio to 1:1 VGA.
Set Video Arrange Method to Full Screen Keep Aspect Ratio.
Set output to 720x480, 16:9, 3:2 pulldown when playback.

[tarrickb]

what is the difference between leaving FPS at 23.97 instead of using 3:2 pulldown???

[jagabo]

There is no difference in the way the frames themselves are encoded, but 3:2 pull down flags are added that tell the DVD player how to output the requisite 59.94 fields per second from the 23.976 frames per second video. Many players will choke if the pulldown flags aren't present.

[tarrickb]

wicked...thx for clearing that up

[FulciLives]

You can also use FitCD to determine what is the correct resolution to resize too then use the FitCD Avisynth AVS file it creates.

For example.

Here is your source in FitCD:



First let me explain how to use FitCD ... it is rather simple. First you need to install the latest version of AviSynth which is pretty much straight forward as it comes with an installer.

FitCD is just a ZIP file and you just extract the ZIP file into a DIRECTORY of your choice and it is "installed". Just click on the FitCD icon. You can even make a desktop shortcut for it and forget where you put it.

After you open FitCD you want to click on SOURCE which is near the left hand side just under where it says, "MPEG RESIZING"

You can then browse to your AVI file and load it up. In my example I created an AVI file called "test.avi" with a resolution of 576x240 to match your AVI file.

After you load the file you will see the resolution next to where it says SOURCE. Here in my example you see it says 576 x 240

Next to that you set the aspect ratio of the original. I've set it to "1:1 Monitor" and that is correct for all MPEG-4 files which includes DivX and XviD.

You will see that there are checkmarks on the left hand side for PAL, ANAMORPHIC and ITU-R BT.604-4

If the source is NTSC you do NOT checkmark PAL. You only checkmark PAL when the source is PAL or has a running time of 25fps (which is PAL)

For MPEG-4 (DivX and XviD etc.) do NOT checkmark ANAMORPHIC.

The ITU-R BT.604-4 option "depends" and it is a "sticky" thing to talk about but in most cases you do NOT want this checkmarked.

Now see were it says, "Crop: .... ACCURATE" ... there are several options in that dropdown box but in most cases it should be set to ACCURATE

The other options like ROUND TO are FitCD default settings and should be left that way.

So now the SOURCE is set up.

The parameters for the DESTINATIOIN are on the RIGHT HAND side.

Since you are making a DVD you want to select 720x480 in the drop down box ... this is the box that in my example says "DVD 720"

PAL should be left unchecked since this is a NTSC source and we are making a NTSC DVD.

Anamorphic is up-to-you. Since the original is widescreen with an aspect ratio of 2.4:1 you can make a ANAMORPHIC DVD or you can make a standard 4:3 WIDESCREEN DVD. In my first example I did NOT checkmark ANAMORPHIC.

For MPEG-4 (DivX and XvidD etc.) you would NOT checkmark INTERLACED since these sources are 99.9% of the time PROGRESSIVE.

You will now notice the option that says RESIZE and in my example it says "704x272" and there is "1" block of OVERSCAN. There are 4 options for OVERSCAN. Option "0" is NO OVERSCAN then there are options "1", "2" and "3" with "1" being the least and "3" being the most COMPENSATION for OVERSCAN. I find that using the "1" or "2" setting is just fine for most televisions. The "3" option is almost always overkill.

In the bottom right hand area make sure the drop down box for RESIZE METHOD says LANCZOS and since you are usig TMPGEnc Plus you should checkmark the RGB-output box. If you were using CCE you would instead checkmark the YUY2-output box.

The script that is created for you is in the lower left of the screen. Just CLICK ON the SAVE SCRIPT icon in the lower right corner and it will save a script that matches your original filename but with the AVS ext.

For instance my file is called "test.avi" so my script will be autonamed "test.avi.avs"

You then simply load the AVS file into TMPGEnc Plus and make sure you have the VIDEO ARRANGE METHOD set to FULL SCREEN. In this scenerio it doesn't matter what you pick for the input aspect ratio although the 4:3 NTSC option would be correct in this case. If you use the WIZARD MODE make sure you change VIDEO ARRANGE METHOD to FULL SCREEN as I think the default for the WIZARD MODE is FULL SCREEN (KEEP ASPECT RATIO).

Now let's go back to FitCD and checkmark the ANAMORPHIC option on the desination side. That's all I have changed in the image below:



Here we see that the video will be resized to 704x368 thus making a 16x9 WS DVD whereas in the original example it was to be resized to 704x272 which would have made a 4:3 WS DVD. In both cases the aspect ratio is almost exactly the same but one is "anamophic enhanced for 16x9 televisions" and one is not.

In the second example, when using TMPGEnc Plus, make sure to select FULL SCREEN again for the VIDEO ARRANGE METHOD. Again it doesn't really make a difference what you set the Source or Input Aspect Ratio as although the "proper" setting would be 16x9 NTSC

FitCD is easy-to-use and allows for more control since you can use OVERSCAN COMPENSATION if you want. Another reason to use it is that Lanczos Resizing is better than what TMPGEnc Plus can do on it's own with it's built-in resizer. Last but not least this is a very simple way to start using AviSynth and AviSynth AVS scripts so you can get your feet wet using this powerfull tool although as you can see there is not much to it as FitCD creates the script for you so really you don't ever have to learn AviSynth if you don't want to.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
Don't worry about any of that stuff at the top of FitCD as it doesn't apply to it's use in this example.

[tarrickb]

wow thanks a million for that post...
I will definatly get started on following your steps ASAP.
I hope this post remains as good reference to others with a similar question.
Thanks again.
- TriX

[FulciLives]

wow thanks a million for that post...
I will definatly get started on following your steps ASAP.
I hope this post remains as good reference to others with a similar question.
Thanks again.
- TriX

Well I hope it helps you as well as other people.

There are users here such as myself that say "Use FitCD" but there really is no good guide on how to use FitCD and some people get confused with it.

So consider this my "mini-guide" to using FitCD

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[manono]

Nice one, FulciLives. Plus, as you said, it may help people get started with AviSynth, and maybe wean them away from just dropping the AVI into their encoder, or going the VFAPI route, with the slower encoding and lousy results they produce.

[Baldrick]

i drop avis in divxtodvd. enough for downloaded clips.

[evol ecallaw]

May I ask a question? It may sound stupid but ...okay, If you can use FitCD then what's the purpose of Avisynth? I have read it and still confuse. I am reading all the info/guide on how to fix my overscan problems, and I see a lot of recommendation for AviSynth but now i see FitCD can do the work as the guide above show...sorry, I'm really confuse cause i'm new to this.

[FulciLives]

May I ask a question? It may sound stupid but ...okay, If you can use FitCD then what's the purpose of Avisynth? I have read it and still confuse. I am reading all the info/guide on how to fix my overscan problems, and I see a lot of recommendation for AviSynth but now i see FitCD can do the work as the guide above show...sorry, I'm really confuse cause i'm new to this.

FitCD just creates an AviSynth AVS script.

So you still need to have AviSynth installed.

FitCD just helps you create the script when it comes to figuring out the math for resizing.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[evol ecallaw]

Thanks, can you answer another questionJ? After I created a script, example MyMovie.avs, so where I go from here, do I open it with a mpeg encoder (what is the mpeg encoder you find it the best, recommendation?) and let it convert? I'm confuse at this point. Sorry if I can't explain myself clear. My english is not that good.

[FulciLives]

Thanks, can you answer another questionJ? After I created a script, example MyMovie.avs, so where I go from here, do I open it with a mpeg encoder (what is the mpeg encoder you find it the best, recommendation?) and let it convert? I'm confuse at this point. Sorry if I can't explain myself clear. My english is not that good.

Yes. You open the AVS file directly into your MPEG-2 DVD spec encoder.

Popular MPEG-2 DVD spec encoders include (in no particular order):

1.) Cinema Craft Encoder or CCE for short
2.) TMPGEnc Plus
3.) Mainconcepts MPEG Encoder
4.) Canopus Procoder

All of those will work with AviSynth AVS files.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[evol ecallaw]

Thanks FulciLives for your help. I will go and try it out. If I run into any problems, please help me.

[evol ecallaw]

Hello FulciLives, I need your help. I'm having a hard time understanding the crop and resize part .

My source is 640 x 480 with 23.976fps, what do I put for the destination part? And like what do I put for overscan? 1 or 2 cause my only problem is overscan.

When I put in my source, the crop and resize automately calculated for me, but do I need to do it manually?

And for the last question, I'm using Mainconcept Encoder, so what box do I check? RGB-output?YuY2 output? or do I have to manually go into AviSynth Script (way at the bottom) and put in Mainconcept Encoder?

[FulciLives]

Hello FulciLives, I need your help. I'm having a hard time understanding the crop and resize part.

My source is 640 x 480 with 23.976fps, what do I put for the destination part? And like what do I put for overscan? 1 or 2 cause my only problem is overscan.

When I put in my source, the crop and resize automately calculated for me, but do I need to do it manually?

For the Destination you pick DVD 720 if you are making a DVD. FitCD automatically does the resize so no you don't have to do that manually.

For overscan compensation I find that usually 2 is a good setting with 3 being the "most compension" and 1 being "less compension" with 1 often not being enough and 3 often being too much. So try 2 and if that still isn't "good enough" then try 3.

And for the last question, I'm using Mainconcept Encoder, so what box do I check? RGB-output?YuY2 output? or do I have to manually go into AviSynth Script (way at the bottom) and put in Mainconcept Encoder?

I haven't played around with the Mainconcept MPEG encoder in a very long time and even when I did "play around with it" it was just that ... I never used it other than a "learning tool" and I am not the one to ask as to how to use it. Sorry.

I'll try to explain though. Some MPEG encoders such as TMPGEnc Plus use the RGB colorspace whereas other encoders such as CCE use YUV/YUY2 etc.

I don't know if MainConcept uses RGB or YUV/YUY2 but I think it is the later and not the former. Do get that verified though as I may be wrong.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[evol ecallaw]

Thank you. YUY2 works just fine but I have one more question. I don't know if you would be able to answer this but oh well, here goes.......When I encode it using MC Mpeg encoder, there's a part for audio mode. Do you know which one to select? LPCM or AC3? which of this will give me the best audio sound?

Also, when I load my Avisynth script created by FitCD into MC Mpeg encoder, under the Output Format, there's option for MPEG format. And it automately put in DVD option. Should I change it to MPEG 2? Will it decrease the size of my files?

[guns1inger]

If your original audio is MP3 then it has already had the crap squeezed out of it. Use AC3 @ 192 or 224 kbps.

If it is VBR MP3, you may wish to extract it as uncompressed PCM audio first, then encode to AC3 seperately with ffmpeggui. Many encoders choke on VBR MP3, or at least end up with audio sync issues.

You might be lucky and find the audio is already AC3, in which case load the avi into Virtualdubmod, click on Streams -> Stream List, then hit Demux.

You then put your audio and video together when you author.

[azumi_yo]

I've tried using this with VSO ConvertX to DVD and it starts out fine but after a few minutes the conversion would slow down almost to a complete stop and then five hours later stop all together.
I've checked and ConvertX does support AVS files. Can somebody please help me figure out what I'm doing wrong here?

[FulciLives]

I've tried using this with VSO ConvertX to DVD and it starts out fine but after a few minutes the conversion would slow down almost to a complete stop and then five hours later stop all together.
I've checked and ConvertX does support AVS files. Can somebody please help me figure out what I'm doing wrong here?

Start your own thread. This really doesn't apply to this thread.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Adventure Man]

hey Fulci Lives, I read in your post that "3" on Fitcd is almost always overkill. But if I don't use 3 I get a huge amount of the screen cut off due to overscan. 1 and 2 just don't help at all, I could even use a tad bit more then what 3 gives. Am I doing something wrong (I have it set up like you say in your post)? I'm just using fitcd to edit a divx/xvid film (usually 23 to 25 fps, 500 to 600 by 300 to 350 width/height), then I use virtual dub to encode (compression divx6 dual cpu). Then I burn with Nero express.

[jagabo]

hey Fulci Lives, I read in your post that "3" on Fitcd is almost always overkill. But if I don't use 3 I get a huge amount of the screen cut off due to overscan. 1 and 2 just don't help at all, I could even use a tad bit more then what 3 gives. Am I doing something wrong?

No, your TV simply overscans more than most.

[Adventure Man]

hey Fulci Lives, I read in your post that "3" on Fitcd is almost always overkill. But if I don't use 3 I get a huge amount of the screen cut off due to overscan. 1 and 2 just don't help at all, I could even use a tad bit more then what 3 gives. Am I doing something wrong?

No, your TV simply overscans more than most.

but I've tested it on 3 different types of televisions here in my house?

[jagabo]

hey Fulci Lives, I read in your post that "3" on Fitcd is almost always overkill. But if I don't use 3 I get a huge amount of the screen cut off due to overscan. 1 and 2 just don't help at all, I could even use a tad bit more then what 3 gives. Am I doing something wrong?

No, your TV simply overscans more than most.

but I've tested it on 3 different types of televisions here in my house? :cry: :?:

Now that I think about it, FitCD's 2 blocks of overscan compensation usually isn't enough to get the picture completely within the viewable area on most CRTs. But it's usually enough to keep subtitles readable. With three blocks you'll start seeing the black border on some edges on some TVs.

[FulciLives]

The idea behind OVERSCAN COMPENSATION is not to 100% eliminate it but to make it a bit less.

I don't think anyone wants to see the entire frame with black all around it.

I mean even in a movie theatre all 4 sides of the image are masked a bit.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Adventure Man]

The idea behind OVERSCAN COMPENSATION is not to 100% eliminate it but to make it a bit less.

I don't think anyone wants to see the entire frame with black all around it.

I mean even in a movie theatre all 4 sides of the image are masked a bit.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

alright I gotcha. thanks for clearing that up fulci. I posted a thread on horror.com about aenigma. It got little response lol, but you might find it amusing.

http://www.horror.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26616

[michaelrp]

hey... FulciLives i've tried to follow some steps that u said about resizing mpegs.. im having some trouble what to do next after making a script? that test.avi.avs? also im now trying to download that TMPGEnc Plus (trial) i really don't know how or what to do next to it... here's the root of my problem.. i got an anime(naruto) with fansubs in it? it works fine viewing it on my laptop... the thing is when i tried to burn it to dvd using dvdit pro.. the subs has been cut off... it says that the subtitle is out of the coverage area... is there anyway can i just resize that? with having this encoding/tmpgenc fitcd and etc stuffs? i don't think i can absorb all u taught here in the forum... i wonder if there's any tool that i can just use my mouse and click and drag to resize it. lol.

[FulciLives]

I wrote a mini-guide in another thread that uses HCenc as the encoder (HCenc is a freeware MPEG-2 DVD spec encoder).

Here is the link ---> CLICK HERE

Good Luck !!!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[michaelrp]

thanks fulcilives... but still those instructions are not really working for me... im a newbie of all newbie... i tried to download HCenc and it is more difficult to understand than this post here.. have u ever heard a sonic dvdit pro? it is a very user friendly program.. well anyway this thread is not about dvdit pro anyway.. hmm by the way.. can i ask you something much easier or suitable for a newbie like me? because i tried to read ur step by step guide.. yet im not getting into anything so far.. im sorry man.. its not because the guide is bad or anything.. i believe it is a very good guide for pro.. but man.. i really am having some trouble coping up with u guys... any suggestions pls?