cropping bottom ticker from MPEG2 capture then convert to XviD?

[gregconquest]

I've searched for this and not found it, but I am still new to this, so pardon me if I'm duplicating a question.

I want to capture SD video to MPEG2, edit out the commercials, and then compress it for storage as DiVX or XviD.

I'm currently trialing VideoReDo Plus on WinXP for the MPEG2 editting. I like the interface, but $50 for this one function seems a bit much. Then I use AutoGK to do the conversion to DiVX/XviD.

But last week, I captured a CNN special. There was a ticker at the bottom with then current news always scrolling by. Since DiVX/XviD can deal with other than DVD-standard resolutions, I wanted to remove the bottom 10% of the screen before/during the XviD conversion.

AutoGK couldn't do it. I couldn't figure out how to do anything simple in GordianKnot, the suite I've used to backup DVD's. TMPEGENC could crop it, but I didn't get a simple XviD file out.

Is there a better way to do this under Windows? I also have a few linux systems. Is there an easier workflow from MPEG2, edit, rarely crop, to XviD/DiVX there?

Thanks for any help or pointers.
Greg Conquest

[CWR03]

AutoGK can do it quite readily, you just have to set the crop by hand. You can use GordianKnot's active preview to crop what you want, then just transfer the numbers into AutoGK (Use Ctrl + F9 to bring up that hidden menu) and set the auto crop threshhold to 0.

[gregconquest]

Thanks for this clue, CWR03. I've seen mention of Ctrl + F9 for AutoGK's hidden menu. Still I have a problem with Gordian Knot. I can't figure out how to open a simple MPEG2 file. I've only used it for DVD's, and none of the tabs seems to be what I want.

Greg

[CWR03]

I can't figure out how to open a simple MPEG2 file.
It can't open them directly, but you can process a sample with DGIndex (Open the MPEG, select a range, click File > Save as) then open the .d2v with Gordian Knot. The resolution tab has the cropping laid out just like AutoGK's cropping, and the numbers will transfer and match. You should only have to change the extension of your MPEG-2 file to .VOB for DGIndex to see it.

If that fails, get a short sample from your source, process it with AutoGK with all resizing and cropping off, then load that into Gordian Knot (It can directly process an .AVI file).

If that fails, guesstimate the crop with AutoGK, then click Preview. The only problem is that it takes a few minutes to generate a preview.

[gregconquest]

OK. I have found a guide for using Gordian Knot for MPEG2 to avi:
http://www.rita.lt/guides/GKnot_MPEG2toAVI.htm
I just tried a sample, and the cropping came out right. I need to redo it for some of the other options, but I think I can get it to work.

Regarding AutoGK, I wish I could use it. It noted from TmpegENC the number of pixels I needed to crop, but when I entered that info in the Hidden Options screen of AutoGK, it didn't do at all what I wanted. Autocrop, Tune, Override Input AR, and the AR field, I changed them all but the resultant video was WAY too much clipped. I tried to clip 54 pixels off a standard MPEG2, and it was cut in half, nearly...

If I want to force it to crop and output a slightly elongated video (4/3 = 1.333, so my 10% crop of the bottom should be 4/2.7 = 1.48 AR):
- should "tune auto-crop parameters" be checked? I don't understand the relevance of the other numbers there -- well, the four "Force cropping" ones I can figure out ;-)
- How about "Override input AR"? If unchecked, it doesn't matter what is in the three "AR" checkboxes on the right, right?

Thanks again,
Greg