Cropped resolution before Encoding

[HairDude]

Is there any way of finding out the cropped resolution before the source is encoded? I'd like to use the original width of 720, but fear that I might be upsising from the crop. If this is so, I'd then use the pre-encode cropped width.

Thanks for any help recieved.

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HairDude

[manono]

Hi, and welcome to the forum-

I'm not real sure I understand the question. As I understand it, if there's no letterboxing on the sides (no black on left and right), then you want to use the full 720 width. And if there is some black, then you want it cropped away, and choose the lower width (704, I would guess). Is that about right?

You didn't say what program you are using, but I guess it's AutoGK.

Play the vob before encoding to see if there's any black on the sides. Or open the vobs in DGIndex and check the same thing. If you want to know how much black there actually is, then make a Movie.d2v of part of the movie and open it in Gordian Knot and check.

But that's too easy, so maybe I got it wrong.

[SeeMoreDigital]

If I understand you correctly, one of the ways I obtain the "cropped resolution" of the source, is to: -

First: Play the source in a software media player and capture a still frame (preferably with a light background)... like this 720x576 DVD capture: -

http://img229.exs.cx/img229/8752/sourcecapture7im.jpg


Second: Open the still frame in some imaging software, such as HyperSnap, and select the "Auto Trim" option (or similar)... like this: -

http://img216.exs.cx/img216/2407/hypersnapautotrim9qy.jpg


After "auto trimming" the image should look something like this: -

http://img231.exs.cx/img231/1861/afterautotrim0lm.jpg

A check the images properties will reveal "the cropped resolution". Which on this occasion is 720x434.

EDIT: It may be worth noting that "auto trimming" may not crop tightly up to the image. This is because quite often the mattes are incorrectly aligned and not razor sharp. As you can see here avove Yoda's head -

http://img84.exs.cx/img84/6714/aboveyodashead5fv.jpg


Cheers

[HairDude]

Thanks for the helpful and detailed replies. AutoGK is the program I'm using. I'll report back once I've tried a few things.

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HairDude

[SeeMoreDigital]

Here are some more extreame examples from American Beauty: -

Source: 720x576: -

http://img148.exs.cx/img148/7144/source9ms.jpg


After Cropping: 704x428: -

http://img53.exs.cx/img53/3534/autocropped3gs.jpg


And here's a close-up of the area between the matte and the image: -

http://img226.exs.cx/img226/9779/croproll8bp.jpg

Cheers