Suggestions for converting video

[jriker1]

I'm sure this has been asked a thousand times, however can not find a post or tutorial to quite match what I'm looking for. First thing is I've read that putting black bars on a video is a no no. Not sure if that's the case, however here's the deal.

I have an AVI File with the following specs per GSpot:

- 640x272 (2.35:1) [=40:17]
- FPS: 25

The 40:17 looks kind of odd to me however that's where we are at. I want to convert it to a 16:9 720x576 video file. When I convert with CCE and a straight avisynth script seting the size to 720x576 on the script, and select 16:9 in CCE, the resulting video takes more of the screen (not all of it) than the original AVI did and everything looks stretched. Can someone explain to me how I am supposed to convert this video? Hopefully with some assistance on this, it will shed light on future conversions for me.

Thanks.

JR

[ukb008]

640X272 is 2.35:1.
720X576 is 1.25:1.
That's why characters in your processed picture look twice as tall as your original movie. Set the size at 720X304 and you'll get a normally proportioned picture.

Regards.