Home Video to Anamorphic DVD

[puddy]

I have a Sony HandyCam Vision TRV85 (it's a Hi8 video camera) and recently shot some vacation video using the 16:9WIDE CINEMA mode. Basically it just adds horizontal bars to the top and bottom of the screen using a "mask" type process. It shows the bars in the viewfinder so that you can frame the shot with this in mind. It gives it a cool, modern look.

I want to transfer and convert the footage to Anamorphic DVD format but I can't seem to find any info on creating your own Anamorphic DVD's from home video footage.

I already know how to capture video and have done so via the S-Video output on the TRV85 using VirtualVCR and my ATI AIW 9600. It is NTSC video and I want to put it on DVD so I captured at 720 x 480 using the Huffy codec. All that is fine. But what do I do with it now?

Do I cut off the black bars, encode to MPEG2, and set some kind of Anamorphic flag when authoring the DVD?

Are there any guides or should I just start posting questions here?

Thanks! :)
puddy

[Video Dude]

It is going to be tricky to get to anamorphic with good results because that camera is interlaced.


If it was progressive, all you would have to do is make an avisynth script:

AviSource("C:\video.avi")
Crop(0,60,-0,-60)
LanczosResize(720,480)

and then encode in a mpeg-2 encoder like CCE or HC with the 16:9 box checked.



Since its interlaced, you have to account for the fields.
You might try:

AviSource("C:\video.avi")
Crop(0,60,-0,-60)
SeparateFields()
LanczosResize(720,480)
Weave()

and then encode in CCE or HC with the 16:9 box checked.
But I find that to cause some amount of artifacting.


Another approach would be to bob the video, resize, and then re-interlace.

[puddy]

Thanks... I have a feeling that I would not be gaining anything from creating an anamorphic DVD using this footage. If all I'm doing is resizing the video to full screen and then letting the DVD player squeeze it again, what am I really gaining?

Now, there is another setting on the TVR85 under the 16:9WIDE options called 16:9FULL (instead of CINEMA) mode. Instead of black bars the video is full screen.

When I switch to that mode and look at the LCD viewfinder I notice that you actually get more video horizontally and a slight bit more vertically as well, but vertically it is stretched. I suspect if I shot in this mode, captured at 720 x 480 and set the 16:9 flag when encoding I'd get exactly what I'm looking for.

Here's why I think that. The point of anamorphic is that you use more of the available pixels for encoding actual video (instead of a lot of wasted black bar space) and then you let the DVD player or TV squeeze it back down for you. In the case where I shot the video with the black bars I already lost those pixels to the black bars.

If I use the other mode it appears I'm actually getting a wider shot and it is recording the video full screen vertically, so I am making use of all the available pixel space.

Looking back I think I picked the wrong mode in my video camera to make an anamorphic DVD that gets the benefits of being anamorphic.

I'm going to shot some test video in this 16:9FULL mode and try out my theory.

EDIT:
From my quick testing, this method works great and the end result looks much better!!
I just wish I would have realized this BEFORE the vacation. :)

See ya,
puddy