Aspect Ratio Issue

[garethk]

Hi.
Kinda new to all this, so hopefully this is an easy question to answer.
I have loads of MiniDV tapes that I have started going through, capturing to PC, editing via Adobe Premiere, etc. My Digital Camcorder records in widescreen.

Both capture files and output file from Premiers are in the format (used GSpot):
720*576
sar 5:4
par 10:7
dar 16:9

This is fine for creating a DVD (I think).

But when I try to convert to XVid (so I can sore on Media Server) using AutoGK, I seem to lose the aspect ratio, no matter what settings I try (force AR, use original, etc).

I have output files in:
720*528
sar 15:11
par 1:1
dar 14:11

and
720*416
sar 45:26
par 1:1
dar 45:26

No sure if above numbers are of any use to anyone out there who may be able to help me, but I would really appreciate some help before I start encoding to Xvid


Thanks,
Gar

[Brother John]

Afaik AutoGK doesn’t support anamorphic encoding. You’ll have to convert to a PAR 1:1 resolution or use a more flexible frontend (StaxRip, MeGUI etc.)

par 10:7
Not impossible, but I highly doubt that. Most probably your sources have a generic PAR of 64/45. Also see here: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1058927#post1058927

Btw: SAR is the H.264 name for PAR, and that’s how it’s commonly used. Better avoid using it for anything else since that tends to create confusion.

[manono]

He can disable the crop and resize in the Hidden Options (CTRL-F9) and encode to 720x576, if that's what he wants. But I don't know why he'd want to do that, as the aspect ratio will be all wrong (everyone too tall and slender). Maybe garethk wants to do the resize with his player.

Anyway, to disable the crop and resize (quoting from the FAQ):
4.6.1 How can I retain original proportions?
- In the hidden options, check "Tune auto crop parameters," set Threshold to 0, and set all cropping to 0
And in the Advanced Settings set the width to 720.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=72679

[garethk]

To be honest all I want to be able to do is create an xvid file I can play through my XBOX XBMC or PS3 which looks right.

I presumed that if the original DV AVI is 16:9 (this is my dar value ??) that the outputted xvid should have the same dar.
Maybe not?

If anyone else has created an xvid from anamorphic (?) 16:9 DV AVI which looks good on a widescreen TV, I would appreciate if they could tell me what settings they use? Or is there another product?

Thanks in advance
Gar

[manono]

To be honest all I want to be able to do is create an xvid file I can play through my XBOX XBMC or PS3 which looks right.
Are you saying a source 16:9 DV AVI video doesn't look right when encoded as an XviD AVI at 720x416? Can't you tell that people look "normal" and round things look round? And that's not the case at 720x576.

[garethk]

looks good in 720x416, but I wasnt sure if I had lost quality, etc because of aspect ratio/dimensions changing.

[manono]

http://www.doom9.org/aspectratios.htm

[netmask]

Not sure if I should start a new thread but the title says it all. I have made a XVID backup (using AutoGK) of one of my DVD's (movie only) It is W/S 2.35 with 5.1 audio. The conversion is ok, plays on the computer and over my network via my Beyonwiz PVR without any issues. However! isn't there always one! When I burn the file as data on a DVDR and play it on my Samsung DVD player it stretches the image vertically to fill my 16:9 Samsung LCD display. I want to see black bars top and bottom so that it shows in 2.35 aspect ratio. I have tried adding black bars via VirtualDub but still the combo of the the Samsung DVD player and TV are determined to fill every inch of the display aaargh! Any recommendations most appreciated including a recommendation of a standalone DVD player that allows one to manually, if necessary to select 2.35, 1.85, 1.777 or 1.333. I haven't extended my network to the play room out the back as it is too difficult and would rather just have a simple DVD player setup. My work around is to just make a backup of the DVD but an Xvid collection on a couple of DVDR's is more convenient especially near the swimming pool and boisterous ankle biters

Thanks

[manono]

I have tried adding black bars via VirtualDub but still the combo of the the Samsung DVD player and TV are determined to fill every inch of the display aaargh! Any recommendations most appreciated
It's almost certainly a player issue. Many players with the ESS chipset (including the popular but lousy Philips DVP-642 DVD/MPEG-4 player) stretch AVIs to fill a widescreen TV set. Most newer players, including the newer and cheap Philips players, don't have the problem.

I can only suggest a better player, unless you want to create AVIs that work on the current player but play with bad aspect ratio on any future players. Maybe take the disc to Wal-Mart or some place with a good selection of players and test it out.

[netmask]

Thanks, I kinda thought that would be the solution. It would be too easy if there was a program to set a flag that would overide the phenomena :) I think i still have an old Telefunken $39 special in the garage - must try it... thanks again..

[manono]

That's a good idea; test using a different player, or go and check it out on a friend's player. I'm assuming, of course, that you have both the player and TV set set up properly - that the player is set up to output for widescreen (16:9) TV sets and that the TV itself plays everything "normally" and isn't in any sort of stretch or zoom mode. If you haven't already, you might play with some of the TV set's aspect modes to see if you can "make" the AVI look normal.