Anamorphic scripting

[D0Hbert]

I'm trying to transcode a movie so that it will fit into 3 80 min cdrs. I use dvd2avi to create a d2v file which I then use in avisynth thru a script. Load the avs in vfapi, encode the avi to m2v then mux it with the ac3 stream to create a program vob file. I then cut this into 3 parts to fit into the cdrs. So they're just basic vobs, no ifos, etc. Basically, if the movie is non-anamorphic, I dont have problems with the script and they play fine. However, I'm having a bit of problem in the playback of transcoded anamorphic films with Hollywood Plus' DVDstation (which i use for video out to tv). When I play anamorphic ripped vobs, dvstation plays it fullscreen. However if i play these with powerdvd, they look fine. My question is what is the proper bilinear resizing command, cropping command (if any) and add border syntax to use to maintain the proper aspect ratio so it plays fine with dvdstation. I'm doing a 1.85:1 anamorphic film right now. How should I go about scripting it. If its 2.35:1 anamorphic, what is the proper way to script this too. Thanks for spending time on my query.

[DJ Bobo]

For anamorphic PAL Movies:

BicubicResize(480,432)
AddBorders(0,72,0,72)

For anamorphic NTSC Movies:

BicubicResize(480,360)
AddBorders(0,60,0,60)

[D0Hbert]

I appreciate the help bobotns. But I'm more interested in preserving the full horizontal 720 resolution. Since this is anamorphic 1.85:1, is it correct to assume that the proper resolution of the movie is 720x389? (389 x 1.85 is approx 720) But since 389 is not a multiple of 16, the nearest valid vertical resolution is 384. So what will be the proper bicubic resize command to em vertically squish the picture? Should it be 720x288? Then add borders value 96 for top and bottom? Thanks for spending time on this message. Appreciate it.

[hakko504]

Basically it comes down to this: A computer monitor pixel is square, whereas a TV pixel isn't. It is rectangular: more ore less stretched depending on whether it is PAL/NTSC or 4:3/16:9.

What you want to do is to re-encode a 16:9 DVD to a 4:3 DVD, right? This means that you wish to lower the vertical resolution by (16:9)/(4:3)=4/3=1.33333333 (add 3's until bored :)) and add black borders. This results in the values bobotns gave you, though he assumed you were doing SVCD and therefor also decreased horizontal resolution to 480. Proper scrips for DVD2DVD conversion should be:

#PAL
bicubicResize(720,432,0,0.5)
Addborders(0,72,0,72)


#NTSC
bicubicResize(720,360,0,0.5)
Addborders(0,72,0,72)

[D0Hbert]

Thanks for all the help guys, appreciate it.

[DJ Bobo]

720x... is too much for 3 CDs. That's why I suggested 480.

My suggestion:
For Bitrate around 6000: 720x...
For Bitrate around 4000: 480x...
For Bitrate around 3000: 352x...

[D0Hbert]

Actually, at first I thought it's not possible to encode my minidvds at full resolution, however, after using cce to encode my video streams, I can still do 3 cds for 1 movie. Like this movie i'm doing, its more than 2 hrs long, around 2hrs25mins, somehow I can encode the film at an average of 1700 and still maintain ac3 audio. I'm using robshot's method, and i don't get any gray areas that should indicate too little allocated bits for that particular scene. If I were to encode a movie thats 4:3 full screen, then you're right, 3 cds are not enough. Then I do half d1 resolution for that.