Resize without re-encoding?

[FamousPerson]

I am playing with converting a letterboxed 4:3 DVD to anamorphic 16:9. I am only concerned with the movie portion, and was successfully able to accomplish my goal using DVD2AVI --> VFAPIConv --> AVISynth script --> CCE to re-encode.

My question is this: Is there a way for me to have done it WITHOUT re-encoding? The original movie was well under 4.3 GB and I feel like I've potentially lost quality for no reason.

I guess what I'm looking for is an option in CCE equivelant to VirtualDub's "Direct Stream Copy" - a way to keep the original encoding. Or even better, some other tool that can resize within the VOBS directly.

Any help appreciated.

[auenf]

i gather that you have a 16:9 movie with black bars to fill the 4:3 and you want to turn it into animorphic.

you will have to reencode, just like in virtualdub, you cant direct stream copy a movie if you need to use a filter on it (in this case would be resize).

the only things you can change in a m2v without reencoding is field options, (including 3:2 pulldown which is TFF and RFF field flags), aspect ratio between 4:3 or 16:9 animorphic, cause they are the same frame size physically. (theres a couple more you can change, but would be good if i could remember them ;)

Enf...

[FamousPerson]

Hi auenf...

Actually, VirtualDub Does give me the option to do a direct stream copy.

Details:

The movie is "Little Mermaid". It is in 4:3 format with black bars. I used DVD2AVI to create a d2v file on the VOBS, then VFAPIConv to creat an avi file. I then created the following AVISynth script:

#-----------------------------------------------------
AVISource("G:\little_mermaid_d2v_vfapi.avi")
# convert NTSC 4:3 letterboxed to anamorphic 16:9
BicubicResize(720,640)
crop(0,80,720,480)
ResampleAudio(44100)
#-----------------------------------------------------

If I open this .avs file with VirtualDub, I can do a direct stream copy on the video. The output is an uncompressed avi - very, very large.

What I would like to be able to do is open this same .avs file with CCE and output it back to mpeg without re-encoding. As I write this I'm realizing that I must re-encode because I've converted to avi.

Hmmmm. I guess what I need is a VirtualDub equivelent for MPEG (one that also crops and resizes). Ever heard of anything like that?

[auenf]

what i was trying to say, is that you cant use the crop/resize in virtualdub and use direct stream copy at the same time, the filters need 'full processing' mode.

and its the same with a mpeg-2 file (but obviously there is no program that works as well as vdub with mpeg-2, but avery is working on mpeg-2 decoder btw).

Enf...

[FamousPerson]

auenf,

Not that it really matters to me, but just FYI, as per my posting above, I do get the option to do a direct stream copy while applying crop/resize filters in VirtualDub.

[auenf]

Originally posted by FamousPerson
auenf,

Not that it really matters to me, but just FYI, as per my posting above, I do get the option to do a direct stream copy while applying crop/resize filters in VirtualDub.

yes, you can select it, then you get a message saying that filters will only be applied in Full Processing mode, where you have selected Direct Stream Copy.

Enf...

[FamousPerson]

...I selected "Direct Stream copy", turned off audio, did a "Save AVI", and saved about 2-3000 frames before canceling. The resulting .avi played fine, and was cropped and resized properly.

Maybe this worked for me because I ran it through VFAPIConv first, I don't know...

[auenf]

uhh, did you setup the filters in virtualdub or VFAPI?

but forget virtualdub, it doesnt input m2v natively, i was just using it as an example...

Enf...

[FamousPerson]

Neither, the filters were set up int the .avs file (see above)