SpruceUP Can't Create 16:9 Movies!

[LB]

Check it. I started the thread not even pertaining to this but I figured it was so important I should start a new topic here. Granted, it *might* have been better to post it in the DVD Authoring section, but AR is really an encoding issue even though it is effected by your authoring program.

I was trying forever to get my junk to look right on the TV. Had a 16:9 and for the life of me, every friggin resize I did still did not produce a 16:9 on my tv. Here is the link to the previous post so you can see that I did do the resizing correctly in all situations: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?threadid=37210

Anyway, I found out that the AR in CCE doesn't do jack. Provided you resized correctly adding black bars in VDUB or whatever other program you used (avisynth), you also need to use an authoring program that supports 16:9 and at the moment SpruceUp does not. I ran like 10 tests and also here is a direct quote from their help file:

"DVD supports 4:3 (conventional TV) and 16:9 (widescreen) aspect ratios. 16:9 video is anamorphic, meaning it is compressed horizontally (things look skinny). A flag setting on the title triggers the end user’s player to expand the picture out to a real 16:9 aspect ratio. SpruceUp supports 4:3 only, but will import 16:9 video and process it as if it was 4:3 (playback will be as 4:3, not 16:9)."

So there you have it. I know maestro supports both 4:3 and 16:9. Anyone know any other authoring proggies out there too that do? But this I thought was really important because I've been sitting here for a few days feeling really dumb because I *thought* I just was being an idiot and couldn't get the math right ;p But, heh that wasn't it at all. So, hope this was informative to you guys that may be struggling with this same issue in SpruceUp.

LB

EDIT: I just thought about this. So if the mastering program plays a big role since it will be setting the flags for the DVD player, and maestro only has options for 16:9 and 4:3, what happens if you have a 1.85? Do you just set it as 16:9 and resize in vdub correctly?

[LB]

Looking through the threads I found a few that briefly said that SpruceUP doesn't support 16:9. Guess it would be really benifical to include this in the DVD encoding guides since there is no way to figure this out unless you run across the exact program and diagnose it yourself ;p

[jdobbs]

Please note that after you author with SpruceUp and have a VTS set ready to write, you can modify a couple of parameters in your IFO file with IFOEDIT that will then revert the picture back to its original 16:9. There are several links in this forum that explain how.

[LB]

Ah. I didn't know that at all. I read those but figured it was for going from a DVD->DVD-r. I totally missed the part about using the new ifo files that you created. Guess I'll have to snag IFOedit then. Thanks for the tip. ;)

[LB]

I've been fooling with it for a few days now and I still can't get a true 16:9 to display. All I can achieve is about 1" black bars on the top and bottom of the screen with a stretched picture. Here is my procedure, maybe going step by step will help.

1. Take source avi and feed it into FitCD to get the right aspect ratio settings for avisynth:

LoadPlugin("C:\IVTC\SweetFilters\Convolution3D.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Virtualdub\MPEG2DEC.dll")
AviSource("E:\Sample.avi")
converttoyuy2()
BicubicResize(688,382,1/3,1/3,0,0,640,378)
AddBorders(16,49,16,49)

2. Encode it in CCE with flags set at 16:9

3. Pulldown

4. Author and with IFOEDIT enable 16:9 for the video with no static flags set.

.....

I guess I'm not doing something right but after reading all these posts on vcdhelp and doom9, I'm still at a loss. Needs to be a few good resize guides going through all the programs. But anyway, what did I mess up?

LB

[jdobbs]

I don't get your resizing... What is the original size and aspect ratio of the source AVI?

Edited:

Okay I see from your link that the original is sized at 640x360 at a 1:1 aspect ratio. That should make it easy. Just resize it to the correct dimensions for DVD and encode it at 16:9. Use this AVISYNTH script and set the AR to 16:9 in CCE.

LoadPlugin("C:\IVTC\SweetFilters\Convolution3D.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Virtualdub\MPEG2DEC.dll")
AviSource("E:\Sample.avi")
converttoyuy2()
BicubicResize(720,480)

BTW - I don't know why you are loading the plug-ins or converting to YUY2, I just added that because you did... This is all you really need:

AviSource("E:\Sample.avi")
BicubicResize(720,480)

Explanation: 640x360 is already sized to 16:9 but using 1:1 aspect ratio. So if you change it to any legal resolution with a 16:9 playback AR it would come out right (e.g. 720x480, 480x480, 352x480).

[2COOL]

Originally posted by LB
I've been fooling with it for a few days now and I still can't get a true 16:9 to display. All I can achieve is about 1" black bars on the top and bottom of the screen with a stretched picture.

I've done Spruceup and of course, it doesn't do 4:3. But if you adjust your new movie ifo according to the original, you should be at back at 16:9. I also compare the Prohibited User Ops in both PGCs.

Anyway, when you said you can't get a true 16:9 display, did you burn the DVD? I find that initially when I preview the updated ifo before burning, the initial minimized window looks like a 16:9 window (long rectangle) but when I go full screen, since my monitor is treated like a 4:3, I get letterboxed. Well, most or all widescreen movies are anamorphic so in the if video size properties, you'll most likely see automatic letterbox if you happen to view the dvd on a 4:3 tv.

Now if you do have a 16:9 tv and you have your dvd set at 16:9 and you still got letterboxing? Hmmm...I found that there are some "widescreen" movies that are already letterboxed to begin with.

Well, just putting in my two cents...