Using Half-D1 Resolution

[Mephiston]

Ok i've been searching around for whatever information i can find on resizing parts of a dvd.

Let me know if this is correct

First i add BicubicResize(352,480) to the AVS script

Second i need to edit the scenarist script and change wherever it says 720 to 352 on the VTS's that i changed.

Is that right ??

Any other steps im missing or anything ?

[Trahald]

pretty much all there is to it. if there are subs you may have some issues (there are rarely subs on extras) other than that smooth sailing.

[Matthew]

From what I've read here, you must first crop to 704x480 then resize to 352x480, because half D1 is based on a horizontal resolution of 704.

If cropping is not your cup of tea, then I imagine you could resize and then add borders.

bicubicresize(352,470,a,b)
addborders(0,5,0,5) or maybe use 6 and 4.

469 and 1/3 would be correct vres figure but you can't use that, obviously :)

[hendrix]

just add

LanczosResize(352,480,0,0,720,480)

from what i understand you dont need to crop but if you do crop then

LanczosResize(352,480,8,0,704,480)

you should have no problems with subs but ya you will need to edit the .scp files

[TuRiSOft]

Hello everyone!

Can I suggest my way to do Half D1 for Extras?

HorizontalReduceby2()
Crop(4,0,352,576)

This is good for PAL users and as you can see you'll have to change only 576 to 480.
There'll be no issue with subs because the display area will not change in standalone players.


AFTER THAT You can also (BUT IT ISN'T NEEDED AFAIK)change the Title Set Information to whatever you resized to in both VIDEO_TS.IFO and in VTS_**_*.IFO file with IfoEdit.

[Trahald]

Aspect Ratio always has looked fine for me ;) to each his own

[Master Yoda]

I resized the extras on one disc, looked fine, but had no subs.I do know that when i was testing that if your playing the resized video on your pc, if it has subs they will be off.Half of the subs was on the srceen , half was off the right of the screen.But this was on the pc in powerdvd.

[Matthew]

Originally posted by Trahald
to each his own

Well not really, it's a matter of fact whether AR is bad or not...as opposed to, say, a subjective decision about whether 3500 video bitrate + DTS is better than 4268 video bitrate with no DTS ;)

Anyway, in regards to subtitles, I've found that windvd seems to display them fine but powerdvd doesn't at all. Not that it matters to me.

Also, Scenarist/Maestro seem to flag the video as 720 x 576/480 in the ifo when creating a Half D1 project from scratch.

[TuRiSOft]

Originally posted by Master Yoda
Half of the subs was on the srceen , half was off the right of the screen.But this was on the pc in powerdvd.

Yes,it goes so, but on standalones they are fully onthe screen!

Originally posted by Matthew
Also, Scenarist/Maestro seem to flag the video as 720 x 576/480 in the ifo when creating a Half D1 project from scratch.

I noticed the same thing.

[Trahald]

your right.. i think im gonna go throw out all the backups i did because they are technically out of aspect although visually i cant tell the difference. .. buahahahhahahahahahha.. sorry couldnt hold it in

hrm.. not to repeat my self.. well .. actually i will

Aspect Ratio always has looked fine for me ;) to each his own

thats where my advise was given.. not because i guessed that what he said sounded right.. but after happily doing it many times , and being satisfied with the results

but again.. i do conceed technically you should resize from 704... (i use the word technically because its your dvd and if you decided to resize it to 10x480 and add borders to a legal dvd size, its your business).. anyways..

Aspect Ratio always has looked fine for me ;) to each his own

mephiston - i apologize if my advise would have caused you scoff and scorn by your friends for preducing an obviously skewed backup :(

[Matthew]

heh, I'm not pretending that the failure to crop makes much of a difference in practice - I just took exception to the idea that it was an "each to own" type case, as it clearly isn't :) If someone is going to make a half-D1 DVD, they might as well use the correct crop/resize statement, otherwise it's akin to, say, reducing the average video bitrate by 100 just because they can...it might not be noticeable but why would you do it?

[wmansir]

Doesn't resizing vertically mess up your interlacing?

[hendrix]

not really...IMO Half D-1 interlaced @ 2000kbits look better than at Full D-1 at the same rate

[wmansir]

Originally posted by hendrix
not really...IMO Half D-1 interlaced @ 2000kbits look better than at Full D-1 at the same rate

You right about that, but I'm talking about resizing interlaced from 480 vertically to 470, instead of just resizing horizontally. Wouldn't that blend your even/odd fields?

[hendrix]

Originally posted by wmansir
I'm talking about resizing interlaced from 480 vertically to 470, instead of just resizing horizontally. Wouldn't that blend your even/odd fields?
dont know...never thought to try it since it's not a DVD standard res. im just gonna stick with the standard

[RB]

Right, if you resize interlaced video vertically, you'll have to SeparateFields.Resize.Weave.

[Mephiston]

Thanks everyone.

I just backup up Nemesis and did all the Extras at Half D1 1250 bitrate and they look fine. Probablly better than alot i have done with Full Res at 1700 to 2000 bitrate.

They only play on my newer DVD though, on my old one the picture is shown twice. No big deal though, that player needs to be replaced anyways.

[wmansir]

Originally posted by hendrix
dont know...never thought to try it since it's not a DVD standard res. im just gonna stick with the standard

I wa referring to Matthew's suggestion to resize and letterbox, as opposed to crop then resize (so you don't have to crop the image). Of course the final video has to be 480 to stay in specs.

@RB
SeparateFields.Resize.Weave works, but it does soften the picture noticeably, compared to just a strait resize.

@all

One title I did this with that worked out excellent was Evil Dead 2, book of the dead edition. There were several extras (mostly very old TV spots) that were 4x3 but done anamorphic with bars on the sides. By cropping the sides and just a little horizontal resizing I was able to turn them into half-D1 and bring them back to full screen. It actually looked better on my 4x3 TV than the original DVD, considering the original used less than half the screen.

[Matthew]

Well I did have an "I imagine" in there as a hedge :D Guess I imagined wrong :P

Interlacing issues aside, the crop solution is better anyway I'd think.

As an aside, I tried half D1 on an avi source recently and perhaps it was my imagination but I thought it looked a little too blurry on the TV for my liking (which isn't large by any stretch of the imagination). Of course that was a movie and not extras, so different kettle of fish.

[Master Yoda]

Just curious, is it even possible to resize the subs aswell ?? or would they just look blured or out of place.

[Matthew]

Originally posted by Master Yoda
Just curious, is it even possible to resize the subs aswell ?? or would they just look blured or out of place.

Ummm, as stated above the subs will appear fine on a standalone - so there is no need to resize them. They are overlayed after resizing, when the video is 704 x 480/576.

[ux-3]

Originally posted by Master Yoda
Just curious, is it even possible to resize the subs aswell ?? or would they just look blured or out of place.

I can confirm the observation of the former poster. I have just recently resized to VCD-resolution and added a subtitle stream. Subtitles came out fine, no probs. And actually, I liked it better than Half-D1, at the same Bitrate (1600). No artifacts. To add to the cropping / resizing discussion, I cropped not to 704 but to less, resized and added r/l borders. This way I hope to keep aspect, yet blacken the left and right overscan regions. When low on Bitrate, this is something to consider. Hope I did it right.

And while I am here, is there a simple way to get to VCD with interlaced material? I would only need a half-frame, would I not? (PAL). Would the result be completely deinterlaced? Simple script for this?

[Trahald]

I noticed something. I played a test signal that was on the dvd that came with my dvd demystified book. it basically is sortof gridlike and shows %'s of overscan area... i converted this signal to a 10 second mpeg2 at 720x480 and 352x480 and made a dvd with a vts with the 720x480 and a vts at 352x480.. then i played the 720x480 track in powerdvd and windvd full screen and marked the furthest four grid corners with a + plus to point out exactly where the lines met. the grid lies are about say an inch apart. i then switch to the vts in 1/2 d1 and it lined up perfectly... which is definatly a flaw in powerdvd/windvd.. but its important if someone only watches their backups on pc (which ive personally talked to people who do not own a standalone but own dvds and back them up).. they would be watching their backups at the wrong ratio if they cropped to 704x480 then 1/2'd the size. now of course they would be the wrong ratio if played on a standalone dvd player (if years from now they ever bought one) but why watch them at the wrong ratio until then? just something to think about.