Can the Big 3 do 4x3->16x9?

[Zenak]

It just came to my attention that DVD RB can take a 4x3 LB picture and turn it into a true widescreen format, thus allowing it to play in a larger portion of my widescreen TV.

Is there any reason this would be undesireable? I am not expecting a better picture, but if in fact there is degradation I would have to reconsider the effort.

And if not, is there a change I can make to the Big3 process to enact this type of procedure?

[Trahald]

since big3 is so open (you can alter almost any step) Ive done it once. (i've only come accross one letter box 4:3 dvds ) this is one old dvd i had that they werent smart enough to encode it at 16:9 in the first place. You just have to edit the .avs script and import as 16:9

Because of that i dont think built in support is needed for this rare occurance.

[Zenak]

I'm sorry to admit I am not a wiz at AVS scripts, if you could tell me what to look for, and what I need to replace it with, I'd be very grateful.

Here in NTSC land there are many movies like this, the one I have going through DVD RB right now is Event Horizon, another I'd love to do is Crimson Tide. (Sometimes region 1 releases are pretty awful :( )

[D3s7]

I don't know the crop command off the top of my head anymore but basically you need/want to crop the black bars off.....

however, you will also need to change the ifo (original in the demux dir) to reflect 16x9 and rename the file names to 16x9 so that BatchCCEWs/DOcce4u and ScenAid/RA will grab the proper AR...

[hendrix]

i use this script for letterbox to anamorphic - it also compensates for the 10% overscan

BicubicResize(682,480,1/3,1/3,0,50,720,380)
AddBorders(19,0,19,0)

[Trahald]

@Hendrix

.. thanx for the script!!:thanks:

@Zenak

are you seeing this in alot of LB dvds? if so.. what kind? id be willing to maybe make a post processing something (you would run it after dif4u demux) that will alter the ifos and change the script and rename the .avs to 16~9 from 4~3... if there are alot that is.

[Zenak]

Well I wouldn't say ALOT, but it has been bothering me for a while. The strange thing is some movies that aren't anamorphic make sense, but others make me scratch my head, like Armageddon and Titanic....

In addition to the two I mentioned above, Are in my personal collection and I would convert:

Howard Stern's Private Parts
Mission Impossible (1)
Days Of Thunder
Top Gun
The Craft
Con Air
The Changling
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Office Space

Also there are movies I don't have because they aren't availible in 16x9 WideScreen, these include:

Big
The Bodyguard
Boondock Saints
Commando
Coming to America
Dead Poets Society
The Faculty
Mimic
The Rainmaker
True Lies
Breakdown
Broken Arrow
Armageddon
Titanic

[Zenak]

@ Hendrix

Would I just paste that at the bottom of the script generated by DIF4U prior to running BatchCCEWS + ScenAid?

Or is there something I will need to remove as well?

[hendrix]

@Zenak...ya just add the script to DIF4U and it'll do the rest

[hendrix]

i dont know why some movies are letterboxed and NOT anamorphic...simple lazyness if you ask me.

[Zenak]

Lazy bastards!

On another note, I used the script mentioned above, and I got bars on the sides as well as the top and bottom. I changed the IFO Aspect 16:9 but left the static unchanged. Should I check any of those options?

Also, the VOB opened directly it was 4x3, while it did show as 16x9 through the DVD play of power DVD.

I figure I'm missing a setting somewhere, so I checked the AVS created by DVDRb when it was told to convert the movie from 4x3 to 16x9.... this is what JDobbs uses:

trim(0,3162)
LanczosResize(720,480,0,60,720,360)

[hendrix]

Originally posted by Zenak
Lazy bastards!

On another note, I used the script mentioned above, and I got bars on the sides as well as the top and bottom. I changed the IFO Aspect 16:9 but left the static unchanged. Should I check any of those options?

Also, the VOB opened directly it was 4x3, while it did show as 16x9 through the DVD play of power DVD.

I figure I'm missing a setting somewhere, so I checked the AVS created by DVDRb when it was told to convert the movie from 4x3 to 16x9.... this is what JDobbs uses:

trim(0,3162)
LanczosResize(720,480,0,60,720,360)
the bars on the sides and top are normal if viewed on a computer monitor...tv's usually cut off 10% - when viewed on a tv you won't be able to see the bars - thus viewing more picture.

VOBs doesn't have the DAR flags in so if you import the VOBs directly then i'll show up as 4:3. the DAR flags are in the .ifo file...the .ifo file is what makes the movie 4:3 or 16:9.

also letterboxed movies are 4:3 so if youre converting them to 16:9 and using ifoupdate to put the movies back together then dont forget the update the .ifo files from 4:3 to 16:9 or picture will be "egg headed".

JDobbs' script will work too...it's all user preference...and you won't want to add the trim(0,3162) into every script...that script is an in and out point...it will/may be different per movie or you can just leave it out all together

[Zenak]

@ Hendrix Thanks for being so helpful.

I do understand your points, however I was simply comparing the end result of this process to the end result of DVD-RB.

When DVD RB is finished with a 4x3 LB, the resulting VOB files open and are always in 16x9 mode (this is how a true 16x9 movie opens as well), which is what made me wonder what else I am missing. I think it might be his crop command, but that is just a guess. perhaps there is a slight change needed in the ECL?

In any event, once I have the movies I listed done, I am doubtful I'll ever find a new movie to use this for, so I'll use RB for this process, and continues to use big 3 for the rest of my movies.

[hendrix]

hmm...just wondering when using my script did you encode encode in 4:3 or 16:9?...make sure you encode in 16:9 mode...and the trim command has nothingt to do with the aspect ratio of the movie...it's just an in and out point - it tells the encoder where to start and stop encoding so the trim(0,3162) script will tell the encoder to start at frame 0 and end at frame 3162.

LanczosResize(720,480,0,60,720,360) is a very good script

[Zenak]

I just added it to the AVS section of DIF4U, how would I ensure that it was encoded at 16x9 as well?

[hendrix]

well since youre using DIF4U im gonna assume youre using CCE for your encodes. DIF4U places 4~3 in the file name for 4:3 and 16~9 for anamorphic encodes and BatchCCEWS and DoCCE4U uses the file name to ensure the proper DAR flag is added when encoding. when you make custom .avs scripts (ie. letterbox to anamorphic) the file name is still 4~3 and will automatically encode as 4:3...you have to manually change the aspect ratio to 16:9 when you encode.

to be sure if your .mpv is in fact 16:9 or 4:3 just drag it into DVD2AVI and play it...it'll show the aspect ratio.