AGK Faq 6.10

[ukb008]

Hi

Let me draw your attention to AGK FAQ 6.10:

My DVD looks to be mastered incorrectly (4:3 vs 16:9). Can I change AR somehow in AutoGK?
- Yes, see hidden options via CTRL-F9

So far, so good. A hidden option has indeed fulfilled a great need. Now look at this small part of x_agk.log:

[25.03.2005 1:54:53 PM] Duration was: 7 minutes 10 seconds
[25.03.2005 1:54:54 PM] Speed was: 20.94 fps.
[25.03.2005 1:54:54 PM] Compressibility percentage is: 31.02
[25.03.2005 1:54:54 PM] Using softer resizer.
[25.03.2005 1:54:54 PM] Chosen resolution is: 496x272 ( AR: 1.82 )
[25.03.2005 1:54:54 PM] Predicted comptest value is: 55.28
[25.03.2005 1:54:54 PM] Running first pass.
[25.03.2005 1:54:54 PM] Writing the following script to G:\Check\x AGK\agk_tmp\x_movie.avs

Question is, how can I force AGK to have an AR of, say, 1.92 insteard of 1.82? Can this be done at all?

This probably isn't the proper place for a feature request, but this is only a wishful thinking:

If there were just another choice to the aspect hidden option alongwith o16:9 o4:3 o1:1:

ocustom (followed by a box).

Regards.

[len0x]

The hidden option is very flexible - if you manually edit .aspect file you can put any AR in the form of X:Y and it will be picked up by AutoGK.

[ukb008]

I apologise for not looking into this myself - I should have spotted this solution.

D'you remember, some time back, we had to force this change in AR by manually tinkering with the DGIndex and the .d2v? That wasn't too easy for people not computer-savvy - those, incidentally are the kind that AGK appeals to most, because of its incredible ease of operation and astonishing lack of demands for any background knowledge on the part of the user. I believe your putting this aspect business in the hidden options is true to the spirits of AGK itself - simplicity away from technicality.

It is this spirit that will probably be nurtured if the user can be spared (again) the job of

1. finding the .aspect file,
2. opening it,
3. editing the appropriate place without disturbing anything else, and then
4. re-saveing it as an .aspect file again.

Only if there were a box where one could just put a custom ratio and then click OK...

Regards.

[len0x]

Originally posted by ukb008
Only if there were a box where one could just put a custom ratio and then click OK...


Why would anyone who uses AutoGK need a custom AR?

[ukb008]

1. Ah, in a perfect world, there'd be no need for a Custom AR. I have a collection of Seven Hundred DVDs, all of them in double-DVD-boxes, one being the original disc, and the other the mpeg4 back-up. I have played more than three thousand DVD films in my DVD-drive. There are about 19,000 DVD film titles in existence. Many more if you consider other sources (DVD of my son's performance in school concert, for example).

I have seen DVDs that are mastered in various ways. And there's one thing I hate most: noticeable flaws in the picture; l and the first thing that keeps pinching me is the proportion of people's faces, appearance of circles.

Recently I came accross a DVD that played a little compressed side-to-side. So I edited the d2v (4:3 > 16:9) and fed into AGK. The result came up as bloated figures (compressed vertically). Obviously what was needed was a middle way, a finer tweak. ...But this is an extreme example.

In another case, the DVD played a little laterally compressed, and the d2v said it was already 16:9. I couldn't expand it in AGK

Often the AR is just a little way off. Just a little. 4:3 > 16:9 sort of change will be an overkill for most of them. A finer adjustment (recently I did a 1.78 > 1.92 manipulation in GK) may be all that would be required.

2. And, len0x, you know that we don't live in a perfect world. Your .aspect hidden option file is a proof of that. Why else would you have such a capability? If you seek to correct AR errors, then why not the entire spectrum rather than just two stops?

Thanks and regards.