I am fairly experieced in the realm of video conversion, including AVI - VCD. I've used MainConcept, Canopus Procoder, and TMpgenc to name a few, so i understand all about how to tweak a file so it will result in the desired appearance when played in a set-top DVD player, and viewed on a standard NTSC television. I discovered a new tool, which i like a lot. I've encoded some AVI's with it, and I'm really quite pleased w/ the quality when viewed on the TV. As a matter of fact, i'd venture to say that it's the best VCD quality that i've ever seen. but, those AVI's were not widescreen movies-- their aspect ratio was already that of a standard television-- as if the source was recorded from TV. i was so delighted by the quality, and also very pleased with the menu options-- very easy to edit the text-- perhaps more control, and better results,at least in the default menus, than i've seen in other similar apps-- i decided to try encoding a DVD. the AVI archive to be encoded was wide-screen aspect ratio. i'm so used to Canopus Procoder taking the guesswork out of the aspect ratio formula (because it does it for me), that i didn't even think to look for any relevant settings. very excited to check out the video quality on my newly burned DVD from Ulead DVD MovieFactory, i popped it in the set-top player, only to be dismayed by the fact that the movie looked as if it was in "cinemascope"-- that is, the video, instead of being "letter-boxed" as most wide screen format movies turn out when the aspect ratio is left intact by the encoding process, the images are stretched out from top to bottom so that seemingly all of the image is scrunched on the screen instead of having the letterbox borders. does anyone know if there is a way to force Ulead DVD MovieFactory to maintain aspect ratio in its DVD video output? is there any control whatsoever for that variable? thanks! js
If you are useing the Encoder in "Ulead DVD Movie Factory" then that is probably the Problem because it doesn"t have any advanced Resize settings so you Basicly have to use whatever it Produces for you...(Unless the Problem is that it encoded the File to 16:9 instead of 4:3) I suggest you encode your Files to Mpeg-1/VCD with Canopus Procoder and then use "Ulead DVD Movie Factory" to author it to VCD without re-encodeing the file..This way "Ulead DVD Movie Factory" will not touch the Video but you will still be able to use the Menu"s and Chapters.... Cheers PS: AVI files do not have an aspect ratio, They are Displayed useing there Resolution not aspect ratio so if your AVI file looks Widescreen ,it doesn"t mean you should encode it at 16:9(..Unless you have a Widescreen TV set)
i beg to differ. i'm no expert, but this is how i understand it to be. i know i'll probably get some part of this wrong, as it is a greatly misunderstood, and misquoted issue. the video in an AVI file has dimensions, and therefore its own "aspect ratio". the aspect ratio can be derived by a simple mathemetcal formula. an AVI w/ dimensions of 640x256 has a ratio of 2.50:1 the ratio which you describe are the two options which some encoders offer for the output video. 16:9 being "widescreen" and 4:3 being that of most television broadcast, i believe. the way i understand it, is if you're willing to use those pre-packaged ratios, and take a stab that your VCD or DVD will come out looking like the original, then you use one or the other. you've missed the point of my post above. i want to try to encode the file w/ the Ulead product because i was quite pleased w/ the results when i encoded a vcd of a file which originated in the 4:9 aspect ratio. however, the second file that i tried-- the AVI of a DVD movie that i encoded w/ Ulead (which didn't come out right) has an original ratio of 1.89:1 , so the resulting video is distorted, top to bottom, stretched out to fill the screen where the letterbox black area would be if the original ratio were maintained. my question, is not about ratio, but rather if Ulead has a setting, that i might be missing, from which i can tweak the output settings of the encoding process so i can arrive at my desired, maintained ratio. if you're correct in stating that Ulead doesn't have the advanced features, then my question has been answered. thanks!
I am Talking about the "Pixel Aspect Ratio" which All AVI Files have a Pixel Aspect Ratio of 1:1(Which is the Same as No Aspect ratio, Square Pixels)...AVI Resolution Can Have an aspect Ratio but the File is Not Displayed useing an Aspect ratio (AVI Doesn"t Support Aspect ratio Flags) it is Displayed useing it"s resolution.... Take For Instance a Half D1 DVD Format which uses a Resolution of 352+480 ,If that File was Played on a DVD Player useing it"s resolution you would Have an Image that is Taller than it is Wide and would Look very Strange on a TV set but luckilly it is not Displayed that way, The DVD has an Aspect ratio Flag that OverRides the Resolution so the Resolution is only used so the DVD Player knows how many Pixels to Display useing the Aspect Ratio Flag..... The Same with SVCD"s which use a 480+480 resolution but SVCD Only supports 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios and 480+480 is Definately not 4:3 or 16:9 ,(It is actaully the same as AVI which uses a P.A.R of 1:1) but the DVD Player will ignore that and use the Aspect ratio flag to determine how to Display the Video..... That is why you can Not Relate AVI resolutions to Mpeg-2/DVD Aspect ratios.....
how does that apply to my issue? when Procoder, TMpgenc, or Ulead is done w/ the file, it is no longer an AVI, but an MPEG. no? I know of only one set-top retail consumer grade DVD player capable of playing AVI files. It is not common, and i do not own one. maybe they are becoming more common by now? also, you've contradicted yourself here. in your first reply, you state that an AVI doesn't have an aspect ratio, and in your second reply, you state that an AVI can have an aspect ratio. i'm confused. what is your suggested procedure for encoding an AVI so that the resulting MPEG (vcd or dvd) can be displayed in a set-top dvd player, and appear as it was intended to look in its original format?
I said the Resolution Can Have an Aspect ratio but it is Not displayed useing it"s aspect ratio it is Displayed useing it"s Resolution, Just because you can Calculate an aspect ratio from the Resolution is a Moot point because it isn"t displayed that way .... I say just try to encode your File in Procoder First and then just use Ulead to author the File to VCD Cuz Procoder can Properly Resize your AVI file to it looks Proper on your TV set.....
thanks. anyone else care to comment on the Ulead product? i haven't heard much talk about it. there's another, more advanced ulead video encoding/authoring software too, isn't there? i wonder if it uses the same encoder engine? i'd like to hear more about ulead if anyone has a comment. thanks.
Yes ,there is a More Advanced DVD Authoring Program made by "Ulead", It is called "Ulead DVD Workshop 2.0" and it uses an encoder Designed by "MainConcept" but it isn"t nearly as good as some of the Standalone Mpeg encoders Like "Canopus Procoder" or "MainConcept Encoder" or even as good as "Tmpgenc Pluss/Express"..... Generally all encoders Built into DVD authoring Programs will Produce Medeocre Quality Compared to some of the Professinal Quality Mpeg encoders... There is also a Newer Version of "Ulead DVD Movie Factory" that was released not to long ago, It is Version "4.0" and is the Version that I have but I also have "Ulead DVD Workshop 2.0" ..The cool thing about "Ulead DVD workshop 2.0" is that it lets you Make Subtitles for your Movie without haveing a Subtitle File as it lets you make the Subtitles From Scratch but it takes a Long Time and it a Bit Complicated.... What I use usually for Makeing DVD"s is I first use "AVISynth" to Frameserve My Source File to My encoder which is "CinemaCraft Encoder v2.70" which encodes My AVI file to a M2V Video File and a Wav audio file ...(I use AVISynth to add Filters to Clean up the Image and to Properly resize the Resolution of the Source File to DVD Resolution so it doesn"t look stretched or Squished) I then use "Sony Vegas Video 6" to encode the Wav audio file to "Dolby Digital AC3" and then I author the AC3 file and the M2V File to DVD with Menu"s and Chapters useing "MediaChance DVDLab Pro" which is one of the Easier to use But Most Versitile and Complete DVD Authoring Program arround... It will also let you author VCD and SVCD File to DVD "WithOut" Re-encodeing the Files so you don"t loose any quality going from VCD/SVCD to DVD and this way you can Fit up to 4 Full VCD Movies on a Single DVD-R and up to 3 Full SVCD Movies on a Single DVD-R... It will also let you make a DVD that has files of Different Resolutions and Aspect ratio"s on the Same DVD which is a Feature that Very few Authoring Program support.... Cheers
Minion, no offence, but are you the only person who replies in this forum? it's as if no one else is reading this thread! where is everyone? we might as well correspond via e-mail! hehe do you know if your authoring program makes discs compliant for "any" set-top player? or does your player have special capabilities to play those loaded DVD's? that sounds like a pretty cool feature! why Vegas for AC3? doesn't Tmpgenc decode Ac3, or any others? i guess from your post that Cinacraft doesn't, but i figured that to give you superior versatility for encoding options- i've used it, but recall it to be not-so-user friendly, so i usually opt for what i think is most easy-- that being procoder because it still "looks good". i always thought Tmpgenc to be the best all around, but it is a bit slower than procoder... i'm only working w/ 1.1ghz, so i need to worry about speed. plan to upgrade soon. have you ever tried DVD authoring w/ vegas? i've only used it for multitrack audio when i recorded my band or some solo artist singer/ guitarists... never video. oh, and by the way-- i was so hyped on the Ulead encoder because i thought it made a really good quality VCD-- definitely less grainy or pixelated (as if i had used some filters to smooth it out, but i didn't-- not to mention it was aboout as fast as procoder!), which was the point of this thread in the first place if you go back to my original post, you'll see that.
Minion, way to masturbate all over jsabarese's topic. You didn't answer his question in the slightest bit. jsabarese, the version 3 that you're using doesn't support 16:9, you have to upgrade to version 4 to add that functionality. http://www.ulead.com/dmf/compare2.htm
GNB, haha... thanks for the post. i believe some people find great pleasure in seeing their thoughts splattered in cyberspace, as often evidenced by an unusually elevated number of posts. i appreciate your attention to my question. i figured i'd humor the bloke, as long as i nudged the thread back on topic here and there, what was the harm. after all, i did learn that avi's don't have an aspect ratio. i'm glad of that.
