Hi, Have been looking for a video capture device which will "capture" the video image in the 16:9 widescreen format, but have not found one yet. This seems to be a common question, but one I also have not found an answer for yet. I presently have an ADS Tech, DVDXpressDX2, USB capture device which has very good capture quality, but will "ONLY" capture in a perfectly "SQUARE" or full screen format. Have used the software converter "DVDPatcher_v106.exe", which will convert the output MPEG-2 image to the 16:9 format, and that would be great "IF" you like really "FAT" people in your videos, as all this converter patch does is "STRETCH" the "SQUARE" image out to the 16:9 format. BUMMER! Once I have the captured MPEG-2 image or file, I use PowerDirector v7 to edit and encode the final video to be transferred to a DVD. This is a great program which works very well for editing and encoding. EXAMPLE OF PROBLEM: Our daughters wedding was captured on VHS tape. When playing the video on our wide screen TV, it "WILL" play in widescreen. Therefore, I would love to be able to capture this video in the 16:9 widescreen format. This and other tapes. "So, my question is: Is there a video capture device/card which will "CAPTURE" the video in 16:9 widescreen format?" My System Software and hardware. PS: Windows XP Prof. w/SP3 RAM: 2 GB RAM HD: 500GB, 2ea. DVD WRITER: ASUS DVD-R/WR CAPTURE DEVICE: ADS Tech, DVDXpressDX2, USB CAPTURE SOFTWARE: CapWiz v3.8.0.12 by ADS Tech VIDEO EDITING & AUTHORING SOFTWARE: PowerDirector v7 Art
Not really sure what you trying to achieve. The picture on the tape is aspect ratio 4:3, intended for the old TV's. If you stretch it sideways to 16:9 you do make the people look fat, as you said. Most new TV's have a smart 4:3> W/S mode where they will try to maintain the middle of the picture in the correct aspect ratio as much as possible, and then the TV stretches it quite a bit on both sides to get it to fit the 16:9 shape. This is less objectionable than stretching it uniformly, because the eyes tend to settle on the middle. Maybe you should try cropping the top and bottom a little of your 4:3 source and user that to make the anamorphic DVD.
Hi davexnet, and thanks, Really can't tell you for sure, but yes, I have a new LCD flat screen which probably does what you just said. I have to admit, after reading some of the other posts, I feel I am really lacking in the area of advanced video editing. My editing & encoding program, as I said, is PowerDirector v7, which does not have the more in-depth editing functions, like cropping and the like. Or at least I haven't found these functions. LOL What I am "HOPPING" to find is a caprure device/card which "will" allow capturing the image in its original format and not a "SQUARE" format. I fed a TV program, (which "was" widescreen), through the ADS capture device from a DVR hard drive and the resulting file was also in 4:3 ratio. I guess square is 4:3 aspect ration. The ADS Tech, DVDXpressDX2, USB capture device will "ONLY" allow video capture with its own software according to their tech support dept.. Which is a bummer as PowerDirector has the 16:9 video capture capability. All output from PowerDirector is in the 16:9 ratio format, which of course, renders large black bars on the sides of the final encoded file. So, I guess not only am I in need of learning far more in video editing, but may also need to switch to another video capture device "and" editing software. Art
What format is the capture in? AVI or MPEG ? What codec does it use ? Is it PAL or NTSC, and what is the resolution ? In general, you can't really capture in 16*9 if the source is only 4*3. For that, you'd need a W/S source such as a 720p/1080i video camera. Those sources are truly 16/9 in size, and fit the rectangle exactly. I took a look at the web page of PowerDirector and it looks like a very elaborate program. I've got to believe the crop, strecth and similar basic functions are in there somewhere. To get the 4:3 to W/S without aspect ratio distortion, really involves cropping it top, bottom or both - which may or may not be possible depending on the content and your artistic expectations.
The ADS capture formats: DVD (MPEG-2), SVCD, VCD (MPEG-1), MPEG-4 and DivX Codec? I really do not know. Captures in NTSC or PAL, users choice. NTSC: VCD = 325 x 240 1/2 D1 = 352 x 480 SVCD = 480 x 480 DVD = 640 x 480 or 720 x 480 Now that I am looking at this, I wonder if "I" used the incorrect capture setting which caused the full screen output format? Is this the way you see it? I opened up PowerDirector last night and went through as many of the settings as I could find as a practice, but could not find a crop or stretch mode in it. Perhaps I am just overlooking something. I think I better go back to the on-line users manual and do a bit more reading to see if these functions are in the program and where. LOL Even if it does have the crop and stretch functions, I think this is something I will have to practice at. Art
Well not really, I was just interested in what format and res you actually captured the footage in, to see if I could come up with anything more specific. You told me what's available, not what you chose. Did you capture in NTSC 720*480 ? Another option would be to take, say, 30 seconds of the footage and put it on a file sharing site and let some of us look at it. It often helps to actually see the subject up close.
Oh, Sorry! Yes, I did all my captures in NTSC, MPEG-2 720 x 480 resolution. The 640 x 480 res. only gives a smaller output size, but still 4:3 ratio. I will copy a TV show tomorrow which will be broadcast in widescreen format, then do a 5 minute clip of it and post to one of my web sites. Then will post the URL here so you can download it to analyze. I just put in a movie which was made on VHS, wide screen format and tried alternate capture settings in two minute segments which had no change to the capture end result, still 4:3. Art
Hi davexnet, First of all, I would really like to thank you for helping me with my questions. I realize I do not have the background in video editing I would like to have and really need. Hopefully in time! Okay, here it is. The following URL link is to the 30 second MPEG-2 clip from a TV broadcast. It is a commentary by a reporter who covered Hurricane Katrina. This was broadcast in "letterbox" aspect ratio, so the original segment will have "black bars top and bottom". This was not done by the ADS capture hardware or software. The important point here is that the captured clip is "PERFECTLY SQUARE", not 4:3 or 16:9. http://www.cwnorthandsouth.com/Files/H_Katrina.zip The following is a discussion to help me understand this a little better and would like your input as to rather I am correct or not. From: Digital Video Editing Glossary / Adobe Premiere 4:3 -- Standard aspect ratio used for television; one third wider than it is high 16:9 -- Widescreen aspect ratio used for film; almost twice as wide as it is high LETTERBOX -- A technique used to display a widescreen video image (with a 16:9 aspect ratio) on a standard television display (with a 4:3 aspect ratio). The widescreen image fills the width of the screen, with black bars above and below it. Given the information from Adobe Premiere, above, the following seems to apply. As the 4:3 standard aspect ratio states the TV screen or picture area is one third wider then tall, this would describe almost "ALL" TV's being sold today as "WIDESCREEN". This sure describes my LCD widescreen TV and any others I have seen being sold as widescreen. Therefore, I guess what I really want as a final output is 4:3 aspect ratio, not 16:9, which is described, above, as being "letterbox". I do not want the letterbox aspect ratio, I want the correct aspect ratio which will "FILL" my LCD widescreen picture format. I think this is where I have become confused as the TV's are being sold as widescreen TV's, but actually has a 4:3 standard aspect ratio and according to the description above, the 16:9 aspect ratio is called "widescreen" as well as "letterbox". Am I on track here or have I derailed somewhere along the way? Art
If you do the capture and you take the time to edit them, you can do anything you want. The clip you provided is simple to turn into true anamorphic 16*9 - the reason being, the actual picture content is already almost the right shape. Regarding your file, I cropped the black out and saved it as an avi. @ 640*372 -which preserves it's true A/R. Notice that the ratio is 1.72 - very close to 16*9 1.77. I then opened it in AVStoDVD (an all-in-one DVD creation program) This program looks at the res and A/R of the file, creates an avisynth script and re-sizes as necessary by adding borders or cropping, to come with the proper size necessary for 16*9) And here it is. Is this what you're trying to do? As I said, this is easy becaue the original files actual content is almost the right shape to begin with. Now if it had been a full picture 4:3, we might have had our work cut out for us! http://www.savefile.com/files/2093823
I guess I should not have used that particular clip, which was already broadcast in the 16:9 aspect ratio. This clip is very unusual for my captures as "ALL" my captures are 4:3 or "square", top to bottom and side to side with no black bars. As you said, "Now if it had been a full picture 4:3, we might have had our work cut out for us!" Now "that" is my problem. I just did a movie capture and used "DVDPatcher_v106" to resize the video to 16:9. Have tried this before and got letterbox, which stretches the picture out so much the distortion is totally unacceptable. For some reason, this time it gave me a conversion which fits my TV screen, not letterbox. Go Figure? So, what about the glossary terms for 4:3 and 16:9? Seems every time I do something concerning file conversion, I seem to get something different every time. So, you may understand why I am abit confused about the conversion process. Art
Any attempt to convert a 4:3 FS to 16*9 widescreen has to be handled on a case by case basis to see what can be done. How much can be cropped top and bottom obviously depends on the content. Captures are usually done at 720*480 to capture both fields. Your clip was field blended Vs. Interlaced. Not sure if that's just the way the source was, or whether it's something in your capture software. (Interlaced is better). I think your glossary definitions are OK in general, but bare this in mind: When related to DVD, 4:3 generally is associated with non-anamomorphic *whether or not the content is FS or letterbox*, and 16*9 usually implies anamorphic DVD. Good luck!
Unfortunately, the capture interlacing is not adjustable by either the device or software. As I said, according to ADSTech., their tech support said the capture software that came with the ADS Tech, DVDXpressDX2, USB capture device is the "ONLY" capture software that will work with it. :-( So, this being said, I will ask just one more question, then leave you alone. Would you have any recommendations on any hardware and/or software which may make life easier for my editing efforts? I really can't afford a lot, but willing to go some to get the best or at least better results. Thanks davexnet! Art
You're welcome. If I had some serious projects to do of this nature, I'd invest in the Canopus advc110 (or similar) It's an external box. One wire attaches to the VCR, while the other goes to the Firewire card in the PC. Captures in DV. I don't think you can beat it for ease of use or convenience, always seems to get good reviews. Another option maybe a traditional capture card, take a look here: http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=47&name=TV-Tuners-Video-Devices
These companies will say only their software works with their device... but is that true? .. in the shop we use a variety of capture software with a variety of usb devices.. just depends really if say nero or whatever can find the usb port with the stream.. I would experiment with other softwares.
As stated above, I am using PowerDirector to do my MPEG editing and encoding. The program "does" see the ADS Tech, DVDXpressDX2, USB capture device, but will not capture from it. I haven't tried other programs yet, but I also have Nero, so will see if it will capture from it. Art
