Letterbox

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rob
  • Start date Start date
R

Rob

How can I add the characteristic "black bars" to my movie?

We have a widescreen TV, so I thought it would be cool to
record my home movies in 16:9 format. (This is an
optional setting on our Sony TRV-22 camcorder.) Now, I
have succesfully captured video, edited it, and finished
the movie, and made a DVD with Sonic's MyDVD. It looks
fine on our widescreen TV, but the image gets streched
(vertically) to fit a standard 4:3 TV. I wonder if there
is a way to add those "black bars" to the picture to
prevent this strech from occuring??

Please help...

Thanks!

Rob
 
Hello there,

Just a guess here, did you import/edit your movie in Movie Maker 2 with the
Tools > Option > Advanced > Video Properties set at 16:9 ? If as I suspect
you did not, then that is why is looks wrong on a standard TV. On the
widescreen TV, if you have, as I do, the option of changing the
presentation method there is a very high chance it will also look wrong
when you switch the widescreen to 4:3. If I am right, the ordinary TV is
doing the job right and your widescreen is simply stretching it length
ways.

To solve the problem you will have to create your video file again with the
above mentioned setting set at 16:9 and not 4:3
 
Actually, I did import/edit my movie with the Video
Properties set at 16:9. BTW, I have observed that this
setting can be changed at any time and does not require
recreating the video file to take effect.

I agree with your assessment that the ordinary TV is
doing the job right and the widescreen is stretching it.
That is why I think I need to add those black bars - make
them an integral part of the picture. Any ideas on how to
accomplish this? Perhaps I need to utilize non-square
pixels, too? Has anyone created a letterbox movie that
successfully plays from a DVD on a standard 4:3 TV?

I also downloaded some of the HD movie trailers
(http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_prov
ider/film/ContentShowcase.aspx) and had the same problem
with them. They look great when played from my DVD player
on my widescreen HDTV, but are distorted (squeezed) when
played on a standard 4:3 TV.

Maybe its not a MM2 issue, but rather a Sonic MyDVD
issue. Still, is there a workaround in MM2? Or another
DVD burning software that can do this?

Thanks for your input, Mr. Kelly. Please write back.
 
Hi there,

Could you do the following.

1) Make sure that Windows Movie Maker does not have the setting "Make video
same size as Window when resized"
2) Using WMP play your movie and then press ALT-Enter so as to go to full
size.

If your video completely fills the screen, then somehow it was not saved in
the 16:9 format.
If it appears as widescreen movies do on a normal ratio screen, then we need
to think again.

Off hand I can not think of a satisfactory way of adding black bars. I would
in any case hold fire on that idea...I still think your movie is 4:3 at the
moment...I have had the same issues you see, and it has always been down to
my error.
 
Hi Again,

Item 1 should refer to Windows Media Player and NOT Windows Movie
Maker...sorry about that
 
Rob,

FYI - You have me looking at my camcorder now. It's an older Sony Hi8 with 3
options when shooting video. I've never user anything but the standard 4:3
ratio.

- 4:3 standard

- Cinema - for cinema-like video of 16:9 with black bands on the top and
bottom when playing on a normal TV

- 16:9 full - with no black bands on a normal TV but distortion as it is
stretched to fill the image area.

Both Cinema and 16:9 options play the same on a widescreen TV.

PapaJohn
 
See below for what I found on Sonic's web site about this
issue. I didn't try this, though. I downloaded TMPGEnc
which resolved my problem, but now I don't know how to
combine the seperate audio and video files it creates in
MyDVD!

Thanks to John Kelly and PapaJohn for their attention.

Rob

-----------------from Sonic's web site----------
Title
16:9 video not supported in MyDVD or DVD playback

Description
Encoding

Symptom
1) When previewing 16:9 video in MyDVD, video is
squished. 2) When playing back 16:9 DVD with content made
from MyDVD, video is squished.

Solution
16:9 Video (also called anamorphic, widescreen or letter
box) is a specific function the mpeg file for DVD. The
black borders are written into the mpeg file itself.

Many video camera's have the option to capture with this
popular style of videography, but it doesn't translate
into MyDVD to well regardless if it's captured into MyDVD
or a third party application. Here's why: While the black
borders are encoded in the MPEG-2 file, this doesn't
necessarily mean that the aspect ratio will be retained
to 16:9 (TV's use an aspect ration of 4:3). To maintain
the 16:9 aspect ratio a "flag" must be added to the MPEG-
2 file so MyDVD (and more importantly the DVD player)
knows that it needs to playback at 16:9. Without this
flag, MyDVD and/or the DVD player will assume it's a 4:3
video file and "squish" it to fit the entire on the
screen.

This "flag" isn't added by MyDVD or the video camera
itself which is why MyDVD only supports 16:9 files with
the flag pre-existing on the file. Most high end video
editors have the option to add the flag to retain the
video file's proper shape, but may be too costly to the
average customer.

Below is a link for a free application that customers
have had good luck with to correct the problem. It hasn't
been tested by Sonic and is a use at-your-own-risk
solution.




----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------
Related Knowledges
DVDPatcher
http://mitglied.lycos.de/dvdpa...
Application for adding flag to retain 16:9 aspect ratio
on MPEG-2 files. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! Web page in
German, but application is in English.
 
Hi there,

The information you added to the bottom of your message is just about the
most inaccurate information/rubbish I think I have ever seen published. I
strongly suggest that you obtain appropriate software for widescreen
production...Dazzle DVD Complete for example...it contains no reference to
widescreen or any other format...it simply creates a DVD using whatever
format you send to it. I use it all of the time.

With regard to the info at the bottom of your last message ...

1) Anamorphic is not the same as 16:9. I own both types of video camera. An
Anamorphic camera when used as a widescreen camera simply fails to send
information from the top and bottom rows giving the impression of a
widescreen...it does not add black bars. A 16:9 widescreen camera has a CCD
that IS 16:9, there is no stretching, adding black bars or anything
else...it simply is a 16:9 ratio CCD. Some software/cameras create the
illusion of widescreen by sending information that the pixels are not
square believe it or not...for 16:9 they send info that the pixels have a
ratio of roughly 1:1.44. The pixels are stretched along the X-Axis
2) "While the black borders are encoded in the MPEG-2 file" !!!! The
ratio for display size is contained within the header of the AVI, WMV or
MPEG file that is being played and has nothing at all to do with black
bars. If you have doubts about that, take a look at www.the-kellys.org and
have a look at the videos...you will see both 16:9 and standard 4:3...you
will not see any black bars.
4) The black bars referred to on a 4:3 TV screen when playing a widescreen
video are simply areas that do not contain any information. If they were
actual black bars added to the video then when the same video was played on
a widescreen TV you would still see those black bars.
5) Microsoft Movie Maker Version 2 will output a file as a 16:9 video...in
AVI or WMV format. If you use software that then removes or fails to deal
with the full set of data sent to it, then clearly you will have problems.
6) Based on the information you obtained from the website, MyDVD is not
appropriate DVD making software for you. But as just about everything else
in that info is wrong, I would look for other advice on MyDVD
 
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