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Aspect Ratio problems
Hello
I’m facing a little but singular problem not only with Sony Vegas, but even with a video converter. I have MPEG2 videos with these dimensions: 720×480, 16:9 aspect ratio, 29.97 fps interlaced, 5.1 Dolby Surround. My project is configured NTSC DV Widescreen (720×480, 29.97 fps). everything is okay when editing, but when rendering, my video appears 720×480… with 3:2 aspect ratio.
I have read that dividing the dimensions of the video I get the real aspect radio. And that terrifies me, because that 3:2 is the real aspect ratio of ANY rendered 720×480 video.
Please tell me how I can make my videos look like the real widescreen thing, I mean, they get a 16:9 aspect ratio, without having to modify it’s dimensions. I want this to work on software like Sony Vegas Pro 8 and Super (C)
Greetings
Juan Escajadillo
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11 Replies
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You didn’t say what template you are using for rendering. It sounds like you might be using one that is not 16:9. There is no default template for DVD Widescreen that has audio so you’ll have to make your own or tweak an existing template. I would start with the DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video stream template and enable the audio options that you want.
Another thing to consider is your target player. If the player you want to view it on doesn’t understand Pixel Aspect Ratios (i.e., it assumes that all video has a PAR of 1.0) then using a rendering template with a PAR of anything but 1.0 will not play back correctly. For this to work you can’t simply change the PAR, you have to change the video dimensions to conform to a PAR of 1.0.
For example, NTSC DV Widescreen has a PAR of 1.2121 with dimensions of 720×480. In order to make the PAR 1.0000 you need to multiple 720 x 1.2121 which is 872.712 or 873 rounded. So rendering 873×480 with a PAR of 1.000 will give you the 16:9 you are looking for. Note: this does not have to be done if your target output device is a DVD/TV. It’s only some PC/web players that ignore PAR and display incorrectly.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
I’m using the “NTSC DV Widescreen (720×480, 29,97fps)” template. The PAR is 1.2121. That the one I’m having the 3:2 aspect ratio problem. Do I have to modify that to 1.0000?
And BTW, I’m using Vegas Pro v8.0b. Hope you find it useful.
I have a trick to make it look widescreen, but two things:
1. That means reducing the size to match the 16:9 aspect ratio. And…
2. That also means ignoring the source video’s aspect ratio. Those come from a Handycam HDD camcorder and records at 720×480 16:9 video with 5.1 surround sound.Hope that info comes in handy to figure out my problem, John, since I want to make a DVD-quality video.
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OK, so you’re rendering to AVI. I thought you were rendering to MPEG. The NTSC DV Widescreen AVI template will correctly make a widescreen video. there is nothing more you need to do. If you drop it back into Vegas it should show as 16:9. What makes you think it is not 16:9?
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Yes, and I forgot to mention, I was rendering to AVI (with XviD). I’m not making all this, John (BTW, your name is the same as mine, just in English). Because that was the result after RENDERING my video. It doesn’t show 16:9 in the properties when played in WMP, it SHOWS 3:2 instead. Believe me, I’m serious. What’s going wrong if I’m just doing it right? Are the codecs I’m using for compression?
Please give me a answer because I’m just going nuts!
BTW, I realized the source videos (in MPEG2) use DAR, not PAR, and it shows on the properties. I know, I know. But if those videos are in 720×480, it should have a 3:2 aspect ratio. No, they have 16:9 aspect ratio, which makes me think it’s a DAR, and that comes from the camcorder. Just tell me how to achieve that DAR. What are your tricks, if there any? If the problem is the XviD codec, should I try another or doesn’t it matter?
Greetings.
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> Yes, and I forgot to mention, I was rendering to AVI (with XviD).
Well knowing what codec you are using adds a lot of light to the subject. 😉 When you said you were rendering with the DV Widescreen template I assumed you were rendering DV.
I beleive Xvid is the problem here. It is a “web” codec and so it assumes viewing on a PC monitor which always has a PAR of 1.000. If you want this codec to work, you will need to render your video as 873×480.
I have to ask: What are you trying to achieve? I thought you wanted to make a DVD. DVD’s require MPEG2 video.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Hi, again.
Well, my plan is placing it to the internet. I also want to put it on DVD, but it doesn’t let me record with 5.1 surround sound, I suppose I have to render both things separately.
Today I tried to render the video in AVI with the default settings of the NTSC template. I realized one thing: it doesn’t let me record the 5.1 surrond sound together. Guess I have to render it apart.
The result were unfortunately the same! What’s wrong with avi since it’s not getting 16:9?
Right now I’m going to try on MPEG2. I’ll write you later.
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> Well, my plan is placing it to the internet. I also want to put it on DVD, but it doesn’t let me record with 5.1 surround sound, I suppose I have to render both things separately.
Yes, you need to render separately for each output type. When rendering for the web use the dimensions I gave you (873×480).
> Today I tried to render the video in AVI with the default settings of the NTSC template.
What do you mean “default NTSC template”? You should be using the NTSC DV Widescreen template if you expect to get 16:9 output.
> I realized one thing: it doesn’t let me record the 5.1 surrond sound together. Guess I have to render it apart.
That’s right. DV doesn’t support 5.1.
> The result were unfortunately the same! What’s wrong with avi since it’s not getting 16:9?
What are you using to determine it is not 16:9? Maybe your player is wrong?
> Right now I’m going to try on MPEG2. I’ll write you later.
When rendering for DVD you must render the Video and Audio separately if you want 5.1 surround. Render the video as MainConcept MPEG-2 using the DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video stream template and the audio as Dolby Digital AC-3 uwing the 5.1 Surround DVD.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
I’m using the NTSC DV Widescreen template. And I’m using Windows Media Player, since that’s the only player I have to determine the aspect ratio. Any alternatives are welcome. I also have Media Player Classic and VLC, but the don’t give me the AR. I tried on all the players and the look is the same no matter what (I mean 3:2 AR). That’ doesn’t happen with the source MPEG2 videos I mentioned before, it shows their AR right (16:9).
What I need in all the cases, no matter if it’s AVI or MPEG2, is my videos showing the widescreen AR (16:9) right.
Sorry if I haven’t told you this before.
I wish I could send you the videos to show you an example of what happening to me.
Greetings.
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> And I’m using Windows Media Player, since that’s the only player I have to determine the aspect ratio
Well… with each post we are getting closer to uncovering the problem. This is good. 😉
It doesn’t matter what the Windows Media Player is showing you if that’s not your target device. All that matters is that the output device that it was intended for is displaying your video correctly.
You should be checking your MPEG2 DVD video on your TV via a DVD player. That is the only place it counts. Windows Media Player will not show your video correctly because it’s not a TV or emulating a TV. It’s just a media player that has no clue what pixel aspect ratios are. That doesn’t mean your video is not 16:9. It just means Windows Media Player can’t handle video with a PAR other than 1.0.
Burn a DVD. Play it on your TV. Everything will be fine.
For the web video, render it as 873×480 and I guarantee that it will playback as 16:9 widescreen in Windows Media Player.
BTW, VLC should play back MPEG-2 Widescreen correctly but the “real” test is a set-top DVD player connected to a TV
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
I see.
I discovered something about rendering to AVI, not matter what codecs I’m using.
Doing some research, I realized that AVI doesn’t have a flag to obtain the pixel aspect ratio from a DVD or, in this case, an MPEG2 video, as these they have it that gives the capability to change that AR on the same size (720×480)! I say PAR because that’s what appears in WMP. To obtain this on AVI, I have to actually resize the video. I prefer reducing it because making it bigger would see everything distorted.
However, I’ll keep in mind the tips you told me for making videos to DVD. One last question: I’m doing a custom template 704×396. (it gives me 16:9, I calculated it) with a PAR of 1. If I want to include, let’s say, a 480p video (640×480), what is the PAR I would assign to that video? It’s to make the video appear correctly on screen, with the two lateral black bars.
Greetings.
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