Feature Request: Anamorphic Mpeg 720x576 Widescreen Export

serafin

Hello,

As far as I can see, there ist still no possibility to export 16:9 videos as anamorphic mpegs, which would be vital for DVD authoring of widescreen videos.

Anamorphic export should be possible following this article: http://www.nch.com.au/kb/10231.html. Maybe the anamorphic formats are available when exporting directly to DVD but since Videopad has no serious authoring capabilities, this isn't really a way to go.

DVD specifications allow the following formats:

- 720x576 square pixels for "normal" 4:3 videos

- 720x576 anamorphic for 16:9 videos

In the second case the video is compressed horizontaly and is stretched by the playing device later.

With videopad mpeg export the only way to get 16:9 videos exported is via "letterboxing", means: exporting at 720px width with black bars on top of and below the 16:9 video. That isn't a decent way to do it.

Or did you ever watch a commercial DVD with a 16:9 movie with black bars on top and bottom?

So I think it's about time that anamorphic output is added to Videpad export features.

Chris75

I tested the latest version of Videopad and when creating a mpg PAL 720x576 video it would ask me if I wish to Crop or resize the image during exporting (to PC). If you select Crop then you will obviously will get a smaller image but if you select the option to resize you may have the option on your player to zoom in to fill the screen and that would remove the letter-boxing without cropping the image.

serafin

Hello Chris75,

i tried both options, none of them was satisfying. In both cases, you end up with a non anamorphic 4:3 video. When cropping, you get a 16:9 video with black bars on top and bottom to fill the unneeded space, but the resulting video still is 4:3. When resizing, you get a 4:3 video where the left and right parts of the original 16:9 video are cut.

But what you want to have is a 720x576 anamorphic video which uses all the pixels the DVD limitation allows you to have and since this anamorphic video is stretched by the player, you end up with a displayed 16:9 video which really has 576px in height and no black bars and no part of the original video cut away.

Yours

Serafin

c_major_2

Hi Serafin,

The export options crop or zoom will not stretch the video/image. If you want to stretch a 4:3 video to 16:9 without adding back bars you can do this:

Set your preview resolution to 16:9.
Import the 4:3 clip. Now you can see checkerboard on both side.
Apply Zoom effect. Adjust both side the rectangle on the Clip Preview to just fit the 4:3 area.
Export the video in 16:9.

Best regards,

serafin

Hi c_major,

Sorry, you got me wrong. These are the facts:

- I got a real 16:9 video in mp4 format

- I want to make a real DVD of it, that is playable on standalone players, so it has to conform to DVD standards

- that means I have to reduce my video to 720x576 px, the maximum for DVDs

- 720x576 is not 16:9, it is 4:3. But: the DVD format is capable of 720x576 anamorphic, which will be displayed as 16:9

(anamorphic: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphic_widescreen#DVD_Video)

So the only satisfying solution would be videopad having the ability to save mpeg in anamorphic format (means with rectangular instead of square pixels), which so far it doesn't support.

Yours

Serafin

c_major_2

Hi Serafin,

It doesn't matter 16:9 or not. You can set (just type in) the preview to 720x576 and export to the same resolution. The Zoom effect will always stretch the video for you.

serafin

Hi c_major,

Sorry, you still got me wrong. There is a real difference between 16:9, 4:3 AND 4:3 anamorphic formats. Videopad so far is only able to export "normal" 16:9 and "4:3", but not 4:3 anamorphic. Which is exactly what you need when you want to export mpeg widescreen for postproduction of a DVD to an authoring software without reencoding again.

Let me try to put out the differences between the formats again to clarify:

- 4:3 with square pixels like 720x576. This is saved as 720x576 and will be displayed as 720x576

- 16:9 with square pixels like 720x405. On a DVD this is saved as 720x576 with black bars on top and bottom and will be displayed as 720x576 with black bars

- 4:3 anamorphic with rectangular pixels. On a DVD this is saved as 720x576 WITHOUT black bars and will be horizontally stretched to about 1024x576px (16:9) when displayed.

Please do also refer to this article: https://en.wikipedia...creen#DVD_Video

All this has nothing to do with zoom effect and the like. It simply concerns the missing capability of videopad to export 16:9 clips to anamorphic format, which means that the pixels have to be compressed horizontally to fit in a 4:3 output format and the output has to be signed as anamorphic. When this is achieved, every player will acknowledge the format as anamorphic and will stretch the 4:3 anamorphic video horizontally to be displayed as 16:9.

Yours

Serafin

c_major_2

4:3 anamorphic with rectangular pixels. On a DVD this is saved as 720x576 WITHOUT black bars and will be horizontally stretched to about 1024x576px (16:9) when displayed.

As Wikipedia pointed out: Although currently there is no labeling standard....

I think how to stretch the video is up to the player settings. All we have to do with VP is export the video in 720x576 without black bars. It will be the player's option to stretch it or not (e.g. a TV set has multiple options to display 4:3 videos on a widescreen).

BTW: You can change pixel aspect ratio in VideoPad by right click on the clip in the media window (Bin) and select Aspect Ratio.

[deleted]

serafin wrote:

Maybe the anamorphic formats are available when exporting directly to DVD...

I'm just confirming that this is the case, when choosing to export to DVD Movie (either directly to disc or as an .ISO) you can achieve this by selecting PAL Widescreen format.

serafin

Hello

Since Videopad doesn't offer much DVD authoring features I'm forced to do the authoring with another program. Therefore I still need 16:9 anamorphic mpeg export to later import those files into my authoring software.

Yours

Serafin