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Letterboxed to anamorphic video conversion

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At Moth3r's request, here's a repost of my tutorial (well, more of an outline, really, as I didn't go into a lot of detail, but I'll answer questions if anyone has them) for converting non-anamorphic letterboxed video to anamorphic, as posted originally in the thread titled "Anyone Planning on Making Anamorphic Versions Using the 09/12 OUT DVDs?".

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If you just plan to watch the output on your computer, then (almost) anything goes -- though keep in mind that whatever format you use, there's always a tradeoff between quality and file size. If you plan to make it into a DVD, however, you would have to encode it into MPEG2.

Here's a quick rundown on the steps you would have to take to make anamorphic versions of the DVDs:

(1) Rip the DVD video to your hard drive using DVD Decrypter. For this purpose, I recommend using the "IFO" mode -- and be sure to select "Demux" for the video, audio and subtitle tracks you want.

(2) Open the demuxed video (.M2V) file in DGIndex (from the DGMPGDec suite) and use it to create an index (.D2V) file.

(3) Write an AviSynth (.AVS) script that looks something like this:

MPEG2Source("path\file.d2v")
# this would be to load the index file created in step (2)
# be sure to have "DGDecode.dll" in your AviSynth "plugins" folder, otherwise you'll have to call LoadPlugin

Crop(0, top, 0, -bottom)
# remove the black bars from the video
# it's a good idea to use the script editor in VirtualDubMod to find the right dimensions

Lanczos4Resize(width, height)
# the right dimensions will probably be something like 600x480

AddBorders(0, top, 0, bottom)
# add black bars to the top and bottom of the video to make it 720x480 (NTSC)
# of course, you could eliminate this step by including some of the black bars while cropping
# but I like doing it in two steps because it makes the math easier (what a thing for a math major to say)
# and, more importantly, to ensure the consistency of the black

(4) Open the .AVS file in TMPGEnc Plus (or whatever your favorite MPEG2 encoder is) and encode it using your desired settings. There's an excellent bitrate calculator at http://dvd-hq.info/Calculator.html -- though I've found that 2-pass VBR output by TMPGEnc tends to be smaller than expected, so you can be a little more generous when specifying your target average bitrate.

(5) If you're not making any changes to the audio and subtitle tracks, you can just use the demuxed files you obtained in step (1).

(6) Author the DVD in DVD-lab Pro (or whatever your favorite DVD authoring software is). It's possible to recreate the original menus with just a bit of work (like what I did for my edit of The Producers, for example).

(7) Burn the DVD with your favorite burning program! I personally like building .ISO files with PgcEdit and burning them with ImgBurn (though I really gotta try the new "build" feature of ImgBurn).
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# the right dimensions will probably be something like 600x480


The image should keep its width (720) - you only want to resize in one dimension. The height should be increased by a factor of 1.333 (recurring), which, for NTSC, will probably mean a resize (after cropping) to approximately 720x360.

DE
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Won't you crop out the greedo text? is the process the same for PAL?
Some were not blessed with brains.
<blockquote>Originally posted by: BadAssKeith

You are passing up on a great opportunity to makes lots of money,
make Lucas lose a lot of his money
and make him look bad to the entire world
and you could be well known and liked

None of us here like Lucas or Lucasfilm.
I have death wishes on Lucas and Macullum.
we could all probably get 10s of thousands of dollars!
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Originally posted by: Darth Editous
# the right dimensions will probably be something like 600x480


The image should keep its width (720) - you only want to resize in one dimension. The height should be increased by a factor of 1.333 (recurring), which, for NTSC, will probably mean a resize (after cropping) to approximately 720x360.

DE


You're right -- I was really tired when I wrote that. =)

No, I wouldn't crop out the "Greedo text" because the subtitles aren't burned into the video -- they're in a separate track, so they can be added again when authoring the DVD (though I realize now they may look stretched since they were designed for non-anamorphic video). And the process would be similar for PAL, just with different dimensions.
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Originally posted by: wmgan
No, I wouldn't crop out the "Greedo text" because the subtitles aren't burned into the video -- they're in a separate track, so they can be added again when authoring the DVD (though I realize now they may look stretched since they were designed for non-anamorphic video). And the process would be similar for PAL, just with different dimensions.
Is it possible to replace them with burnt-in subs, and if so how do you do it... and if you do, and assuming you didn't convert to anamorpihc... would you still need to reencode the entire DVD or just that part?
Some were not blessed with brains.
<blockquote>Originally posted by: BadAssKeith

You are passing up on a great opportunity to makes lots of money,
make Lucas lose a lot of his money
and make him look bad to the entire world
and you could be well known and liked

None of us here like Lucas or Lucasfilm.
I have death wishes on Lucas and Macullum.
we could all probably get 10s of thousands of dollars!
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If you want burnt-in subtitles, you would use the VobSub filter in AviSynth. Why would you want to have burnt-in subs without making any other changes to the video?
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Heh, or alternatively, if you own DVD-Rebuilder - you can just import the dvd directly and tick the letterbox conversion advanced setting for avisynth This is of course oversimplified, but still many times easier than the above-mentioned method, given you HAVE rebuilder - you probably know all about how to do such things. Done it many times before and it works wonderfully... looks like there's 3 more in my future
sigs are for teh gheys
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Originally posted by: wmgan
If you want burnt-in subtitles, you would use the VobSub filter in AviSynth. Why would you want to have burnt-in subs without making any other changes to the video?
I don't have a widescreen TV, there are 3 TV's in the house... and only one has a 16:9 mode. Therefore, I don't need to make it anamorphic yet... but I hate player invoked subtitles... they're an eye-sore.
Some were not blessed with brains.
<blockquote>Originally posted by: BadAssKeith

You are passing up on a great opportunity to makes lots of money,
make Lucas lose a lot of his money
and make him look bad to the entire world
and you could be well known and liked

None of us here like Lucas or Lucasfilm.
I have death wishes on Lucas and Macullum.
we could all probably get 10s of thousands of dollars!
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so if you DONT want the Greedo subs burned in,how would you do this? and what font would be used?is ANH the only one with subs like this,or is there a Jabba subs too in ROTJ,and if so what font is used on that one?
thanks in advance
DJ
(I forgot about this part,damn)
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Originally posted by: dark_jedi
so if you DONT want the Greedo subs burned in,how would you do this? and what font would be used?is ANH the only one with subs like this,or is there a Jabba subs too in ROTJ,and if so what font is used on that one?
thanks in advance
DJ
(I forgot about this part,damn)


I don't really understand your question... from previous online reports, the Greedo subs in ANH and presumably the Jabba subs in ROTJ are not burned in, so if you don't want them burned in, then you don't have to do anything...
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but after cropping they will be gone right,how do you add them back,and with what font,I dont want to crop with them in,because like you said, once resized they will look stretched,that will look shitty.
does this make more sense now,if not let me know.
thanks for the fast response though
DJ
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Does anyone have any tips on how to do this conversion on a Mac?
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Originally posted by: dark_jedi
but after cropping they will be gone right,how do you add them back,and with what font,I dont want to crop with them in,because like you said, once resized they will look stretched,that will look shitty.


No... cropping the video won't affect the subtitles since the subtitles aren't in the video

One way to avoid any "stretching" of the subtitles would be to hard-encode them by using the VobSub filter in AviSynth. (The drawback to that is that you won't be able to remove the subtitles, or change them to a different language.) Otherwise, you can always create new subtitles modeled after the old ones... I don't have much experience with creating subtitles so I'm sure others can help you better with that...
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Looks like DVD REbuilder will be the simplest option now I've taken a quick look at it. I'll try it tomorrow - as long as the ouptut video is decent quality then I'll be really pleased! (Love the simple options me...)
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wow...
actually what I do... is I use Vegas 6 and DVDShrink...

I copy the DVD image to my drive... using DVD Shrink.... (but every chapter separate)

then, I drag my .vob movie into Vegas (it reads .vobs pretty much) and I crop it to be anamophic.... and stich together each chapter

after that... I simply render it to MPEG2 24p Widescreen and there you go!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/Lord_Phillock/starwarssig.png

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Lord Phillock -- what's your reason for copying "every chapter separate"?
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I was able to make my own anamorphic DVD with wmgan's method but I have one problem: the picture exhibits a window blind effect during scenes with sudden motion. Kind of like the interlacing is breaking down. This phenomenon seems to be caused during the DGIndex step. Is there a video setting I should know about in DGIndex?
Thanks in advance.
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Use "forced film" mode in the DGIndex pulldown settings?

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Like torque91, I have what looks like interlacing problems. I can see a dark bar of them on the left side of my video as well as whenever something moves. I tried using forced film mode in dgindex, but then I end up with sped up video. Can anyone give me a hint on what to try? Thanks!
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Originally posted by: chuck88
Like torque91, I have what looks like interlacing problems. I can see a dark bar of them on the left side of my video as well as whenever something moves. I tried using forced film mode in dgindex, but then I end up with sped up video. Can anyone give me a hint on what to try? Thanks!


Forced Film should not give you "sped up video" unless you change the framerate. I don't own the DVDs and I don't know if it's encoded at 29.97 or 23.976 fps, but here's a way to tell -- make sure "Honor Pulldown Flags" is set, and press F5 to preview the video. In the information window on the right, you should see "NTSC", "VIDEO ##%" or "FILM ##%". It might fluctuate drastically at the beginning, so wait a while till it's consistent. If it says "NTSC", it means the video is interlaced and encoded at 29.97 fps, and "Honor Pulldown Flags" is the correct setting. If it says "FILM" with a high percentage (about 90% or above), it means the video is progressively encoded at 23.976 fps, and you can use the "Forced Film" setting. DGIndex and MPEG2Source will then give you 23.976 fps video, so don't change the framerate to 29.97 or you'll have "sped up video".

Someone correct me if I said anything wrong.
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Originally posted by: Moth3r
Use "forced film" mode in the DGIndex pulldown settings?


Thanks!! Worked like a charm
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I've been using DVDLab Pro for some time, but have always had to re-create my subtitles from scratch (or go through a lengthy OCR process with SubRip and Subtitle Workshop). Is there a way it can now import the subtitle stream from the ripped subtitle files, muxing the official stream?
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
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-oops, I thought I was just logging in when I hit 'enter'

... So, ok, that's all great, but does anyone have tips for converting a laserdisc capture from 4:3 to anamorphic?

I've dubbed from LD to DVD before, and I realize there is no actual resolution/quality gain etc. when scaling up like that ... I just want to try it!

I capture with a Canopus ADVC 300 and use Final Cut Pro on a Mac, nothin fancy.

I get that I should scale it vertically by a factor of 1.333 (haven't see an obvious way to do that in FCP, though) but can I maximize the image quality with some other steps? De-interlacing, stuff like that?

Thanks.
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Originally posted by: ADigitalMan
I've been using DVDLab Pro for some time, but have always had to re-create my subtitles from scratch (or go through a lengthy OCR process with SubRip and Subtitle Workshop). Is there a way it can now import the subtitle stream from the ripped subtitle files, muxing the official stream?


I've never tried it -- I just assumed that it could import a subtitle stream directly, but perhaps not...