VCD/SVCD question about aspect ratio and resizing

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I am very familiar with computer graphics and video, but not so with VCD/SVCD. My incoming footage is 720 x 480. My question involves this one step of making VCDs - how do you folks (who make successful discs) handle this?

My guess is you just resize to from 720 x 480 to 480 x 480, squeezing the 4:3 picture horizontally to 3:3, and when it plays back on TV it is stretched back to full 4:3 aspect ratio and looks right? You lose some horizontal resolution, but the overall gain in both horizontal and vertical resolution over regular VCDs is still worthwhile.

Is this right? It's all just theory until I can figure out how to successfully navigate the process and get a good burn. I'm still lost there. What would be ideal is for someone (MrVCD where are you?) to write up a short set of step-by-step tutorials involving the software they use for this thing, and the rationale behind the artistic or technical decisions you have to make to get a quality finished video.

In my case, I'm working with Digital8 home movie footage of the wife and kids. Nothing that will hit Cannes, but stuff I want to look good and last longer than tape (and benefit from having been edited!). I genuinely have no clear idea of the direct set of steps and software that would get me from tape to disc.... I keep running into snags when it comes down to converting from the (a) original captures *to* (b) some format that a compressor can handle, then to (c) the right format that will burn to an SVCD.

As you can see, (b) and (c) keep eluding me. Whether the software is "online" or "shareware" or "commercial only" is not the issue, it's really just "what software, what settings, and what steps?" I guess the bottom line is, has someone been down this road before successfully and repeatably? It'd be nice to have a baseline of performance to start from, because I'm feeling really stupid not "getting it" on my own yet. It's making me want to chuck the whole thing until some software publisher/programmer figures out how to make the "dumb guy digital movie CD program."

K

James

-- kirk (kirkhere@mailandnews.com), March 05, 2000

Answers

Read MPEGFAQ.HTML at: http://www.oldskool.org/mpeg/

-- Guy Nicholson (guynicholson@yahoo.com), March 06, 2000.

go to http://www.vcdhelper.com You need an encoding software to convert file to VCD standard format. Either use Panasonic or Xing Encoder.

-- mr cdr (mrcdr@canada.com), March 08, 2000.

I think Kirk was directing his question to SVCD more than anything else, Panasonic will not give you that because its a Mpeg-1 encoder only and cannot generate Mpeg2. Do not use the other one so I cannot comment. bbMpeg has the option to encode all and certainly works with AVI's and provides better results.

You may only have "home movies" in mind but you have a digital based camera system and you really need to use it that way. If you get the correct supporting equipment and programs you will produce a VCD at a very high level indeed. The source dictates a good deal of what quality comes out the other end and the equipment needs to be in the same quality all the way to achieve it.

It maynot hit the Cannes but it can blow your viewers completely away!

-- Ross McL (rmclennan@esc.net.au), March 08, 2000.


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