Aspect ratio problem

[David W. Richardson]

This doesn't appear to be a Vegas or DVD Architect Studio problem, but I'm hoping some of you have encountered it.

I have a video that was shot NTSC DV 4:3. Edited in Vegas Pro 8.0c and rendered out using the DVD Architect NTSC DV (not widescreen) template. Made sure I did NOT check 'Stretch to fill frame'.

The video plays fine on my computer. When I put it into DVD Architect Studio, using the NTSC DV template, it previews fine there as well. In 4:3 format, just as it should be.

When I make a DVD and play it from the DVD drive on my PC, it also plays fine -- proper aspect ratio. But when I play that same DVD on my standalone DVD player connected to my LED TV, it plays stretched to 16:9.

I have the TV's 'pic size' set to 'NORM', which is as un-wide as it can do. That setting works fine for TV channels showing old 4:3 programming.

I set the DVD player's video setting to 4:3. But it still stretches the video to fit the 16:9 screen.

Is there nothing I can do to make a DVD that will play in proper 4:3 format, letterboxed on a 16:9 screen?

 

[El Director]

As I read this, I kept thinking, "Try this" and then you said you tried that. Repeat.
I'm honestly not sure now. It's been a long time since I've used Vegas. I'd maybe start with checking your video frame size and verifying that's right. Also look into your pixel aspect ratio and make sure that's good.

 

[David W. Richardson]

As I read this, I kept thinking, "Try this" and then you said you tried that. Repeat.
I'm honestly not sure now. It's been a long time since I've used Vegas. I'd maybe start with checking your video frame size and verifying that's right. Also look into your pixel aspect ratio and make sure that's good.

Well like I said, I really don't think it's a Vegas or DVD Architect problem. The DVD plays fine on my computer. It's just when I play it on my Blu-Ray player connected to my LED TV that it stretches. I just can't seem to figure what to set on the player or TV to correct it. There may not be any setting to fix it, I don't know.

 

[David W. Richardson]

Problem solved!

I was stupid to render it from Vegas as not widescreen. When I used the NTSC DV Widescreen template, it played just fine on my TV. Hooray!

Thanks for the help!

 

[David Jimerson]

That'll work for your purposes, but if you try to play the DVD on a standard 4:3 TV, the image will be small and in the center of the screen.

 

[David W. Richardson]

That'll work for your purposes, but if you try to play the DVD on a standard 4:3 TV, the image will be small and in the center of the screen.

Yeah, that's true. Guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

 

[sk810]

if you ever want to verify if you M2V file is the correct aspect ratio you can open it in Restream and fix it if need be.

http://www.videohelp.com/software/Restream

 

[drapeama]

Is there nothing I can do to make a DVD that will play in proper 4:3 format, letterboxed on a 16:9 screen?

Using IFOedit, you can load the .IFO file and set the proper "flags" for playback, like Automatic Pan&Scan or Automatic Letterbox, depending what you need.
Read about it here.

 

[David W. Richardson]

if you ever want to verify if you M2V file is the correct aspect ratio you can open it in Restream and fix it if need be.

http://www.videohelp.com/software/Restream

Thanks for the link. There was no M2V file involved here, but I appreciate the info!

 

[David W. Richardson]

Using IFOedit, you can load the .IFO file and set the proper "flags" for playback, like Automatic Pan&Scan or Automatic Letterbox, depending what you need.
Read about it here.

Interesting. In this instance, it wasn't a DVD flags problem, but good information. Thanks!

 

[drapeama]

I have a video that was shot NTSC DV 4:3. [...] I set the DVD player's video setting to 4:3. But it still stretches the video to fit the 16:9 screen.

Interesting. In this instance, it wasn't a DVD flags problem, but good information. Thanks!

Not sure to get what was the problem then, unless the DVD player was in fault here!

All in all, it's always nice to know you can adjust those settings in the IFO files.

 

[David W. Richardson]

Not sure to get what was the problem then, unless the DVD player was in fault here!

All in all, it's always nice to know you can adjust those settings in the IFO files.

The problem was that I had incorrectly rendered from Vegas as 4:3 rather than 16:9. I had forgotten that, while the original camera footage was shot 4:3, it was composited with another image and the resulting composite was in 16:9 format. So rendering that out from Vegas as 16:9 solved the problem.

 

[drapeama]

The problem was that I had incorrectly rendered from Vegas as 4:3 rather than 16:9. I had forgotten that, while the original camera footage was shot 4:3, it was composited with another image and the resulting composite was in 16:9 format. So rendering that out from Vegas as 16:9 solved the problem.

Oh, ok then!
I thought you had a problem displaying a proper 4:3 video on a 16:9 TV.
As David Jimerson said though, the 4:3 portion will now display pillarboxed AND letterboxed on a standard 4:3 TV using that setup. But the 4:3 setups are now kind of limited!