Commercial Help! Resizing Video Dimensions, etc.

J

JSP

Member
I just recently shot a video in 30p 1920x1080.

I just received information that the video needs to be shrunk down to 352x160 to be played on a DVD for the big screen at an arena.

When I try to drag and drop the footage onto the timeline of the project with the settings at what they request, the video looks blotchy.

Any way I can fix this? All help is greatly appreciated!!
 
1) 352x160 isn't a DVD dimension -- are you sure that's what they want?

2) You don't put the footage on that timeline. You edit as 1920x1080 and then render out at the dimension you need for delivery.
 
Thanks David for the quick response! I really appreciate it.

Ok, so I'll edit it as 1920x1080 and then Render out at the desired dimensions they are asking for. And yea, they are asking for the dimensions of 352x160 to be placed on a DVD. What they do is put the DVD I give them into a standard DVD player, that is somehow hooked up to the large video board at the arena, and it plays just right. I just don't want to lose any quality of video when I render out at those small dimensions.

I should render out in the MPEG-2 format, correct?
 
That's not a DVD dimension. No standard DVD player can play that. Any DVD authoring program will rerender it to the proper dimension (720x480 with PAR of 1.21 for NTSC). Because it'll be uprezzing it, it'll look pretty bad, especially on a huge screen.

You're sure that's the dimension they want? You're sure they're going to make a standard DVD? I know I'm asking the same question again, but something's not right here.
 
Yea I thought it sounded weird too. The team's video coordinator told me this in the email:

" Our scoreboard utilizes an everyday DVD player. Also, the dimensions of the screen are 160 pixels (high) by 352 pixels (wide). "

I did a project a few weeks ago for them with just still images, and I made the project size in Vegas (352x160), and rendered it out the same way, and it came out pretty decent. But now I'm working with video. So I'm confused on what to render my project as.
 
Find out if they want a standard DVD. Doesn't matter what their display screen is; a DVD player needs a standard DVD to play.
 
They said I could put it on any blank Memorex or Sony DVD-R.

Not sure if that is the answer you are looking for or not.
 
Thank you so very much for all of your help!! I just joined this site awhile ago, and I've been reading up on a lot of your posts! Trying to learn as much as possible.

Is there a specific size I need to render my project down to? Do I render it down to the pixel dimensions they asked for (352x160) or can I keep it at my 1920x1080 HD size? Or should I bring it down to the 720x480 you mentioned earlier?
 
Use the NTSC DVD templates under MPEG-2. Specifically, use the DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen template. You'll have to render the audio separately as AC-3, but use the same file name and DVD Architect will match it up automatically.
 
Hmm, I suspect what they mean is that their system accepts standard DVDs, but then automatically reformats the video signal to 160x352 for the custom scoreboard. So the problem is not rendering the DVD - any standard DVD will play - but whether the result is watchable for the spectators, in particular any fine detail and text.
 
clang said:
Hmm, I suspect what they mean is that their system accepts standard DVDs, but then automatically reformats the video signal to 160x352 for the custom scoreboard. So the problem is not rendering the DVD - any standard DVD will play - but whether the result is watchable for the spectators, in particular any fine detail and text.
Click to expand...

Interesting....I'll have to ask them. You might be right.
 
They said it all needs to fit their dimensions when rendered out. So I'm assuming they want it at 352x160 as the video dimensions.

So do I just render out at that size? Or are there other steps I need to take to be able to bring it down to that size without losing any quality. I know I might lose some video area.
 
Hmm, there may well be some kind of cropping or letterboxing going on, but we and you can't guess what - we don't even know if the scoreboard screen's 'pixels' are square. The 352x160 ratio makes me suspect a 16:9 video ratio is expected, but maybe not. i really think you need to create a test DVD showing just a test pattern (rendered as a standard 16:9 DVD, maybe do a 4:3 DVD too just in case), and have it played on their system to see how it displays on the scoreboard - that should quickly show you what is stretched or chopped off, and you can then render accordingly.
 
clang said:
Hmm, there may well be some kind of cropping or letterboxing going on
Click to expand...
Yes, I would assume cropping. I do quite a bit of work that ends up on end zone boards in a large stadium. The aspect ratio of the boards is 32:9, this is a fairly common ratio for these type of boards. The content is created and delivered at NTSC 16:9 full height anamorphic. When the video is shown on the end zone boards the top and bottom are cropped off. We use a 32:9 matte when creating the content so we can see what's going to be cropped out.

clang said:
we don't even know if the scoreboard screen's 'pixels' are square.
Click to expand...
Most of the boards these days are square pixel. That's academic though, typically there's a hardware box between play out and the board that handles par conversion and scaling.


clang said:
The 352x160 ratio makes me suspect a 16:9 video ratio is expected, but maybe not.
Click to expand...
That was my guess as well. I think they want a 352 x 160 window setting inside a 720 x 480 (NTSC) video. The end result is a small window in the center of the frame with a bunch of black around the edges. For this type of work I prefer to do the base edit in the NLE, export the edit and finish up in AE. In AE I'll keep everything in square pixels until I'm ready for output, then I'll dump it into a 720 x 480 comp and render.

clang said:
i really think you need to create a test DVD showing just a test pattern (rendered as a standard 16:9 DVD, maybe do a 4:3 DVD too just in case)
Click to expand...
+1 Make sure to include a perfect circle in the test pattern. It makes it easy to spot any stretching of the image. If it looks like an egg you'll need to make some adjustments.
As Clang pointed out, the question is are they expecting a 16:9 DVD or a 4:3 DVD?
 
The last video I made with just images....I edited at 352x160 (which was a pain), then rendered out at the same dimensions, 16:9, mpeg2, 1.00 square pixels. It was just images and I had to do a lot of cropping of pictures on the timeline. Showed up great on the big screen.

I have made 3 test DVD's to take to them today to watch on the big screen.

Also, I've tried asking the video guy, and he isn't very tech savy. He didn't have a clue about the requirements except for the dimensions and that it has to go on a DVD, haha. It's not a pro team.
 
I'm taking the Test Footage up there today at 3:30pm ET. Will let you guys know if any of it works.
 
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