How to convert Widescreen DVD to fullscreen?

[jbrice]

My goal is simple, or so I thought. I have "City of Angels" DVD in widescreen only, but since I don't have a widescreen tv, I want to convert it to full screen while backing up the DVD. Easy right? Wrong! Can anyone help?

Here are the steps I have taken:

1. Use Smartripper to backup all files to my hard drive.

2. Try to use IFOEdit since that is the easiest way. I followed the guides: Strip out the movie only, one video stream and one audio .ac3 stream. This works perfectly, I test my stripped out movie, play the .IFO in PowerDVD and it looks great EXCEPT of course it's still widescreen and I want fullscreen.

3. So I try to use TMPGEnc to resize my video. TMPGEnc just freezes on me (for one hour) when I try to load in the TmpgTemplate.txt file created from IFOEdit, so that's not going to work. So I try to skip this step and give up on IFOEdit, realizing I have to re-author. In TMPGEnc I choose "Detect Scene change" instead of "Force Picture Type Setting" <-- since that setting freezes TMPGEnc.

4. TMPGEnc makes a beautiful .M2V file in fullscreen just like I want! But without sound, since TMPGEnc will not take .AC3 audio as input. However, that's okay, because I used DVD2AVI to strip out my .AC3 file. Now I just need to remux my perfect .M2V and my .AC3.

5. I use TMPGEnc Tools, and try to remux them. Sometimes the video and audio are out of sync, but finally after several tries they are in sync. Hooray! But now, I have an .MPG file that plays perfectly (video and sound), how do I get it back into .VOBs?

6. I have DVD Junior which I usually use for converting .MPG to DVD, but it hates this .MPG file that TMPGEnc has produced. DVD Junior takes the .MPG file, and immediately says "this is a program stream, I am going to convert it to .VOB" then it DEMUXES, and then it REMUXES again, producing a huge .VOB file. When I try to play this new .VOB file in DVD Player it looks terrible ... it is very choppy and the audio is completely out of sync.

So that's my story ... can anyone suggest how I get this .MPG file that TMPGEnc made (which seems to be good) converted to DVD format? Why does DVD Junior turn it into garbage? Is there some other magic tool which can just convert from wide to full screen (boy that would be sweet) Thanks!

[setarip]

"But now, I have an .MPG file that plays perfectly (video and sound), how do I get it back into .VOBs?"

You'l like this...

Since you did multiplex an MPEG2 (.m2v) video with an AC3 audio stream, simply change the extender from ".MPG" to ".VOB" ;>}

The .VOB format is nothing more than a subset of MPEG2 format - and you've met all of the requirements.

Let us know of your success ;>}

[jbrice]

Thanks for reply, I tried that before, but then I have one huge 4G B VOB. I tried to load this VOB into DVD JR and it says, "This is a program stream, I'm going to convert it to VOB." Somehow DVD JR knows it's not a "real" vob ??

[setarip]

I'm not personally familiar with DVD Jr., but perhaps this "junior" version requires that you feed it .VOBs no larger than 0.99Gigs(1,048.5Mgs). If that's the case, simply use VobCutter to "slice and dice" to the appropriate sizes...

[jbrice]

Thanks, but DVD Jr. can load big VOBs, it's done so with other movies. The problem is no matter how I convert the video to "full screen", after the video is transcoded it will no longer remux properly with the original .ac3 file. The newly sized video (.M2V) is always out of sync with audio (.AC3) after they are re-muxed.

Is there any encoder which accepts .AC3 and will encode with this Dolby 6-channel audio? TMPG does not accept .AC3. Is there any encoder that does? Because encoding the video, and THEN trying to re-mux the .ac3 back in, does not seem to work, it's always out of sync with the audio. Aaagg!

[setarip]

"TMPG does not accept .AC3."

You are mistaken. TMPGEnc will gladly accept a "clean" (you may have to delete the header from 00-02D) .AC3 audio stream for multiplexing with a video file in .m2v format.

You do know that you have to do the following under TMPGEnc to accomplish this:

File>>MPEGTools>>Multiplex (or Simple Multiplex). Make certain to set mode to MPEG2

P.S. Just curious - Why does the nature of your difficulty seem to be changing with each post?

[jbrice]

Setarip, I appreciate your help, thanks a lot. You're right, I'm aksing too many vague and varying questions ... that's because I'm trying so many different things! My original hope was to use IFOEdit and not have to do any re-authoring, but I've given up on that method.

Let me try to be more specific here, this is where I am now stuck:

1. SmartRipper: strip the movie. Now I have a large .M2V and an .AC3.

2. TMPGEnc: Open the .M2V. I would also like to be able to open the .AC3 as the audio file, but TMPGEnc won't accept it. "Not supported." So, I choose "Video Only." In the settings, for "Video Arrange Method" I put "Full Screen". I push start, and after 5 hours I have a very nice .M2V file in full screen.

3. TMPGEnc: Under MPEG Tools / Multiplex, I MUX together this new fullscreen .M2V with the .AC3 file that Smartripper gave me. Now I have an .MPG file and it is perfect, with video and sound, and in fullscreen.

4. Now comes the trouble. I want to burn this onto a DVD-R. DVD Junior: I feed it the .MPG, but it produces a .VOB that plays choppy and out of sync (video and audio). If I rename the .MPG to .VOB and try to feed the .VOB to DVD Junior, it doesn't make any difference, DVD Junior produces the exact same out of sync output. Okay, I've been reading other posts saying SpruceUp is a good tool so I'll try that next. Maybe DVD Junior just doesn't do what I want? I'll post again with my resulsts from using SpruceUp.

[setarip]

My pleasure ;>}

In my previous post, I indicated the following:
"TMPGEnc will gladly accept a "clean" (you may have to delete the header from 00-02D) .AC3 audio stream"

Have you attempted to clean up the AC3 file?

If that's just not your cup of tea then, rather than first multiplexing using TMPGEnc, doesn't DVD Junior offer this capability (as does DVDWise and, I'm sure, most other authoring software)? If so, perhaps it may do a better job of synchronizing when dealing with files that IT has multiplexed...

[jbrice]

Can you please give instructions on how to edit the .AC3? I don't have experience with this.

To answer your other question, if I just feed the .M2V and .AC3 directly to DVD Junior, then my video won't be at full screen, which is my primary reason for doing all this in the first place! :-)
That's why I'm using TMPGEnc, to resize the video to Full Screen.

By the way, just as an experiment, I tried feeding the .M2V and .AC3 directly to DVD Junior and guess what? It produced the same kind of choppy out-of-sync output! Now I'm wondering if this is a special video with Interlacing or something like that? I know there are NOT multiple angles in this Title, but I'm not sure how to look for Interlacing or anything else that might make it problematic. Any suggestions there? Thanks as always.

[setarip]

"That's why I'm using TMPGEnc, to resize the video to Full Screen."

I was referring to multiplexing an already-resized-by-TMPGEnc-(silent) video with the AC3 file.

"Can you please give instructions on how to edit the .AC3? I don't have experience with this."

You load the file into what's known as a hex editor and use the hex editor just as you would a text editor. In this case, you would highlight the first 02D (hexadecimal) bytes and delete them. Then save the file. IMPORTANT!!! Make certain to keep a backup copy of the AC3 file before you do this, as some hex editors will automatically save (overwrite) with the original filename. If you're uncomfortable with this, then don't attempt it.

The more I read of your posts, the more evident it becomes that DVD Junior is at fault - it's either problematic, or you've got an incorrect setting for it. At this stage, you're probably better off following your instinct by checking out some other authoring software - particularly those that WILL accept the MPEG2/".VOB" directly.

[jbrice]

OK, here's the next obvious question: Why take the first part off the .AC3? What exactly is this thing I need to remove?

[setarip]

It's a WAV header (from hexadecimal 000 through 02D) that's sometimes added by the program used to extract the .AC3 audio stream - a header which causes TMPGEnc to reject it as "not being an AC3 audio stream".

Of course, it's always prudent to first make a backup copy of your file.

[bigtoe_rudy]

Hi,
This is my first time here. I know this post is rather old, but I may have found a easier way to do this in ifoedit. I was surfing the posts and started one at doom9.org. 2 Cool was the one that helped me a lot with this problem. If you are interrested in changing the widescreen movie without disrupting the dvd structure..try this:

1. Open the ifo of the movie in ifoedit
2. In VTS overview-scroll down to the tile set of your movie-double click on the video line
3. change your aspect ratio to 4:3 and static to auto. pan & scan-OK
4. Save ifo to same ifo you opened
5. Then go to VIDEO_TS and open it- do the same procedure-save
6. test with your dvd software

NOTE: I tested four movies with this procedure being successful for 1 of the 4.

NOW: My problem is: How can I get the other three movies to work out like the 1 did??? All four are widescreen, but when tested or burned to disc..still looks like 16:9 format.

Any help would be appreciated!!! Thanks Everyone!!!

[ashy]

You can't just change the aspect ratio setting in the IFO and expect it to become a real 4:3 image.

The result will simply be a 16:9 image stretched to become 4:3 which will distort the image as it will become elongated.

The only way to make a 16:9 movie true 4:3 is to re-encode it.

You say you have managed to get one movie to become 4:3, but I suspect it is somehow distorted because it will now have an incorrect aspect ratio.

[bigtoe_rudy]

Ok, I know how to rencode it and also convert to dvd format. But once I get the vts files how can I replace it in the orginal format to work properly??? Thanks for your help!


Rudy

[ashy]

Are you saying you wish to combine the re-encoded movie back with the original files on the DVD and replace the 16:9 version.

If so you will first need to create the VOBS, IFO's and BUPs for your new movie as if you were going to burn it to a DVD.
You will then need a program called IFOupdate.

Remove the original main movie VOBS from the VIDEO_TS folder then replace with your new VOBS.
Use IFOupdate to update the original IFO with the new IFO.
You can find a guides how to use it on google.

[Mike89]

I just read this thread and got a headache.

I am now posting almost 2 years after the last post here. So with all the new software out since then, has anyone figured out how to convert widescreen DVD movies to fullscreen easier than what's been posted so far?

I am interested in doing this since I still have a fullscreen TV and have some widescreen DVD's I'd like to convert.

[ed klein]

I have approximately 6 different ways I convert from 16:9 wide screen to 4:3 full screen when you have only a full screen TV.
The easiest is to use the first level of zoom on you remote, comes very close to looking like full screen, north and south black borders have been removed.

This is the route I use most of the time.

DVD Decrypter to rip AND create the (IFO edit CHAPTER FILE)
DGI Index (new DVD2AVI) to create the d2v video file and AC-3 audio file and wave audio file
TMPGEnc Plus input d2v audio file and wave file, output m2v video file and mp2 audio file
Vob Edit to create the AC-3 audio file and subtitle file
Ifo Edit as the authoring tool input the m2v video file, AC-3 audio file, subtitle file, chapter file
Burn the output VIDEO_TS folder or convert to an ISO image and burn.:toast:

[Mike89]

Whoa dude. You just said a mouthful! Dunno if I can even follow that.

I don't like the results of the zoom thing. I have heard that before and have tried it many times. It still zooms way too close, the characters head taking up the whole screen. Zoom is kind of weird depending on the DVD. Sometimes I have seen the zoom do pretty good with a 2.35 movie, zooming it to approx 16x9. But zooming 16x9 results in way too of a close up.

Sure would be nice for someone to come up with a single program solution for anyone who wanted to convert widescreen to fullscreen.

How have your results been doing this?

[drfsupercenter]

Just curious, what happened to setarip - it says "retired"? Is that the same as being banned? I noticed his rep was way in the red... is that why?

[cornholio7]

what does that have to do with this post drfsupercenter?

[drfsupercenter]

Absolutely nothing. Just wondering.

[blutach]

Let's try to stay on topic please.

Regards

[benbryant]

With the purpose of testing, here is what I am going to do this weekend to convert widescreen DVD to the standard one:

Since HCGUI 0.15a is a wonderful MPEG encoder and it can output either 4:3 or 16:9. First I will decrypt the widescreen movie to HDD with DVD Decrypter. Next, use DGIndex to frameserve the movie to HCGUI 0.15a with the Aspect Ratio to be 4:3. Finally, use TMPGEnc DVD Author to author HC encoded mpeg-2 with AC-3 audio. Since changing from widescreen to standard, I expect to lose parts of the sides of the screen though. I hope that HC encoder will provide an excellent result for this task

Rehards

[mikeylikess99]

Hi im reading the ideas on onverting to F.S via vobs , is there a way to do this process in avi..tyvm in advance

[Mike89]

To convert widescreen movies to fullscreen, use IFOEdit. Very simple to use. Open each .ifo and look for the lines which show the aspect ratio. Change the right hand side to make sure the fullscreen box is checked and the 16x9 box is unchecked. Do this for all entries. Do not change any entries on the left hand side of the box.

Process as you normally would and you have your fullscreen. Keep in mind this process will only convert 16x9 or 1:85/1 to fullscreen. If the movie is 2:35/1 or 2:40/1, this process will only convert it to 16x9. That's still better than nothing being it removes about half of the giant black bars that take up the screen for the super widescreen formats (2:35/1, 2:40/1).

[mikeylikess99]

hi mike..i need to know howto convert for avi..i unddrstand how to for vobs..thanks..

[photo_angel2004]

Here is a guide from .avi to DVD

http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=56454

[mikeylikess99]

ok..so i guess i just cant change the screen position from wide screen to full screen with out going thro all those steps. i was hoping there would be something smiliar to dr.divx were i could just adjust a setting or two, w/o reverting back to dvd...?

[mikeylikess99]

ok..so is it possible to convert an avi to fullscreen...keeping it in avi..?..tyvm in advance.

[khan5168]

However i am very late for my post but i think still in these days some of the users want all this....

There is no way that we can convert 16:9 widescreen video to 4:3 full screen video... only we can edit it on timeline and zooming it, till the black mattes hides... or if you don't want to re-edit it or you don't wanna give it a time then you can simply play it on any DVD player and use its zooming option to make it full screen video... no doubt that zoom will cut the sides of video and also will distort the image but THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.....

This way is useful for HD or Bluray videos...

I hope this will make you understand...

Regards.

[Mike89]

There is no way that we can convert 16:9 widescreen video to 4:3 full screen video

Not true. I've been doing it over 3 years now. Open the movie with PgcEdit. Go to the title and change attibutes from widescreen to pan & scan. Save and you are good to go. Keep in mind, this method only changes the larger widescreen (175/1, etc) to fullscreen. The best this method can do with the narrower widescreen (235/1, etc) is turn it into the next larger widescreen. Example; 235/1 to 175/1. You will lose some of the movie on the side using this method. It just chops off some on each side and leaves the top and bottom the same. Nothing is stretched (like using zoom) so proportions are still right.

I do this with every widescreen movie I copy and will continue to do this as long as I still have a 4/3 TV.

[khan5168]

ok... mike... however i didn't yet tried but i agree you somehow... but what i understand, we only can perform your procedure with widescreen video (may be) means IFO file from DVD.. but what if i want to make HD video to full Screen... i am working on international movies Channel.. i re-edit English movies.. some movies comes to us on BETA and some on D.G BETA, (Both full Screen) Some we download from the given link of warner bros. and 20th Century Fox in HD resolution, a .MOV format (Not full Screen but there original HD format 720p or 1080p)... by following your procedure, how can i make them full screen... W.B and 20th Fox guided us the way, which they apply on making them full screen...
my question is this, if very famous companies like above mentioned are using this way then how is it possible that i am wrong...
if you take IFO file of 16:9 widescreen video then i must say it will stretch the image vertically...you will have to use my way of zooming it...

waiting your response.....

[khan5168]

Can anyone suggest me MKV to AVI or MOV converter..... quality should be lossless...
waiting reply