Problem with SVCD aspect ratio using Premiere & Nero

[nawyecky]

Hello,

I am using Adobe Premiere Pro to edit a DV sequence in Widescreen PAL. This can be exported back to Widescreen DV (using a recorder) without problems. Same with rendering to Quicktime or DV AVI.

However, when I use Premiere to export a SVCD MPG file (using the PAL Widescreen preset) and then burn it with Nero 6, the frame gets cropped horizontally and shows up on a standalone DVD player as a 4:3 movie. Playing the same CD with WinDVD shows the entire frame in a squeezed 4:3 ratio, as if it didn't realize it was anamorphic.

There is nothing wrong with the MPG file since WinDVD reads it properly, and even Nero's preview function shows the entire frame, properly stretched as anamorphic should be. There is obviously something in the way Nero burns the CD that confuses both WinDVD and my standalone player when it comes to the proper aspect ratio.

Anyone knows how to solve this?

[pieroxy]

Very few standalone DVD players will recognize a 16:9 SVCD. I would suggest that you resize your MPG file to 4:3 adding black bands on top and bottom of the video.

This will obviously result in a loss of quality, but that is AFAIK, the only way to view a 16:9 video as SVCD.

Giving that the max bitrate for SVCD is a little low (especially for a PAL full-screen video), resizing and adding some black borders will result in a better bits-per-pixel ratio, hence giving an often better looking MPEG file.

If you need help for the final resolution/letterboxing, just give me the resolution of your input MPEG.

[nawyecky]

I remember having once authored a 16:9 SVCD which played perfectly on the same standalone player that I have, but at that time I used another method (I believe it included a MOV export and TMPGEnc somewhere along the line).

Therefore I don't think the problem is with the player. There is something going on in the CD authoring process and I believe Nero is responsible (since the MPG file is perfect). Is it possible that an older version of Nero used a different SVCD authoring process?

Thanks.

[pieroxy]

What I would suggest is to use VCDEasy (GUI to VCDImager) to make an ISO image of your SVCD. It uses VCDImager that is certainly more standard-aware and feature-rich than Nero.

You should be able to burn the image with any software. I believe VCDEasy even has this capability.