Wrong aspect ratio in Staxrip - Please help a dummy

[snoffer]

Recently I switch from TMPGEnc to Staxrip because I wanted to be able to insert hard-subs into my rips (the original recording is .ts-file). Ever since I started using Staxrip I keep getting aspect ratio errors. This is what I do:

1. I play the unprocessed .ts-file in VLC, making sure picture ratio is set to standard (this is default in VLC).
2. I do a print screen and paste the screen shot into Paint (Start -> Run -> type mspaint and press return).
3. I use the Select-tool to select the portion of the picture I want to keep (i. e. black borders are left out). In the lower right corner in Paint I can read the size in pixels of the selected area. Let's assume the selected area was 704 x 562 pixels.
4. I take the pixel dimensions found in step 3 and put them into an Excel sheet. I then create a bunch of dimensions that have equal pixel ratios. For example:
704 562 (Original aspect ration is 1.253, with black borders cropped)

600 478.977 (This has aspect ration 1.253)
598 477.381 (This has aspect ration 1.253)
596 475.784 (This has aspect ration 1.253)
594 474.187 (This has aspect ration 1.253)
.
.
.

5. I pick an appropriate size (I usually make sure width x height is about 200000) and tell Staxrip to resize to that size (of course, I round the height to the closest even integer, thus introducing an error of less than 1%). I also crop and then start ripping.
6. When my ripped file is inspected for upload, I am informed it has 10% error in aspect ratio. How is this possible? Where did I go wrong? I am a newbie who doesn't know much about video technology so please keep your answers on a "dummy-level". Thank you.

[MilesAhead]

I haven't used StaxRip in a long time. But I believe it accepts AviSynth scripts(.avs files.) Rather than calculate by hand I would try loading your video clip into FitCD. Make sure on the right hand side Anamorphic is selected(if you are trying to get 16x9 output) and PAL checked or not as appropriate(unchecked for NTSC DVD.)

About 1/4 way down this thread is a mini-tutorial for FitCD:

http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/237369-xvid-to-DVD-resolution-and-aspect-ratio-woes

Don't worry if FitCD complains about no DirectShow filter or whatever. The only important thing is that it generates a script with the resize info. It will probably say LanczosResize(x,y,xx,yy) but you can change the size filter to whatever you want such as BilinearResize.. just use the numbers it gives. Also if it has a line AddBorders() use that line as suggested by the script.

[snoffer]

...Make sure on the right hand side Anamorphic is selected(if you are trying to get 16x9 output) ...

Why would I in this case want to resize to a standard aspect ratio like 16:9 or 4:3? Since I cropped the black borders and the cropping was not done in proportion to the original aspect ratio, the aspect ratio has truly changed. By forcing it to be a standard aspect ration I would introduce do unnecessary stretching. The ratio I really want is 704:562.

[MilesAhead]

If you try FitCD you'll see what happens. Let it calculate the cropping. Works for me.