PAR when exporting to Microsoft DV...

[DaveT]

This may be answered someone else on the board, but a quick look didn't result much..

Anyhow, just wondering if there's ever gonna be way to export to widescreen Microsoft DV footage that is actually 720x480 with or 1.2 PAR.

When exporting widescreen, as you prob know, it makes it 856x480....while I can understand this, it really throws a lot of people who aren't technically savvy with all this stuff for a big loop...and in the end, I usually find myself re-encoding it in another program to 720x480!!!

And when exporting (with Procroder express and not straight to DV from the exporter), the settings even says 720x480 but doesn't come out that way..

Anyhow, just wondering...

Dave

[GrassValley_CP]

720x480 is a pixel resolution; those numbers do not specifically specify widescreen or standard "square" display. You're asking about aspect ratios. Widescreen, or 16:9, can still be displayed with a pixel resolution of 720x480, it just uses anamorphic (i.e. non-square) pixels, resulting in a widescreen image, but no change in resolution. This is pretty standard for consumer cameras/devices and even for many prosumer and professional cameras/devices too. When you select a 16:9 or widescreen resolution for output from ProCoder, it will output a 720x480 anamorphic pixeled 16:9 aspect ratio video file.

Unless I'm wildly mistaken, I don't believe that the 16:9 settings from ProCoder Express can perform a true, square pixel 16:9 widescreen output. You would have to go to advanced settings and change that around, if indeed this is even possible.

[DaveT]

I'm no beginner here. I know how it works, lol.

PAR = Pixel Aspect Ratio

In other words, I am talking about the Aspect Ratio

WHen I export a widescreen DV out of a Widescreen DV project in EDIUS (I use an EDIUS HD turnkey) through procoder express to Microsoft DV and then bring it into another program (like ProCoder, Premiere, Edius, etc), it reads it as an 856x480 file, NOT 720x480...which throws some people I hand files to for a loop because sometimes programs they use scale the whole video. Note, Procoder Express settings do say 720x480, but again the file is being read as 856x480 by other applications and EDIUS itself.

I would think it's supposed to be making a 720x480 file with 1.2 pixel aspect ratio, but it appears it's not. I have tried decoding it with multiple DV codecs (Sony, Panasonic, Canopus,e tc) and in any video encoding or editing software and it reads it as plain 856x480. Look at Procoder express it gives you no options to adjust the PAR.

Oddly, GSPot (codec info tool) does read it as 720x480...but not sure if t's reading it correctly or just defaults to it based on the codec's standard resolution.

Anyhow, I dunno what's up. Maybe my machine is just weird.

An example of a file's info (via mplayer)

Playing M:\12STRIDESIZZLE\partest1.avi.
AVI file format detected.
ID_VIDEO_ID=0
[aviheader] Video stream found, -vid 0
ID_AUDIO_ID=1
[aviheader] Audio stream found, -aid 1
VIDEO: [dvsd] 856x480 24bpp 29.970 fps 28771.2 kbps (3512.1 kbyte/s)
ID_FILENAME=M:\12STRIDESIZZLE\partest1.avi
ID_DEMUXER=avi
ID_VIDEO_FORMAT=dvsd
ID_VIDEO_BITRATE=28771224
ID_VIDEO_WIDTH=856
ID_VIDEO_HEIGHT=480
ID_VIDEO_FPS=29.970
ID_VIDEO_ASPECT=0.0000
ID_AUDIO_FORMAT=1
ID_AUDIO_BITRATE=1536000
ID_AUDIO_RATE=0
ID_AUDIO_NCH=0
ID_LENGTH=70.07

[GrassValley_BH]

Hey Dave,

The resulting file actually is 720x480, otherwise it wouldn't be DV-legal.

The Canopus DV codec, however, will report a dimension of 856x480 for widescreen NTSC DV files. This is so square-pixel-only media players (like older WMP) would play it back correctly.

If you're exporting as Microsoft DV (Use MSDV codec), then it should decode using MSDV, except for in EDIUS and ProCoder, which will use the Canopus DV codec for decoding anyway...

Try using the EDIUS-native DV exporter, and make sure the "Use MSDV codec" checkbox is enabled on the file Save dialog.