Generic PAL 4:3 720x576 stretches to 768x576 why?

[vince480]

Hi there Folks,

I'm a fairly new user to Edius Pro 4, so apologies if this is an obvious problem, however any help would be great!

I am editing DV footage from a PAL 4:3 source.

I am using the generic 4:3 PAL profile 720 x 576 in Edius Pro 4 and will finally be exporting my various sequences via 'print to file' generic mpeg PAL 4:3 720x576.

THE PROBLEM:
Project settings - The pixel ratio for the PAL 4:3 720x576 profile seems to be fixed to 1.0667.
I need the pixel ratio to be 1 (square), because when I export my footage the mpeg file I get seems to then be stetched to 768x576 pixels. I understand this is because the pixel ratio is fixed to 1.0667, but I need a final export video clip of 720x576.

How do I force or fix my video to 720x576?

Many thanks for any help you can provide.

Vince

[antonsvideo]

when you export from edius 4:3 DV timeline to mpeg, the mpeg will be 720x576, providing the aspect is set to 4:3 and not to 1:1

how have you come to the conclusion that the resulting mpeg is 768x576? what software is reporting that?

[vince480]

how have you come to the conclusion that the resulting mpeg is 768x576? what software is reporting that?

Wow, thanks for the lightning response.

Well, there is two reasons for this:

1. Windows media player, properties state it is 768 x 576 (plus you can see the image is stetched)
2. I am deliverying the final exported video in some bespoke software which has a fixed video display window of 720x576 (square pixels). When this opens one of my exported files I get black areas on the top and bottom of the image where the video has been squeezed into it (width ways)

Hope the second point is not confusing, but certainly the tests I've done just with WMP is showing the problem.

[antonsvideo]

I just tested, Edius 4.61, project set to pal 4:3

export using generic mpeg exporter, set to 8000kbps and 256 for mpg audio

resulting mpg is reported as 720x576 in windows media player 11

what version wmp do you have

what version Edius do you have, maybe this was a problem with an older version?

[vince480]

WMP Version 9.

Edius Pro Version 4.54

Am currently downloading the update 4.61, will try that once installed and let you know if this is the problem.

Thanks again for the help.

[antonsvideo]

also, wmp9 has many issues, try updating to 11

in case of windows 2000, you are stuck with wmp9 and its aspects are all screwed up, it even plays 16:9 mpegs in 4:3

[vince480]

What I find a little odd is:

Why in Edius can you not change the aspect ratio of your project settings profile?

If you choose Generic PAL 4:3 720x576, the aspect is fixed to 1.0667.

Thus if I place a 720x576 image (jpeg or psd etc.) into my timeline or even just import it into the bin, when you then view it in the preview monitor or the timeline monitor, it is then stetched by it's width.

[Blast1]

has a fixed video display window of 720x576 (square pixels).

720x576 can not be a 4:3 image with square pixels, if you have square pixels the proper 4:3 pixel matrix for a 576 vertical is 576/3*4 which gives 768x576, to maintain a 720x576 matrix the PAR has to be about 7% more in the horiz direction(1.07:1)

[antonsvideo]

768x576 is true 4:3 aspect ratio when using square pixel

768/192=4
576/192=3

720 needs to use rectangular pixel to fill the 4:3 screen, so the pixel is 1.0667 times wider than its height

so 720x1.0667=768

do I make any sense?

in any case, after you export, you will see a thumb of the mpeg in the bin, view its properties, I bet it is 720, unless 4.54 had a bug

[vince480]

Quick Update:

Right, I have updated Windows Media Player to version 11.

And yes you are absolutely right! WMP and the info on the bin item in Edius does show my exported movie as 720x576 obviously still with an aspect of 1.0667. So it would seem Edius is doing exactly as it should, however this unfortunately doesn't quite resolve my initial problem.

As I'm playing back the exported video in a 'graphics' window for want of a better term. The graphics window is fixed as 720x576. jpeg images obviously fit perfect in this window, however my exported video does not because (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong) of the pixel ratio of the video.

Question:

How can I get my exported video to fit exactly in a fixed graphics window of 720x576 (presuming this is square pixels)?

Many thanks.

[antonsvideo]

use Procoder Express and export for video editing, select mpeg, then go to advanced options and set aspect to VGA and pay attention to make sure all other settings are as indicated by red arrow

http://www.videoproductions.com.au/edius46/PCE-generic-mpg.gif

after the export is complete, rename the m2p to mpg because Windows Media Player has no idea what an m2p file is and I have no idea why PCE uses such an uncommon extension

[vince480]

Thanks for the advice.

Unfortuntely the exported video still seems to be squeezed in the display window.

However your attached screen shot for the export settings has proved really usefull, as the video exported plays well and looks really good.

Knowing from past experience, you can spend ages fiddling with export settings trying to get a good compromise of quality vs performance, so thanks for this as it has saved me alot of time trying out different settings.

[tingsern]

Wow, thanks for the lightning response.

2. I am deliverying the final exported video in some bespoke software which has a fixed video display window of 720x576 (square pixels). When this opens one of my exported files I get black areas on the top and bottom of the image where the video has been squeezed into it (width ways)

Can you tell us what "bespoke software" are you using? And is that the final environment for playing back your PAL video? I have been using EDIUS Broadcast + ProCoder 3 + DVDitPro HD to edit PAL 16:9 and 4:3 videos for output to TV (on DVDs) without any issues at all.

[Blast1]

Can you tell us what "bespoke software"

I agree with tingsern, something is not correct with the format you are trying to conform to, a 4:3 aspect is going to have to conform to certain pixel counts and PAR to maintain the aspect. if the pixel counts you are giving for the software's display are correct it is not a true 4:3 aspect, if you are going to have 720 pixels wide with square pixels the max the vertical can be is 540 pixels for 4:3, if you are going to have 576 pixels vertically you are going to have a horiz PAR of 1.07 or 768 square pixel wide, if the display area you are using is 720x576 with square pixels then it isn't true 4:3 and PAL SD video conformed to it to be displayed on it will be slightly distorted.