DVDA 1 squishes my pictures, help please

studiopeg wrote on 2/1/2005, 2:38 PM
Created slideshow of still pictures in Vegas 4.0, Build 115

File properties: NTSC DV (720x480, 29.970 fps)

Rendered as MainConcept MPEG-2 with DVD Architect 24p NTSC video stream template.

Made new DVDA project, file properties NTSC (720x480, 29.970 fps)

DVDA is Version 1.0d (Build 230)

When I brought the MPEG slideshow into DVDA and previewed in best mode, it is squishing all the pictures horizontally making people look very fat.

DVDA also did this when bringing in the MPEG as rendered in Vegas using the standard template. No matter what the template I rendered as, DVDA is squishing the MPEG.

However, the MPEG when played as a stand-alone looks perfect.

This is my first time using DVDA. Searched the manual and these forums for the answer first, no luck.

Will it only squish the video in this preview mode, or is that how it's going to burn to the DVD? If so, how can I fix?

Thanks all for your advice.

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 2/1/2005, 3:53 PM
It all has to do with pixel aspect ratio. 720x480 seems like it would be 50% wider than it is tall, but actually it's made of narrower pixels so it's only about 36% wider than it is tall. In fact, a 720x480 MPEG file is the same shape as a 654.5x480 still image. Vegas will stretch your images out the extra 14% to shape them properly for the narrower pixels in the video file. *Most* players will show the file with the narrower pixels so that the images end up looking correct. Your DVD player will show it correctly as well. *Some* players will show the video file with square pixels, making it look too wide and "fat".

I just did a test with DVD Architect 2 and it looks like it is showing the image correctly as 654x480 in the preview screen. Maybe version 1 shows 720x480.

I suggest you burn your video to a DVD rewritable and check how well it plays back on the television.

When i render MPEG files that i know are going to be primarily played back on a computer screen i'll make them 656x480 instead of 720x480. This way the images are barely stretched at all and play back properly in any player software. Many DVD players will also play raw MPEG files straight from a data disc without authoring them into DVDs.
studiopeg wrote on 2/2/2005, 7:31 AM
Much appreciated! Thanks for the info