dvdA 2.0 BUG: reading 4:3 m2v streams as 16:9

paco2004 wrote on 6/25/2004, 1:18 PM
Good Afternoon.

I've encountered a strange phenomenon when using .m2v elementary streams (created in TMPGenc, 4:3 aspect ratio) in dvdA 2.0
It imports and recognizes the stream as 4:3. However, when you re-open the project or set the subtitles while previewing the project, dvdA2 seems to read all .m2v elementary streams in the project as 16x9. The .m2v files
are squished into a 16x9 format and it can be seen when playing back from the timeline or previewing the project.

My project properties are set to NTSC 720x480 and when you check the optimize option, they are indeed 720x480. I played back the .m2v files in windows media player and power dvd, and it played back at 4:3 aspect ratio.

I tried re-inserting the .m2v files and dvdA2 kept reading them as 16x9. Upon deleted the .sfvx files associated with each media file it seem to work as dvda2 re-read the entire stream and it recognized it as 4:3 ... however, upon
re-opening the project the problem persisted.

I prepared the project to my harddrive and burned it with nero. The files on the harddrive were playing back at the correct aspect ratio as well as the final dvd. It seems to me that is a problem when viewing only from dvdA2 but
does not affect the final output. I'd like to know what is triggering this problem and how to fix it. Thanks.


Also, I've noticed that the optimize option displays incorrectly the amount of space used on the dvd. I have a project that was occupying 3.6 GB when in reality it used up 3.2 GB ... that's a difference of 400 MB. Now in this particular case it doesn't matter but for a project where I need to fill up the dvd to its capacity, I'm afraid dvdA2 will give me problems...does anyone ever had any problems with filling up the dvd to 4.37GB????

Comments

bStro wrote on 6/25/2004, 3:04 PM
Read this thread.

As for the file estimate, it's a well-know issue that existed in DVDA1. Sony's fully aware of it, but it doesn't seem likely to be fixed anytime soon. But who knows, maybe in the upcoming update.

Rob
paco2004 wrote on 6/25/2004, 8:24 PM
Thanks Rob. I hope they fix the file estimate in the next update.

As far as the 4:3/16x9 issue, drisley might have found the problem - vbr encoding ... the files I used were vbr. I'll do some encoding with different parameters to see if it causes the same problem. I'll post if I find anything interesting.
bStro wrote on 6/25/2004, 9:04 PM
drisley might have found the problem - vbr encoding

Well, specifically, VBR used when enconding a specific format (M2V) in a specific program (TMPGEnc). Perhaps it happens with other formats in TMPGEnc...or perhaps it happens with M2V files in other programs. But it doesn't appear to be just a matter of DVDA not liking VBR. I use VBR in Vegas and another capture program all the time and produce MPG files that DVDA has no problem with at all.

Rob
SonySDB wrote on 6/28/2004, 4:46 AM
paco2004,

This is a known issue and we are working with MainConcept to resolve it. (This problem does not occur with .m2v rendered from Vegas.) To workaround, delete the .sfvx file associated with your .m2v each time before you open the project.
daves2 wrote on 7/6/2004, 9:10 PM
happened to me too & thought I was going nuts!!...DVDA also reports the file as mpeg1 in the explorer window although it is mpeg2

my file is a 4:3 VBR mepg2 (720x480) encoded in procoder...hadn't gotten to burn a disc b/c I couldn't figure out why it was displaying as such.

will try to do the proj. anyway & see what happens per the below.
noyzegoat wrote on 7/8/2004, 9:35 AM
Exactly the same happened to me to. m2v file was created in FCP and played back 4:3 in preview of DVD2 OK. Had to recompress file to fit on the DVD which I let DVD2 do. Great quality on the rerendered file (nice one mainconcept) however the file now plays back in 16:9. ( yes I checked it was using the correct aspect ratio) Didn't spot it burnt the disc and guess what!. The other mpeg on the disc (not recompressed but made with FCP) played normally bur the recompressed one burnt as 16:9. :-((
Thanks...not.
Tried removing the .sfvx file and it works! now plays 4:3, ..so am reburning the disc to see what happens.
Will update.
Cheers
coffeebean wrote on 7/12/2004, 10:28 PM
Thanks for the work-round. I was going nuts with this....Sony has addressed all of my issues to date which are few I might add. A great forum and very helpfull.

Coffeebean