svcd playback distorted on Windows Media Player

jjyoung wrote on 5/24/2002, 1:52 PM

I'm using the SVCD template in vegas video to render. When I burn a SVCD it plays back properly on my DVD player. However, when I play the mpeg file on my computer it displays a square picture, not the 4:3 aspect ratio that I'd expect. Anyone know what's going on?

Comments

Former user wrote on 5/24/2002, 2:04 PM

The SVCD standard is 480 x 480 resolution. The DVD player is programmed to adjust for this in the same manner it adjusts for anamorphic or widescreen DVD movies.

The windows player is just playing it back as a 480 by 480 file. It does not know to adjust.

Dave T2

jjyoung wrote on 5/24/2002, 2:59 PM

I also see the same thing when I load the file into VV. Is there a way to tell VV to compensate for this distortion? My goal is to archive the results of my video editing onto SVCDs. But I'd like the capability to load them in again to VV so that I can do additional editing in the future (i.e. combine several SVCDs into a single file and render them for DVD once the prices become reasonable).

BillyBoy wrote on 5/24/2002, 3:17 PM

If your render to 480x480 then that's how the file will and should display on non DVD software. They will play without distortion on a set top DVD player or if you install DVD player software on your PC. There is nothing to fix or adjust.

Former user wrote on 5/24/2002, 3:29 PM

I would recommend that you do not plan on archiving on SVCD. the SVCD quality compared to the original material will be lacking.

As Billyboy stated, the file is really not distorted at this point. It is 480 x 480 so any video device other than the DVD player will play it at 480 x 480 (square). also, the file on the disk is an MPEG2 file, which is not the best file to edit with. An AVI file is always more desirable for editing work. MPEG is generally better for distribution, not post production.

A DVD file is of higher quality so rendering a low quality SVCD to a high quality
DVD will give you a low quality DVD. The image will not be improved. It will be better to come from the original source or an AVI file.

Is your source material from a DV source or analog source?

if it is DV, you are better making a DV copy onto tape. Then render for DVD when that is a possibility. If it is analog, I would even recommend outputting to analog tape for archive rather than an SVCD.

Dave T2

p_l wrote on 5/24/2002, 6:17 PM

BTW, to view a 480x480 SVCD file in normal-looking proportions in WMP, choose Full Screen (Alt + Enter).

SonyDennis wrote on 5/24/2002, 11:55 PM

Vegas deals with pixel and frame aspect ratios and has no problem displaying SVCD video with 480x480 pixels.

If it's not, check these things: the source media properties should have a pixel aspect ratio of 1.333. If your project is also 480x480, it too should have a pixel aspect ratio of 1.333; if it's something else, the ratio should be correct for that format (e.g., NTSC DV=0.9091). Right click in the Video Preview, turn on Display Square Pixels.

///d@