@Xenofex2

Hi George.

I can export and get the correct playback AR in VLC, Windows Media Player and Films &TV with the settings you are using, I suspect the issue may be the player - it must recognise that the pixels have to be stretched horizontally see note below.

Which player are you using to play the exported video?

Does MediaInfo say the exported video is 5:4 or 16:9?

Note: in MPG or VOB (DVD version of the MPG) with SD widescreen (16:9) 720 x 576 video the pixels are stretched horizontally to give the correct 16:9 widescreen AR.

MP4 h.264 also accepts the stretching of the Pixel Aspect Ratio (PAR) to give the correct image AR.

John EB
Forum Moderator

John / Ray

The original movie is 16:9 and playing in VLC, it plays as a 16:9

I start a new project in MEP for 16:9

Without doing anything other than cutting a section, the export settings in MEP are 16:9. The movie looks okay in the MEP Program Monitor.

However check this exported clip in MediaInfo and MEP has exported the clip as a 5:4. It also plays in VLC as a 5:4 clip.

Thus, I start with a 16:9 movie (confirmed by MediaInfo), the MEP Project Settings are 16:9, the MEP Export Settings are 16:9 yet the exported clip is 5:4 (as per MediaInfo).

So to me, either it cannot be done or I am doing something wrong in MEP?

George

@Xenofex2 Hi, I just created a 720x576 , 5:4 file Pixel aspect ratio 1.0926 (PAL DV), I put it in a 16:9 project & exported it, whether I sectioned the 5:4 clip on the timeline or not the exported files were 16:9 as expected.

The created 5:4 file

& the exported file

It's hard to exactly recreate your problem, so would you share the file on Google Drive so we can play with it n see?

PS, the exported file has a Pixel aspect ratio of 1.4222, Google says - 'D1/DV PAL Widescreen Uses a 1.4222 pixel aspect ratio. Use this setting if your source clip has a 720 x 576 frame size and you want it to maintain a 16:9 frame aspect ratio.'

I found this ratio by adding them to the Vegas timeline & looking at the properties, I don't believe you have the option to change this in MS but could your orig file be messing with MS's head in some way?

@Xenofex2

Hi George.

I am upon reading your opening statement again, confused.

Whilst I am aware that the aspect Ratio for 720 x 576 is 5:4,

It's not 5:4, it's 16:9. 576 x 720 is 4:5. Is that what you were thinking of?

Can you supply a screen shot of the movie Project settings please? That's under File / Settings / Movie.

The only other difference I can think of is the pixel shapes that would cause a ratio shift.

Ray.

@CubeAce ? https://andrew.hedges.name/experiments/aspect_ratio/

@Former user @Xenofex2 @johnebaker

Hi Gid.

I had a good look around the internet for aspect ratios and got mixed results for those pixel numbers.

Thank you for the calculator page. That will be useful.

I do also wonder about the pixel shape though. Basically analogue used rectangular dots while digital monitors use square pixels. When I was typing last you must have still been typing as your post hadn't appeared when I posted or I would have deleted my post.

I think a video clip is in order or perhaps @AAProds can shed more light on this later. I think he has the most experience with this type of problem.

Ray.

@johnebaker

Hi John.

I'm obviously not getting good internet search results. Will try harder but then why does @Xenofex2 MediaInfo data also show the aspect ratio as 16:9?

Ray.

@Xenofex2

That file is borked. There is no way a DVD file can be that size, 82kb, for 2hr and 14 minutes. I suspect that the header info is completely messed up and that is what is throwing MEP for the export.

What is the file size shown in Windows Explorer? That may provide a clue.

I would re-rip it off the disk and try again. Otherwise, you're doing the right thing with the movie and export settings.

@johnebaker

 looking at the export dialog you posted the VBR is 6000 kb/s this is too high for a default 720 x 576 25 fps export.

John, this is not a problem. I hardly ever use the default bitrate. The program can easily handle user-defined settings.

@CubeAce

Will try harder but then why does @Xenofex2 MediaInfo data also show the aspect ratio as 16:9?

Ray, normally, the only determinant for the "shape" of a video eg wide, tall, square is the display aspect ratio. That is, the "4:3", 16:9" or "1:1" (eg for Whatsapp or Farcebook). The pixel aspect ratio, that is the dimensions, can be anything. For example, one can make a 1080x1080 video, encode at 4:3, and it will come out looking like a SD monitor. Similarly, a 720x576 video can be encoded to 4:3 (the old CRT shape or 16:9 "widescreen DVD). In each case, the pixels aren't square (or are "stretched"). I think all this hoo-har came about because of bitrate restraints in the old days. Thankfully, most mainstream HD video these days is all square pixel (where the pixel size relates to the screen size), but you still have to export with the correct ratio flag because that tells the player how to display it.

@CubeAce 👍 I also have this one bookmarked, I prefer that one in the earlier comment tho https://calculateaspectratio.com/

@AAProds

Thank you for that information Al. Luckily I don't have to play around with these types of files or worry about back / forward compatibility issues.

Ray.

Greetings @Xenofex2

I've had this problem several times in the past. I've quite often managed to get a 720x576 16:9 file to export to 16:9 by right clicking on the file in the timeline (before editing) opening "Object Properties" and clicking on Video. If the aspect ratio is shown as 5:4 (which happens quite often in my experience) then by changing it to 16:9 the final exported file is the corrrect aspect ratio.

Greetings all,

Just to throw in my two pen'orth, for calculating the Aspect Ratio Signalling of the Movie Aspect Ratio (cor, technical stuff ay?) I use a tiny standalone program that goes by the rather quaint name of "ARS Calculator" from here: https://forum.doom9.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=5451&d=1139749825 from this post https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=107039

AndyW

Wowee! Thankyou all. There is such a lot of new information there.

I think the vast majority of what I have learnt about Video Editing has been either from John’s Tutorials or this Forum. So this is all great.

1)      Ray, attached is a screenshot of my Movie Project Settings.

2)      I read with interest the discussion on Aspect Ratio. I too have bookmarked the Andrew-hedges website for help.

3)      John, it was your comment about User Dialogue that has provided the solution. I set up a Project to start, so apart from amending any export name and storage location, this is a box I normally do not touch. I don’t know enough to adjust anything so leave well alone. However the suggestion to ‘try exporting using the SD 720 x 432 25fps 16:9’ I could not find as an option. So what to do. You mention about VBR rate of 6000 being too high but I am wary of changing anything I know nothing about and then mucking everything up. But then you also comment about ‘User Defined’. The only thing I changed when I started was the setting for the Movie Setting and for this one, was to 720 x 576. 16:9 and 25fps.

However, because I could not find your suggested 720 x 432, I looked at the Options available and finally selected ‘Standard’. Exported as a MPEG-4 and the video file plays as a 16:9. Brilliant. You are all probably aware but to help with this reply, I have looked again and again at what happened and finally noticed that when I selected to ‘Standard’ the export settings changed to 1280 x 720. The resultant exported video looks okay.  

4)      I also attach a screenshot of ‘Object Properties’ via the Timeline. Something again I have learnt so thankyou ‘me_again’. I have checked using the original project file and mine does show 16:9 but this is certainly an area to keep in mind.

George

@Xenofex2

Good to see you got it going.

Out of interest, considering my earlier post, what is the actual size of the file, or was that Mediainfo image from one of the other files on the DVD? 82kb for 2hr and 14 just isn't possible.

Magix will calculate the required aspect ratio for you. It Movie Settings, if you don't know the actual ratio, simply type the dimensions into the Ration box like this: Width in Pixels:Height in Pixels eg "782:346". Magix will calculate the ratio and convert it to a decimal and use that y=to size the monitor and export ratio. I use this quite often when I'm making videos from screen captures, which can be any size or shape. JohnEB put me onto that some time ago.

As I said above, the critical value is the display aspect ratio, as that is supposed to be used by the player, whatever it may be. To reduce my confusion, I also like to make the actual pixels the same ratio, so for SD PAL exports, I use 768x576 4:3 for normal SD or 1024x576 16:9 for widescreen SD; beware though that if making a MPEG file for a DVD, you have to stick to 720x576 PAL or 720x480 NTSC, with the desired ratio (4:3 0r 16:9).

Continuing on that theme, in the case of 720x432 (which actually isn't 16:9, it's 1.66666:1 or 5:3), if the dimensions don't show up on the export screen, you can manually enter them using the three dots buttons for Resolution and Ratio:

Just type in the oddball resolution and ratio in the format shown and Magix will accept them and export using them.

If you're only working with standard ratios, practically speaking, all you need to remember is 1.333333:1 (which is 4:3) and 1.777777:1 (which is 16:9).

@Xenofex2, @AAProds

Hi George Alwyn

. . . . 82kb for 2hr and 14 just isn't possible . . . .

Agreed and well spotted Alwyn, confirmation bias set in there as I read it as Mb, unless of course each frame is 1 giant pixel 🙂🙃🙂😂

John EB

A practical example for oddball resolutions for me is 4:3 video for Youtube. If you upload at a height of at least 1440, YT will encode your video using the higher quality VP9 codec. Magix doesn't have 1920x1440 4:3 as a preset, so I manually type in those numbers into the Resolution (if I haven't already changed my Movie Settings aren't already set to those).

Hi,

Not sure where I am now so to re-check.

I don’t have any DVD, just an IFO file for the whole Movie, and five VOB files where someone has just split the original recording into five, regardless.  The original which I watched on the PC was the IFO file. I have just re-checked and yes, the IFO file is 82Kb for 2hrs 14 minutes. Screenshot 01.

What I did also try when initially trying to find a solution. Finding out that I could not use the IFO file in MEP, I converted it using Movavi Video Converter to MPEG-4 and the same file albeit now a different format, Screenshot 02, is now 2.30GB.

Also attached just out of interest is the MediaInfo for one of the 33 minutes VOB files. (Screenshot 03)

And thankyou for that further information.

George

@Xenofex2

Greetings George, all suddenly becomes clear.

The IFO file that you have the MediaInfo of is really just an instruction sheet for the DVD player or computer or DVD player or whatever you are using That's why it's so small.

If you have the 5 VOBs, those are the video files and Movie Studio will import them direct (it may want you to copy them to the computer first, just follow the instructions MS gives) and your well away.

AndyW

@Xenofex2  I had loads of files gathered from DVDs, many like IFO files reference other files, so in a way you didn't watch that IFO file, you watched the VOB through that.

Googled - 'An IFO file is a DVD-Video disc information file used by DVD players. It contains information referenced by the DVD player which allows users to navigate and play the contents of the DVD. IFO files work in conjunction with .VOB and .VRO files, which contain the actual audio and video data.

More Information

An IFO file consists of headers that tell the DVD player what screen to show at startup, where each chapter starts, where audio tracks are located on the disc, etc. IFO files are often located with VOB and .BUP files on a DVD.'

PS @me_again beat me to it while i was writing this, I got lost in info while Googling that quote 😂

Andy,

Interesting to learn how the IFO and VOB files inter-relate.

Something else I have learnt when starting a new Project is to create a New Project File and within this I have sub folders for any Still Images I wish to use, Project Saves, and Exported MPEG-4 etc etc. That way I keep everything together and should I ever want to go back to the Project for whatever reason, I have it all in one place. Now I am doing that I don’t think I have needed to go back. It was only when I did not do this, I did want to re-visit. Murphy’s Law I think that is called.

Oh and I transfer the Project off the main Computer and have two copies of The Project File on External Portable Hard Drives. Really more important for me in the ‘old days’ when I had a smaller hard drive on my PC.

George