Recommended output format for old 4:3 footage at DVinfo.net

Mark van der Byl · January 2nd, 2010, 11:40 AM

Hi All, (Newbie here)

Have capture some very old footage footage which is in standard 4:3 format. I have edited and almost done, but what format ratio and settings would be best to render this video too?
Are there any rules I should be following for all the new TV formats etc. (this project for DVD only)

Look forward to your responses.
Many thanks

Harm Millaard · January 3rd, 2010, 06:25 AM

4x3 MPEG2-DVD.

Ben Longden · January 4th, 2010, 03:30 AM

You have a choice.... do you intend to watch it on a widescreen set?
You could have it as a 4x3 format on a 16;9 project, having black bars either side... this is the industry standard.
Or you could pan and scan or you could zoom in and re render it to 4x3....

Ben

Ervin Farkas · January 8th, 2010, 02:18 PM

Actually there are NO choices as long as you want to preserve the quality - since we're talking about old footage, there is not much quality to start with.

So keep it 4x3. Going 16x9 you will loose quite a bit of resolution!

A correctly authored DVD will be correctly displayed even on a 16x9 HD screen.

Mark van der Byl · January 10th, 2010, 10:20 AM

Harm, Ben, Ervin.

Thanks for your responses. Sounds like I should keep it as is, and look at it again when authoring the dvd.

Many thanks

Randall Leong · January 11th, 2010, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ervin Farkas

Actually there are NO choices as long as you want to preserve the quality - since we're talking about old footage, there is not much quality to start with.

So keep it 4x3. Going 16x9 you will loose quite a bit of resolution!

A correctly authored DVD will be correctly displayed even on a 16x9 HD screen.

That should have been the case--but when it comes to standalone DVD players, it seldom holds true. Many DVD players that I've used always stretched 4:3 videos (yes, even from DVDs with mixed 4:3 and 16:9 content) to fill 16:9 screens no matter what I did (and even as 4:3 content is stretched, 16:9 content is displayed correctly)--to the point that I had to manually set the TV's display mode to 4:3 whenever I view 4:3 material (but then, 16:9 content would get squashed into the 4:3 frame). And, when I set those same DVD players for a 4:3 set, the 4:3 images still get stretched while 16:9 content gets both letterboxed and stretched. This is because few standard-definition DVD players correctly recognize the embedded flags for different aspect ratios; after all, standard-definition DVD was originally conceived at a time when all TV displays had a 4:3 aspect ratio. (By comparison, most Blu-Ray players do correctly recognize the DVD aspect ratio flags.) As a result, mixing 4:3 and 16:9 material onto a single DVD can become needlessly frustrating.

Mark van der Byl · February 1st, 2010, 04:09 PM

Something I have only noticed now this footage has gone to big screen is that there is a green bar down right hand side. Only on some clips? Have I missed something again with this old 4:3 footage?

Brian Jeffries · March 16th, 2010, 06:10 PM

I am doing pretty much the same thing. I am cutting old 4:3 footage into smaller clips for the web. The problem I have is the quality of the footage is not that great, but when I render from premier it looks even worse. Is there a way to render these clips without losing any quality, i am not to concerned with size of the file?

Thanks,
Brian

January 2nd, 2010, 11:40 AM	#1
Mark van der Byl New Boot Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: London, United Kingdom Posts: 9	Recommended output format for old 4:3 footage Hi All, (Newbie here) Have capture some very old footage footage which is in standard 4:3 format. I have edited and almost done, but what format ratio and settings would be best to render this video too? Are there any rules I should be following for all the new TV formats etc. (this project for DVD only) Look forward to your responses. Many thanks

January 8th, 2010, 02:18 PM	#4
Ervin Farkas Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta/USA Posts: 2,515	Actually there are NO choices as long as you want to preserve the quality - since we're talking about old footage, there is not much quality to start with. So keep it 4x3. Going 16x9 you will loose quite a bit of resolution! A correctly authored DVD will be correctly displayed even on a 16x9 HD screen. __________________ Ervin Farkas www.AtlantaLegalVideo.com

January 3rd, 2010, 06:25 AM	#2
Harm Millaard Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands Posts: 1,832	4x3 MPEG2-DVD.

January 4th, 2010, 03:30 AM	#3
Ben Longden Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Echuca, Victoria, Australiamate Posts: 179	You have a choice.... do you intend to watch it on a widescreen set? You could have it as a 4x3 format on a 16;9 project, having black bars either side... this is the industry standard. Or you could pan and scan or you could zoom in and re render it to 4x3.... Ben

January 10th, 2010, 10:20 AM	#5
Mark van der Byl New Boot Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: London, United Kingdom Posts: 9	Harm, Ben, Ervin. Thanks for your responses. Sounds like I should keep it as is, and look at it again when authoring the dvd. Many thanks

February 1st, 2010, 04:09 PM	#7
Mark van der Byl New Boot Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: London, United Kingdom Posts: 9	Something I have only noticed now this footage has gone to big screen is that there is a green bar down right hand side. Only on some clips? Have I missed something again with this old 4:3 footage?

March 16th, 2010, 06:10 PM	#8
Brian Jeffries Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Southern California Posts: 31	I am doing pretty much the same thing. I am cutting old 4:3 footage into smaller clips for the web. The problem I have is the quality of the footage is not that great, but when I render from premier it looks even worse. Is there a way to render these clips without losing any quality, i am not to concerned with size of the file? Thanks, Brian