Widescreen project in DVD Architect Studio 4.5

[Chris]

Hi,

I've been using DVDA 4.0 and now 4.5 for a while. My usual workflow has been to edit in Prel and export as avi. Then I use the avi files in DVD Architect,
set up menus/submenus and then burn the DVD. This has worked fine for all my projects in 4:3 aspect ratio. This weekend I attempted my first 16:9 project
and had problems in DVDA. If I burn the movie directly inside Prel (no menus) it plays back correctly as widescreen when watched in my DVD player. But, when
I export the movie as avi and then bring it to DVDA, the image is "squashed" with black bars to the left and right. I checked the project settings in DVDA and for
widescreen the templates only have something like (if I remember correctly) NTSC weidescreen (720x480) and NTSC Widescreen(702x480).

Has anyone done widescreen from Prel to DVDA studio 4.0 or 4.5? Am I missing something in the settings in DVDA?

[Steve Grisetti]

It certainly should work, Chris.

Can you tell us where you set the settings and which settings you've used?

Another possibility is that the disc isn't automatically triggering the widescreen setting on your DVD player -- very common with home burned DVDs.

The test would be to try your DVD on your computer first. (Even easier if you burned to a folder rather than directly to a disc.)

If the disc does indeed have widescreen on it, then you just need to turn on the settings on your DVD player.

There's also this, from Sony's forum:

1. Make sure you *render* from your editing software to DV/AVI Widescreen format (not just to std DV). (Check the output with Windows Media Player.)

2. Make sure your DVD Architect Studio project is set for Widescreen.

If either of those steps along the way happen to be set for "normal" 4:3 screen format, Vegas or DVD Arch will need to rescale every video frame so that it is letterboxed within the 4:3 frame. And this can result in quality loss.

[Chris]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the reply. I'm at work now so I'll have to wait to get home to check the settings. One thing for sure is that the widescreen movie if burnt
from premiere elements 4 (SHARE tab) does play as widescreen when played back in my DVD player.

This same movie I export as avi and bring to DVD architect. It is inside of architect (preview) that the image is distorted. I don't know if I would have to first
bring the avi file into Vegas Studio and then send to architect (haven't tried that).

[Steve Grisetti]

If the widescreen image look squeezed in DVD Architect Studio, even before you create your DVD, that would seem to be a strong indication that your DVD Architect project isn't set up correctly.

I'll have a look at home also tonight. Tell me what settings you set and where you set them in DVD Architect and I'll tell you what I learn.

[Chris]

Hi Steve,

Well, tried it again and seems to be working fine. I used the template widescreen720x480. When I drop the avi file into DVDA it now fills the whole screen. I guess I messed up somehow when I tried it the first time.

Thanks,
Chris

[Steve Grisetti]

Any solution is a good solution, Chris.

By the way, I'm at work on a book about DVD Architect Studio and, with any luck, it will be out in the next couple of months.

These kinds of challenges definitely help me with my research!

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

By the way, I'm at work on a book about DVD Architect Studio and, with any luck, it will be out in the next couple of months.

Are we seeing the emergence of a full time author...?

[Bobby]

Steve, can you import fullscreen (i.e. 4:3) AVI files into a DVDA widescreen project?

In my normal workflow for my old VHS and Digital8 tapes, I prepare the chapters in fullscreen, and finally bring them all in to a widescreen "assembly" project. I add a wide background so as not to have black bars on the sides (and to preserve screens for those of us who have plasma TVs) and set up the menu markers for each chapter.

Will this work in DVDA?

[Steve Grisetti]

If you put a standard DV video into a widescreen DVDA project, it comes in as standard DV, with black on either side, when you play it. (Obviously, the menu itself is still full widescreen.)

You won't be able to add a wider background to the video in DVD Architect. You should do that in Premiere Elements and then output the video as a widescreen AVI.

[Bobby]

But if I do that Steve, then it is all in one AVI and I would have to hunt manually for the menu marker positions. As I do it today in the final PRE pass, I just tab to the next clip on the timeline.

[Steve Grisetti]

The menu markers you set up in Premiere Elements are irrelevant when you port your project to DVD Architect, Bob.

You simply place the clips you want linked to on a menu in the Architect workspace and the program creates the link to it.

If you've got a large segment that you want individual scenes to, you can add it several times and trim it to display only the segments you want to link to.

[Chris B]

If you've got a large segment that you want individual scenes to, you can add it several times and trim it to display only the segments you want to link to.

I'm new to this so be patient. I tried this (I think) when I rendered a project in two halves because it was crashing. Whereas the scenes worked fine and I could skip forward, I couldn't skip back from the second segment to the first. Is this a restriction or am I doing something wrong?

[Steve Grisetti]

I'm not sure what you're saying, Chris.

Are we talking about DVD Architect? You shouldn't have to break your video in two.

[Chris B]

Hi Steve - No PE wouldn't render it so I needed to import 2 clips into architect (I suppose I could have re-rendered it again as one clip but it's rather big...). So I'm just feeling my way round architect at the moment.

[Steve Grisetti]

I plan to have the book done on DVD Architect Studio done and on sale by mid-April!