Convention video submission script? (Yes, I read the guide)

[Chaobunny12]

I tried reading the guide to scripting to mpeg for con submissions, but I had trouble understanding. Sorry. ><

Basically, I have an .avi 720x480 AMV that's 23.976 fps and I need to encode it to an mpeg format at 29.97 fps. What should my script look like?

[Scintilla]

Well, you'll need to answer these questions:

- Is your video normal 4:3 or widescreen?
--- If widescreen, will the convention accept MPEG-2s encoded for anamorphic playback?
- Does your video have any bumpers or credits on it that you have to remove for the contest?
- Does the contest require silent black video before and/or after your video?

[Chaobunny12]

It's regular 4:3, but I can make it widescreen. I don't think it matters for this con, so I'm just keeping it 4:3. No bumpers, credits, or blank space at the beginning or the end. Those aren't allowed for this contest.

And what's anamorphic playback?

[Scintilla]

All right, then the following script would seem to be indicated:

AVISource("[your video filename goes here]")
AudioDub(last,WAVSource("[your audio filename goes here]")) # Remove this line if your AVI already has the audio in it
SSRC(48000)

[Kaitrono]

On a similar note, i have followed scintilla's guide for video submission and everything worked perfectly except the resolution is off for some reason. My source is normally 640X480, but i used a lanczosresize(720,480) command in avisynth. After converting it to a mpeg-2 using TMPGEnc I discovered that instead of making the footage wider, it just adds black borders to the edges to fill the space. I can't figure out how to fix this. Help appreciated.

[Scintilla]

[Kaitrono]

the script is very simple and short:

AVISource("C:\Users\Dan\Videos\ToF_Convention.avi")
LanczosResize(720,480)

I then open the avisynth file in TMPGEnc, use your convention template preset, and make sure all the settings are correct (particularly the resolution). But when i encode it, it comes out with just black borders on the sides. It doesn't seem to be reading my resize command.

[Scintilla]

Okay, what does the script look like in VirtualDub(/Mod)? Does it have the borders there?

If it doesn't have them there, how about opening up the MPEG-2 you encode in VirtualDub(/Mod)?

[Kaitrono]

VirtualDubMod doesn't show the black borders for either. Can't tell if the footage is actually 720 or 640 though. I don't think VDub tells you the resolution anywhwere. But as soon as i play it on windows media player the black borders appear and the footage still appears to be 640x480. I even tried importing the footage into adobe premiere to see what it would look like, and the black borders show up there too. Strange...

[Qyot27]

VirtualDubMod doesn't show the black borders for either. Can't tell if the footage is actually 720 or 640 though. I don't think VDub tells you the resolution anywhwere. But as soon as i play it on windows media player the black borders appear and the footage still appears to be 640x480. I even tried importing the footage into adobe premiere to see what it would look like, and the black borders show up there too. Strange...

File menu->File information

And since it shows up in WMP but not in VDub, it means it has to do with your DirectShow filters doing the aspect correction without doing a proper display correction. Haali's Media Splitter (for example; also Ligos MPEG filters) does this - annoys me to no end, since it didn't used to. In this scenario, the display dimensions of 720x480 are kept, but the video playback is rendered honoring the aspect flags.

If you open the MPEG-2 in Media Player Classic, or put WMP on fullscreen, do the black borders disappear? If they do, it's just your DirectShow filters, and it's nothing to worry about. This is already what I figure it is anyway, but it bears repeating. Changing your filters *should* fix it, if you remove the ones at fault for this first (note: if it's Haali's, then uninstall it, and reinstall it without selecting MPEG-PS - then use something else, like the GPL MPEG-1/2 decoder, for those files).