Trying to "cheat" making 16:9 discs

videojanitor · Post by **videojanitor** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:17 am

I've been going round-and-round on this one -- I've recorded some 16:9 anamorphic video on a Panasonic DVD recorder, and imported the MPEG file into DVDWS. Rather than having DVDWS re-encode it as 16:9, I was advised that it was pretty simple to use IFOEdit to change the file headers to reflect that the material was 16:9.

So, I burned a disc image, and created the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders for my project -- using IFOEdit, I performed the required edits on two files. Then in DVDWS, I tried to burn this (modified) disk image to a DVD-R.

That part went fine, BUT the resulting disc will not play on any of my players. On some of them, I get an "UNSUPPORTED" error message, and on others it just says "HOLD." Using WinDVD in my PC though, it plays fine. Go figure.

Is there something about the burning engine in DVDWS that precludes using these modified files? Has anyone else had any luck doing things this way?

Just wondering what I might be doing wrong .... --Bill

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 10:51 am

I know that works for the menu's, but are you trying to do it for the video?

How many buttons are on your busiest menu? I think there might be a different limit on buttons per menu (4:3 vs 16:9).

Which files did you update for the 16:9? List all the lines that were changed (you might have missed some if you are doing the video).

videojanitor · Post by **videojanitor** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 11:05 pm

George,

Yes, I am trying to do it for the VIDEO, but not the menus. According to instructions posted on the AVSFORUM, this is a pretty common thing to do. To see exactly what files and lines I edited, check this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre ... ost3783431

I've tried this with material that has menus that only contain three buttons, but since I am not editing the menu information, I wouldn't think that would make any difference anyway.

--Bill

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:45 am

Did you try to match the screen shots, or did you ONLY change the 4:3 to 16:9? The sample screen shots have Half D1 resolution, and if you tried to match them, it might be causing a problem...

videojanitor · Post by **videojanitor** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:58 am

The only change I made was to click the "16:9" checkbox, and to select "Automatic Letterbox." The instructions said not to change anything else, even though it appears to be wrong, so I didn't.

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 1:03 am

Can you post the two *.ifo's somewhere that I can download and take a look to see if anything jumps out at me?

Are they the only *.ifo's, or do you have others in your VIDEO_TS folder?

videojanitor · Post by **videojanitor** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 1:29 am

Those are the only two IFOs on the disc.

If you right-click on these links, you should be able to download the "before" and "after" versions of the files.

These are the original files from the disc made with the Panasonic recorder. This disc plays fine:

http://home.comcast.net/~videojanitor/o ... DEO_TS.IFO
http://home.comcast.net/~videojanitor/o ... S_01_0.IFO

And these are the ones that were edited with IFOEdit. A disc subsequently burned with these files will not play in my stand-alone recorders:

http://home.comcast.net/~videojanitor/e ... DEO_TS.IFO
http://home.comcast.net/~videojanitor/e ... S_01_0.IFO

Thanks for offering to check these out.

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:10 am

What program was used to create the DVD Folders? These don't look like they were created by DVD WS.

A couple of things that jump out:
-the amount of cells in your structure -- looks like 3 chapter points, but there are about 57 total cells (not sure if this is some sort of slideshow or something with so many cells)?
-the resolution of your video is 704x480 (instead of 720x480). This is a valid dvd resolution for NTSC, but I don't know if the ifoedit works when dealing with 704x480 (it might, I'm not sure)

Can you try burning the dvd with DVDDecryptor to see if that makes a difference?

videojanitor · Post by **videojanitor** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 5:12 am

George,

My mistake there. Those files/folders were created with a Panasonic recorder. I've re-done everything using DVD WS instead -- if you can go back up the message where I posted those links, you should be able to download them again. This "test" project has one menu and one button.
One thing that I noticed, which I did not before, is that the edited files are much SMALLER than the originals. This might be a clue -- I wouldn't think they should be changing size much if at all.

The Panasonic's frame-size is indeed 704x480, and that's where all my source video originates. Other people in the AVSFORUM haven't had any problem using IFOEdit on these files, so I don't think the frame-size is an issue ... but I will try it on a 720x480 file just to see what happens.

As for burning from DVD Decrypter, I see where you can do that from an ISO file, but don't see any option for burning from a folder. If you know how to do that, let me know.

Thanks!

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 11:03 am

Yes, those look more like DVD WS created files

Not sure what's going on there, nothing jumps out.

Check your DVD Player's menu options to see how it is setup to display widescreen (some DVD PLayers have options for displaying widescreen).

Do you see the menus in your dvd player, but have the problem when you try to play the video?

I usually use DVD Shrink to create a dvd image that can be burned with DVD decryptor.

regarding the file sizes -- they both take up 32kb each space on your HD -- it's how you are setup for cluster sizes (looks like 32kb is your minimum). So if you create a 1-character text file, it will still take up 32kb (minimum cluster size). I do wonder if the burning of these is different though because I believe on dvd disc they are 32kb min sizes also...

videojanitor · Post by **videojanitor** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 7:22 pm

Yes sir, the DVD Player is set correctly, though it doesn't really matter, because it doesn't even get as far as recognizing the disc. As soon as it is inserted, it begins to read it, and shortly thereafter the word "UNSUPPORTED" appears in the display. In a another player (different brand), the same thing happens, but the message says "HOLD."

In either case, it never gets as far as showing the MENU from the disc.

Anyway, I appreciate your efforts. I guess I will just continue to play around with various pieces of software until I come across a combination that works for me.