VS X 4 burned movie doesnt fit TV screen

[diablo]

I tried to burn a movie to my tv screen in VS Pro X4. i used 4:3 aspect ratio but when i took the DVD to view on my tv, i saw 4 black borders around the movie on my tv screen, the borders were on top, bottom and both the right and left side. I tried both 16:9 and 4:3 in VS x4 and both had the same results 4 black borders.

when i burned the same movie in VS 10 plus with 4:3 the movie fits the size of my tv screen.

why is it that VS pro X4 ultimate cant burn the movie to fit the size of my tv screen as it did in VS 10 Plus? what setting am I missing in setting in VS X4

[aljimenez]

think the answer may be with the source video clips you are placing in the timeline. If those timeline video clips have ratios that are not 4x3, you will get black borders... Al

[diablo]

I thought that also but when i looked at the clip properties it says 4:3 so I cant figure out where x4 is screwing up

attributes are 720x480 24 bits 4:3.


on the setting tab on the menu bar at the top there is a pull down with widescreen 16:9 checked what is that?

on the create disc i made sure 4:3 was checked and not 16:9

[aljimenez]

I thought that also but when i looked at the clip properties it says 4:3 so I cant figure out where x4 is screwing up

attributes are 720x480 24 bits 4:3.


on the setting tab on the menu bar at the top there is a pull down with widescreen 16:9 checked what is that?

on the create disc i made sure 4:3 was checked and not 16:9

If your source is 720x480, that is 3:2 (divide 720/480 you get 3/2 which is 1.5) this is not 4:3 nor 16:9. The 16:9 ratio is the modern HD TV, they are all 16:9. The old TV's were 4:3. The ratio 3:2 is the ratio of old film cameras and perhaps the old super 8 mm films? Al

[diablo]

No, its not from any camera, its recorded from a TV show with avertv hybrid volar max TV tuner . In my clip properties its say 4:3 aspect ratio and in the clip properties in x4 says 4:3 as well. I don’t understand where your getting 3:2. i understand the simply math but my programs x4 and my clip properties are saying its 4:3

when i burned the DVD with VS 10 plus i get the TV show to fit the TV screen but not in VS X4.

So i did some experimenting with settings in X4 and it seems that in the menu bar if i click on the settings tab and in the drop down there is a "widescreen (16.9)" option that is checked by default and if i uncheck that setting, and burn another TV show, the DVD will burn in 4:3 or will fit my TV screen. if i leave this setting "widescreen (16:9)" checked I get the 4 black borders in the TV screen... So unchecked I get the burned TV show to fit the full TV screen.

the widescreen (16:9) setting in the menu bar in the drop down of the setting tab always stays checked. If I uncheck it, once I close and re-open X 4 the check goes back in widescreen (16:9) is there a setting that will keep the checkmark out all the time??


thanks

[aljimenez]

I always do 16:9 now, so don't know the answer to your question. I would think there is a settings to set the default to 4:3 like you want. Look for it in the settings menu... Al

[diablo]

Ive looked I cant find the setting to set the default to 4:3, has anyone found one??

[lathompson]

I recently had this problem with VideoStudio Pro X4 and also found that default widescreen setting set at 16:9. In your final process of burning a disc, there is yet another opportunity to make an aspect ratio change. There is also a chance to compress your video prior to burning and in that window, there is yet another opportunity to change from a 4:3 to a 16:9 again. That always defaults to 4:3. So, in the left, lower corner of the burn section, is that icon that reads either 16:9 or 4:3. If your footage is 4:3, just change it if necessary, but remember: If you have NOT unchecked the widescreen default back in the editing section, you may get a normal picture in the programs PREVIEW window, but you will definitely get mixed results when you play it back on a freestanding player, most of which are not desirable....

CABLES ALSO MAKE A DIFFERENCE LEADING TO CONFUSION WHILE DEALING WITH THIS ASPECT RATIO PROBLEM. PLEASE READ ON:

Depending on the age or features on your disc player, there are 4 possible outputs/inputs between your player, HDTV monitor or the older TV/CRT monitors. They are composite, component, HDMI or DVI. Each one of these outputs will handle that mixed aspect ratio in VSX4 differently. My captures are all old movie film and the film's aspect ratio is very much similar to 4:3 size. Therefore, I want to produce my video in the 4:3 ratio. In previous versions, for some reason, I never had a problem. The 4:3 ratio was fine and the results on all players and monitors were fine. In VideoStudio Pro X4, and before I found this default 16:9 setting, I discovered that the final results could be different. The cables used from the player to your viewing device made a difference in the final viewing! If the widescreen default (under the SETTINGS on the menu line above and left in the EDIT section window) is not unchecked, your standard 4:3 video recording will show up differently depending on cables used for output.

OUTPUTTING USING COMPOSITE CABLES, (RCA cables or SVIDEO) you will get banding above, below and on both sides. IMPORTANT: In all of my testing, I had the HDTV monitors all set for NORMAL aspect ratio for testing to begin. Using various changes to the monitor's own aspect ratio settings of course, I could make the video fill the screen in various ways, some better than others. I could not get it to show on screen as it should appear. Using an older CRT Television with only composite hookups, settings for aspect ratio offered fewer choices. On mine, the choice was LETTERBOX or NORMAL. Nether of those settings worked good at all. The movie was letterboxed and then letterboxed more when changed.

OUTPUTTING USING HDMI CABLE, I found that the output filled the screen on my 16:9 HDTV monitor, but slightly stretched, with no borders at all. The top and bottom were cut off. By varying the monitor's built-in aspect settings, there were similar results on the other settings, non of which were what they should be. The original conflict in the settings prior to burning made the results just all wrong if HDMI output is what you use. NOTE: I don't have any DVI cables and didn't test it's characteristics. I suspect it would be simiar to HDMI.

OUTPUTTING USING COMPONENT CABLES, resulted in a distorted image on all monitors. It had the proper black boarders left and right, but the video was stretched to the top and bottom of the screen, making everything look squished. I checked and yes, the HDTV monitor's aspect settings are on the NORMAL setting as intended. This was a terrible result, but, when I decided to change the monitor's aspect settings, I found that setting the monitor's aspect ratio to the PANORAMA setting, the video played correctly. Although that's nice, it isn't correct. I might add that there were more choices for the monitor's aspect ratio settings using the component cables. When I used the HDMI cables my monitor listed fewer choices. Now, I have five choices. Normal, panaramic, zoom1, zoom2 and stretch. They may be named differently on your monitor, but I suspect that this is some kind of 'logic' chip inside either the monitor or the player, reacting to the type signal used. There was one setting that displayed the component signal normally, but it wasn't the NORMAL setting that did it. And I conclude that this logic chip is getting mixed signals when the settings are not matching between the edit section and those available in the burning segment!

I must restate that these things happen when my original video footage has been captured using a 4:3 camcorder and not a 16:9 camcorder. The latter has not been tested yet.

So.... I started over, imported the same video footage and before editing, went to the menu line above, under settings, I saw that the default WIDESCREEN setting was checked for 16:9. I clicked on it and it unchecked it. Now, when I proceeded to the SHARE section, before burning, I looked at the lower icon to make sure it was 4:3 before burning. With these changes, and regardlless of the equipment and/or cables used, my results were successful. All players, with any cable choice, output to any monitor or older CRT TV, produced a normal 4:3 aspect ratio and produced only the two side boarders when viewed on widescreen.

I did this at home from memory and didn't use my notes, so I'm hope someone will correct me if I missed something. Hope it helps.

LT

[Peem]

I think most of the post by lathompson deserves setting in stone somewhere as all that information about cable connections probably won’t come up with a search. It just goes to show how many factors can influence your final output.
Peter

[aljimenez]

CABLES ALSO MAKE A DIFFERENCE LEADING TO CONFUSION WHILE DEALING WITH THIS ASPECT RATIO PROBLEM. PLEASE READ ON

Very nice of you to share your experience. I think, however, your findings probably change based on the DVD player, or whatever media player is connected to the TV, the quality of the cables and their length, and on the TV... Al

[lathompson]

Al, you might be right about different players and I can't test them all, but for my experiment, I used a 4 different machines, one Toshiba, one Sony and two Panasonics, each different models. The same cables were used for each test and I don't agree that my 3ft commercial grade cables were a factor. The TV however, I didn't elaborate on. The HDTV monitor. I used two. A Samsung and an Element (cheap but works for simple monitoring of duplications), both of which tested with the same cables & deck setups. Each can change the aspect ratio independent of the dvd player, as I'm sure you are aware, but strangely, each monitor reacted differently to the hookups as well, offering different choices, sometimes more, sometimes less, and the wording of those choices was different. So, besides the logic programing reacting within the dvd players, there is some logic programing in the HDTV monitors as well, that also throws mud into the viewing results. All of this just because the default 16:9 widescreen setting was different than the final choice later of 4:3.

Here are more details if you're interested:
There are two opportunities to review your final edited program prior to burning. First, in the edit window or secondly, in the final steps prior to starting the burning process. To assume these two viewing opportunities will show you final results would be wrong. Either one you choose, will NOT show you the problem. The show will play in that window perfectly; And should you review the final disc in your computer, some players will play the program just fine, while other players will letterbox. It's hard to notice and therefore easy to miss. So, If you're in business, and I am, you'll deliver flawed products by relying on the program's preview window or by computer.The only way to review proper output is to use a freestanding unit.

We will not be making this mistake again, but It would be nice if Corel could make all aspect ratio settings in one place and default to requiring a choice to be made prior to editing or capturing. New users would not have to trouble shoot this problem again.

Short story...
My customer calls, complained of letterboxing on her video copies. They didn't fill the screen, and brought the disc back to us for review. I wanted her to show me the problem so, with her there, I put it into our demo setup in the customer service area. When it played, it wasn't letter boxed at all. It was scrunched up and stretched top to bottom in the middle of the screen. My customer did a wide-eyed double take and yelled "That's even worse!". I put it on another viewing unit in the customer service area. This time, it filled the screen, but not correctly. It cut off top and bottom. I couldn't explain & she wanted answers. Her home machine did a letterbox, mine did a scrunch-up, stretched picture. Lost for an answer, I took the disc into the editing room and played it to one of our duplication setups, where vhs videos are monitored as they are copied. The resulting playback gave me letterboxing, just like her home set. How stupid did I look? Research began at that point.

[aljimenez]

Again it sure is nice of you to share this valuable experience. I don't create DVD's any more and have forgotten how I had these problems even before the popularity of 16:9 I recall making a DVD and checking them in my two players and having lots of redo's. For me, this is a hobby for family, so not quite as stressful as your business. I now use Youtube, Vimeo, and a media player and don't do DVD's except once a year or so... Al