need help burning MPEG-2 16:9 format

[scottiep]

Hello all,

 

I've just purchased Toast and I'm trying to take recordings from my cable DVR and archive them to DVD for viewing on my standard DVD player (Panasonic DVD-R32).

 

I've been successfull using MPEG Streamclip to take the .m2t files (from the DVR) and "convert to MPEG," then Toast makes a DVD and works fine. This works for SDTV recordings that are 4:3 format. When I go through these steps on a file that was recorded HD and is 720 x 404, Toast makes the DVD and it looks fine on my MacBook, but on my actual DVD player (hooked to my television), the video gets cropped to the 4:3 format--that is, it simply ignores the video outside the 4:3 area.

 

Naturally, I'm not expecting HD recording capability--I neither have a HD DVD player or a recorder. However, I would like to do what I can with what I have.

 

I'm simply looking for a way to archive recordings from my DVR without losing the wide/panoramic format.

 

Are there tricks in Toast or MPEG Streamclip that can help me do this so the DVD is watchable on my standard DVD player?

 

thanks in advance,

 

scottiep

[tsantee]

The first thing I'd try is going to Toast's custom encoder settings window and manually setting the 16:9 aspect ratio. See if that solves the problem.

 

I've done the same thing you're doing but when I capture an HD channel from my DVR I get a much higher resolution file than 720x404. I use MPEG Streamclip to open the TS stream and edit out any parts I don't want. Then I choose Convert to MPEG which saves a high-definition mpeg file. When I drag that file to the Toast Video window it is automatically recognized as 16:9. Toast re-encodes to an anamorphic SD 16:9 video.

[scottiep]

The first thing I'd try is going to Toast's custom encoder settings window and manually setting the 16:9 aspect ratio. See if that solves the problem.

 

I've done the same thing you're doing but when I capture an HD channel from my DVR I get a much higher resolution file than 720x404. I use MPEG Streamclip to open the TS stream and edit out any parts I don't want. Then I choose Convert to MPEG which saves a high-definition mpeg file. When I drag that file to the Toast Video window it is automatically recognized as 16:9. Toast re-encodes to an anamorphic SD 16:9 video.

 

 

thanks tsantee.

 

Truthfully, I don't know what the resolution of the capture--I'll have to check Streamclip and see if it'll tell me. I do know that my Mac's Finder says that the MPEG is 720 x 404 and the file size is about the same as the stream capture.

 

I'll tinker with Toast, but with my previous attempts, the thumbnail in Toast is the correct 16:9 and the resulting DVD plays the format correctly on my MacBook, but when I put that DVD in my Panasonic DVD player, it crops the sides off to fit 4:3.

 

I'm wondering if I need to use a different setting in Streamclip--perhaps "demux to unscaled w2v and ac3" or the "headed" one.

 

The steps you described above seem to be exactly what I've done. The DVDs you've created this way play fine on your component DVD player? Mine is probably 4-5 yrs old.

 

thanks again--BTW is that an Austin-Healey in your avatar?

 

scottiep