How do I preserve the widescreen ratio when converting???

[GR3G]

This has been driving me crazy!

No matter what iPod converter I use, they all squish the video so it will display on the iPod screen without the black bars.

I personally don't mind the black bars, I want my movies not to be distorted so all the people look like string beans.

Does anyone know of a way to preserve the original aspect ratio when converting my videos???

[marmots]

Took me awhile to figure this one out as well.

For Videora choose a profile like MPEG-4/Movie (0 - 2h). View them in the profile picker and choose one that says 16:9 for Widescreen in the description.

For Nero Recode open the video button on the right after loading the clip to encode. On the crop tab use custom to set the crop values or disable cropping all together. These methods seemed to work for me.

Good Luck.

[JMG]

check my settings at the bottom of my post here:
http://forums.ilounge.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=143005

[JMG]

Here I updated it:

MPEG-4/320x240/768kbps/128kbps for 4:3 aspect ratio videos (TV size)
Video Settings:
Mode: MPEG-4 > CBR
Bitrate: 768 kpbs
Resolution: 320x240
Framerate: Input
Audio Settings:
Bitrate: 160 kbps
Channels: Stereo
Sample Rate: Input


MPEG-4/320x180/768kbps/128kbps for 16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen)
Video Settings:
Mode: MPEG-4 > CBR
Bitrate: 768 kpbs
Resolution: 320x180
Framerate: Input
Audio Settings:
Bitrate: 160 kbps
Channels: Stereo
Sample Rate: Input
Audio Settings:
Bitrate: 160 kbps
Channels: Stereo
Sample Rate: Input

MPEG-4/720x306/768kbps/128kbps - crop input by 66 pixels top and bottom for 2.35:1 (anamorphic widescreen)
Video Settings:
Mode: MPEG-4 > CBR
Bitrate: 768 kpbs
Resolution: 720x306
Framerate: Input
Crop Input Video (By Pixel) Top=66, Bottom=66
Audio Settings:
Bitrate: 160 kbps
Channels: Stereo
Sample Rate: Input
Audio Settings:
Bitrate: 160 kbps
Channels: Stereo
Sample Rate: Input

[GR3G]

Thank you now I can start converting my best DVDs.

[Scott in H-town]

Are you guys satisfied with the 320x180 or 320x240 picture quality?

Once I started using 640x480 (for 4:3) and 640x360 (for 16:9) resolution, I can't go back. It takes up slightly more space, but looks a lot better. The improvement is heavily noted if you ever view on an external monitor or TV.