images getting squished - not sure why - any ideas?
 

Using an inexpensive 16:9 camcorder, I am getting this issue :

http://www.freepicsupload.com/pics/p...ey in arch.jpg
This is what the volleyball looks like in Arch after rendering it to mpeg. I have set the project using the actual avi file as well. When I render it out in Vegas, it gets squished.

http://www.freepicsupload.com/pics/p...y in vegas.jpg
This is the image when I am editing and scrubbing - it looks great. But this is only when I am editing.

Now, I haven't tried it out as a DVD on a play yet, but since it takes about 3.5 hours to render this out, I really didn't want to waste time on it.

The graphic is an overlay done in photoshop.

Any ideas why the one RENDERED is stretched and the one in VEGAS pre-render is not?
I am assuming that when I get to a TV, it will put black bars in, which will only end up stretching it more...

David,

Make sure that when you render from Vegas to choose the "DV Architect NTSC widescreen videostream" Mpeg-2 template. Then in DVD Architect choose 16:9 project. I'm assuming your editing in Vegas using a 16:9 template.

Good luck, Marc

I select the project properties using the PROPERTIES settings > and click on the little folder that lets me pick the AVI and it sets the project settings using that information from the avi.

Yes, I did use DV Architech NTSC widescreen - mpeg-2 which is set to 16:9.

I just import the MPEG into the project...and since you mentioned it, I did try to set it to 16:9 - it screws up my background graphics, but does not change the VIDEO at all. Only the graphics I use for the DVD arch background get stretched out, but the video MPEG does not.

Should I set the video in VEGAS to maintain aspect ratio off or on? Maybe that is the issue?

You need to go to your graphics and set the proper aspect ratio if you haven't already.

on that graphic (or any for that matter) you might need to change the aspect ration. Click on the graphic, goto PROPERTIES goto Match spect Ratio and uncheck it. Click OK see if that does it for you.

Widescreen graphics for NTSC widescreen need to be 853X480. When your little camcorder records in 16:9, it does so with the normal 720x480 DV resolution. What changes, and what you must make sure of throughout your project, is the horizontal pixel aspect ratio (PAR). When you select a widescreen template, you inform the software that your video assets have been recorded in 16:9 and the software then elongates the horizontal pixels to make the video look like it should. Graphics though, are done with square pixels only, hence the need to change the horizontal resolution to 853 from 720 to arrive at 16:9 shaped graphics elements.

When you make your DVD and tell it you have a widescreen project, it will insert a 'flag' bit which tells the player that your video is widescreen. Depending on the DVD player's menu settings for DISPLAY, it will letterbox or pan and scan for a 4:3 display or, do nothing if you have a 16:9 display.

Hope this helps,

-gb-

Thank you for the information. I am going to leave my settings as they are and not render to widescreen - and yes it does help.
I will also keep in mind the extra pixels for the graphics if I do render to widescreen next time. That is a good tip.