video dimensions for DVD

[riotcrue]

ok this is more of a video editing problem,

ok in moho i export an animation with 640 X 480 dimension
using quicktime sorenson 3 codec, the file looks pretty good

then import it into adobe premiere into the timeline, then export it as an avi file , with the same dimensions, using divx codec,

then i use an avi to dvd convertor software to make it mpeg, dont know if i could skip this step and do that with premier but i havent figured that out

that software only lets you convert to NTSC (720 X 480) or
PAL (720X 576)

so then i take that mpeg and use the dvd author software "ifoedit"
that makes it into .ifo, bup. and vob. files,

then i takes those and burn them on to a dvd using nero express,

it burns fine but the final result sucks, the video quality is great but the dimensions are stretched or something, it cuts off all sides of the video, if i set my dvd player to wide mode instead of normal(P/S) it looks better but still the bottom is cut off a bit, also normal (L/B) looks ok but sort of looks like wide screen , a little too stretched

any help would be great

[myles]

Don't use 640x480 to start with.
In Moho project settings, use the presets for PAL (768x576 square pixels) or NTSC (720x540 square pixels) instead of 640x480, depending on your local standard, or use the 16:9 versions for widescreen viewing (PAL 16:9 is 1024x576 square pixels, NTSC 16:9 is 960x540).

I assume you are using a Mac, as Windows users would export to AVI directly.

Premiere will probably have some sort of setting to specify exporting the AVI to rectangular (TV-style) pixels at NTSC (720x480) or
PAL (720x576) size.

That should handle the size problem.

Note: depending on the TV, you may always get some edge loss. Analogue TVs almost always have some overscan (the edges of the image are always outside the viewing area), which is why Moho has an NTSC Safe Zones indicator (under the View menu).
Fully digital TVs are less prone to this (there should be no overscan from a fully digital signal, I'm not sure how digital TVs handle an analogue signal).

Although you say the video quality is okay, you may get even better quality by working with lossless codecs:

Try exporting the Quicktime to Animation codec, full quality, instead.
Sorenson may look okay, and would be fine as the final output, but may contain subtle compression artefacts (read quality loss) that may show up when converting to AVI and then to MPEG.

Similarly, try exporting your AVI to the Lagarith or HuffYUV codec (both lossless codecs), or even better Full Frames (Uncompressed) if you have enough disk space.

You might also check the settings of your AVI-to-MPEG converter, particularly things like bitrate. A lower bitrate makes for a smaller file but lower quality.

Regards, Myles.