DVD Ripper New to the Ripper

[mhammett]

I've ripped 2 videos so far and the maximum resolution it has for options is less than what it reports the source is.

Is it auto cropping empty space, or is it cutting\changing content? If it's getting rid of empty space, great. If it's changing the resolution or aspect ratio of the content, I'll just have to manually set it each time, I guess.

[signals]

If it is an anamorphic transfer, DVDFab will usually pick the correct aspect ratio for the output. You can check it by clicking on the Video Effects button on the Edit screen. The bottom video preview will show you the output. If you need to change the cropping, click on the Crop tab. For best results with most content and to avoid encoding black bars, it should be set to automatic.

[mhammett]

Well, for example, Saving Private Ryan.

This is from the resizing screen:

SAVING_PRIVATE_RYAN: Title(1), Play Time(02:49:18)
Original Frame Resolution (854 x 480)
Original Aspect Ratio (1.78:1)
Cropped Aspect Ratio (1.77:1)
Source Zoom: 56%
Output Zoom: 30%
Output Size: 848 x 478

Another output size option is 800x450.

There also appears to be a black ring around the entire video. Well, I guess not the top.

[mhammett]

On a side note, I see your avatar is of a tower and parabolic dish. What is it that you do?

[signals]

There should have been black bars at the top and bottom to produce the squashing effect you are seeing. There is a known issue with v8.0.0.5 with some content, hopefully it will be corrected soon.

I work with video and data "signals", coax and optical, on cable tv systems. That tower actually has 4 antennas. They are about 470 feet above ground, the dishes are 6' diameter (one mesh, one solid) and are receiving off-air HDTV from about 75 miles away. On the left side are two vertically stacked long-boom 20-element yagis for VHF channel 10 doing the same thing. Also involved in designing optical networks for transporting video and data.

[mhammett]

With Crop on Automatic, size set to zoomed in\out on Source, the highest it has for me is 848x476, which has black bars on both the source and output content. On auto cropping, it had right set to 2.

To get the output to not appear to have any black bars, I have to change left to 3 and bottom to 1. However, when I go back to the resize tab, it has chosen a smaller resolution for me again.

When I reset the resolution back to 854 x 480 (original), I have to increase the right cropping to 9.

My goal is to not disturb the resolution of the actual content and remove all black bars. Am I going in the right direction? Is this issue in 8.0.0.5 just in the automatic selection where I can just manually choose the right numbers, or is it deeper than that?

I did see the other grid dish, but I didn't originally see the yagis. I'm one of those wireless Internet guys that's always mucking up towers with cheap gear. ;-)