I tried converting a video twice, in 4:3 and 16:9 and it always ends up with a flat image like this:



Here's the original video image:


What am I doing wrong?

Hi there,

Without a full conversion log, it's impossible to guess what happened.

1/28/2007 5:33:11 PM info ********** Report session closed ***********
1/28/2007 5:08:28 PM info --------------Encoding end--------------
1/28/2007 5:03:56 PM info Compatible media types : DVD-R, DVD-RW Seq., DVD-RW RO, DVDRAM, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD-R, CD-RW, DL DVD+R
1/28/2007 5:03:56 PM info New Drive selected : 1:1:0 - HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4163B A106 [F] (Ide)
1/28/2007 5:03:56 PM info Conversion completed in 01:19:38
1/28/2007 5:03:40 PM info ------------Converting Menu--------------
1/28/2007 5:03:40 PM warning P-SDT buffer Underflow 1 times, 305 bytes peak
1/28/2007 5:03:40 PM warning 183 frames dropped
1/28/2007 5:03:40 PM warning 46162 frames duplicated
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Stream #1 Sync. delay : 0.00 ms
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Stream #0 Sync. delay : 24.00 ms
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Output Stream#1 - Video: mpeg2video, yuv420p, 720x480, q=1-31, 5181 kb/s
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Output Stream#0 - Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, 192 kb/s
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Video Stream #1 framerate : 29.97 Fps (source 29.97 Fps), no pulldown
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Padded source image : Left 0, Top 96, Right 0, Bottom 96
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM warning Unknown input Stream #2 - Will be discarded
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM warning Source frame rate is too low to allow pulldown conversion.Frame duplication will be used.
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Video source original frame rate: 12.00
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info NTSC 29.97 FPS output format set automatically
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Widescreen (16:9) set automatically
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Video bitrate 0/5181/8308 Kbps (min/avg/max)
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Converting "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\abc.rmvb"
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info ----------------Title #1----------------
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Project size 4.3 Gb. (151 Mb. audio - 4.15 Gb. video)
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM warning Stream #2 (data): skipped (codec type 2)
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Stream #2 - Data: 0x0000
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Stream #1 - Video: Real Video 10, yuv420p, 608x344, 451 kb/s
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Stream #0 - Audio: cook, 44100 Hz, stereo, 44 kb/s
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info 3 Stream(s) found - est. duration 01:50:03.778
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Opening file "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\abc.rmvb"
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info [ ] Don't fix audio gaps
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info [ ] Engine Log
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info Encoder quality: 100%
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info --------------Encoding begin--------------
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info --------------Menu settings end--------------
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info [X] Sequential playback
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info [ ] Loop playback
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info [ ] Auto start playback
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info [X] Menu
1/28/2007 3:44:18 PM info --------------Menu settings begin--------------
1/28/2007 3:44:17 PM info --------------Default burn settings end--------------
1/28/2007 3:44:17 PM info Default speed selected: 4x
1/28/2007 3:44:17 PM info Compatible media types : DVD-R, DVD-RW Seq., DVD-RW RO, DVDRAM, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD-R, CD-RW, DL DVD+R
1/28/2007 3:44:17 PM info New Drive selected : 1:1:0 - HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4163B A106 [F] (Ide)
1/28/2007 3:44:17 PM info [ ] Delete files after burn complete
1/28/2007 3:44:17 PM info [ ] Don't eject after burn complete
1/28/2007 3:44:17 PM info [X] Prefer SAO for DVD-R
1/28/2007 3:44:17 PM info [ ] Include originals
1/28/2007 3:44:17 PM info [X] Burn result to DVD
1/28/2007 3:44:17 PM info --------------Default burn settings begin--------------

Where did you take those pictures from?
Computer screen or TV?

Computer, but it looks like that on TV too.

On computer you can stretch image as you like, so it is not reliable to check it on computer.
If you get that same on TV, check TV settings. If it looks like that even on 16:9 mode, then your original is badly encoded.

So is it the video file's problem?

Yes, your original has black bars on top and bottom.
Removing them should give proper picture.
Forcing 4:3 might give correct AR but still there would be bars if you don't remove them.

Hello again, I am having the same problem with another RMVB file. This time, the original video doesn't have black bars on top and bottom. Is it just that ConvertXtoDVD has problems with RMVB files?

Yes it is, and we're working on it....

It'll be solved on the next ConvertXToDVD release

Paranoid, where did you get this movie file ?