How can I get my videos to be widescreen in iDVD?

[Virgo]

I have a series of videos that are all widescreen 16:9. They are .avi files. When I open the files in QuickTime Player, it squishes the videos from the sides into 4:3 form. When I open the files in VLC player, it does show them in the correct 16:9 widescreen proportion.

My problem is, I am trying to create a DVD from these files using iDVD (version 7.1.1) on a MacBook Pro. The iDVD project is set to the 16:9 widescreen setting. Yet when I try to create the project, it squishes the videos into the 4:3 format. PLEASE help, I have no idea how to correct this. Thanks.

 

[Soura2112]

Strange

That's strange. My camcorders shoot 16:9 video. You may want to check your QT settings, but most likely not it.
When I use iDVD it captures the 16:9, sometimes you need to make sure the menu you choose is 16:9 since not all are 16:9, mainly the older menus. Try bringing the movie into iMovie after all your editing (I use FC), see if it's 16:9 in iMovie then export it to iDVD. You won't need to edit in iMovie, so it's just one more step.
Are you using an editing program? If not, or don't want to use editing I would just try a sample, 1 min. video, and try the iMovie to to iDVD process. I have accidentally in the past chose 4:3, because of the menus or due to making a tiny change in iDVD, if the iDVD preview is in 16:9 or 4:3 then it will also burn that way. So just make sure everything is 16:9 pre burn.
Wish I could help more, maybe some more info, such as your import method, camera you use, and editing software may help us discover what's wrong.
If it's smashed up to 4:3 in QT and imported that way to iDVD will just use your import, I don't think iDVD could fix the way the video is imported.

 

[Soura2112]

Curious

I'm curious if you had any luck?

I hope everything is burned correctly cause that seemed odd.

 

[Virgo]

Thanks for your reply. They are actually videos from an old tv show I downloaded, I just wanted to show it to my mom on her HDTV.

I ended up burning the disc so that I could see how it would show up on the TV and use the TV settings to widen it if necessary. BUT, when I tried to load it into the DVD player, I got an error message saying the disc wasn't playable... even though the player manual says it reads DVD+R's.. sigh.

I just ended up playing the video on my computer and connecting via MiniDisplay+HDMI cable.

 

[Dave Braine]

I ended up burning the disc so that I could see how it would show up on the TV and use the TV settings to widen it if necessary. BUT, when I tried to load it into the DVD player, I got an error message saying the disc wasn't playable

Did you burn via iDVD? Some dvd players won't play homemade dvds anyway, you may have to experiment with different brands of dvd.

 

[Virgo]

Did you burn via iDVD? Some dvd players won't play homemade dvds anyway, you may have to experiment with different brands of dvd.

Yeah, I burned within iDVD. I used a DVD+R, which I was skeptical about at first, but my DVD player manual does list it as a playable type. I don't know why it didn't work. I might try to buy DVD-R's next time I need to make one, or maybe just use a different program. *shrug*