How do I save my animation as a high rez movie? I want to put it on DVD.
I have 3ivx, but I have no idea how to use it, or even if i can use it, since it is not a purchased version, just a free download from the net.
A (very) quick search on the net shows that you should set the SizeX to 720 and the SizeY to 480 if you’re american (NTSC format) or 576 if you’re european or australian (PAL format).
You might need to tweak the aspect ratio a little to get it to look right.
To use DivX, you need to use 2.25 or 2.26 and choose “AVI Codec” from the list of output formats, then choose DivX in the dialog box that then appears.
A (very) quick search on the net shows that you should set the SizeX to 720 and the SizeY to 480 if you’re american (NTSC format) or 576 if you’re european or australian (PAL format).
You might need to tweak the aspect ratio a little to get it to look right.
Those dimensions are right, but TV screens don’t have square pixels - i.e. the aspect ratio isn’t 1:1. But Blender has a button in the display buttons called “PAL” which sets the image size and aspect ratio right, as well as the framerate right (25 frames per second). Blender 2.26 also has an extra button for NTSC - its aspectX is 10 and aspectY is 11 - and the framerate is 30 frames per second. The NTSC button sets it for you.
To double the framerate on your TV (to make the animation look really smooth), have the “fields” button on. This will make the animation look a bit distorted on your computer but on the TV it won’t have that distortion. Sometimes you might have the field order the wrong way around and it looks bad on your TV. You can reverse the field order in Blender using “Odd” (sometimes only “dd” is shown). Don’t have “x” selected next to the “Field” button.
If you want to have a DVD burner (which is needed to make DVD’s) then you probably would have gotten basic movie-making software with it. Just use the software to import a rendered AVI and burn it as a movie. Field rendering mightn’t work on the software though.
VCD or SVCD (super VCD), etc, can be burnt using a CD burner though, and played back on a normal DVD player - but most of the formats are low resolution or if they are high resolution, it becomes a lot rarer for DVD players to support it. (BTW, apparently the Playstation 2 doesn’t support VCD)
DVDR Help.com has lots of information and forums about this - the people in those forums would be the people to ask - after you’ve looked at that site a bit.
Fantastic!
I really appreciate your advice. I’m off to Blender.
Thanx.