How do I keep the aspect ratio from changing when I import a video ripped from DVD by handbrake into itunes on a Mac.

August 6, 2008 12:00 PM

How do I keep the aspect ratio from changing when I import a video ripped from DVD by handbrake into itunes on a Mac.

I just ripped a Phish video that I bought into h.264 using handbrake. When I play it in quicktime the aspect ration is correct, 631x480. But when I import it into itunes for some reason it squares the video. I have some episodes of the TV show Daria that I imported where the aspect ratio is kept the way it should be. Does anyone know what's going here? Is there a way to fix it? I can't find any video settings for importing.

Thanks

posted by jeffreyclong to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

Looks like something other users have run into...there's a fix in that thread that seems to work for some people:

"Open the affected file with [QuickTime Player]. Open the Show Movie Properties window. Click on the video track. In the scaled size fields input the correct aspect ratios. Uncheck the Preserve Aspect Ratio box. Save the file as a .mov file. Then export the movie using the Movie to Apple TV option. Once completed you should be able to launch it in iTunes and be back in business."

Others say it hasn't helped but it's worth a shot.

Personally, I use VLC for all my playback (since it can change aspect ratios and crop video on the fly, and a lot of junk I rip from various online sources has poor aspect ratio...izing) but that's not a valid solution if your goal is to consolidate your media into iTunes or an iPod.

Is your version of HandBrake up to date? Have you tried the Lite version, which seems to be very iTunes/iPod centered?
posted by bcwinters at 12:19 PM on August 6, 2008

How are you importing the video into iTunes? By itself, iTunes doesn't do anything to the video properties when importing - it only adds the video to its library. What are the playback viewer settings in iTunes set to? In Preferences->Playback next to the checkbox "Play movies and TV shows" there's a drop down menu. What's that set to? If it's set to "in the iTunes window", iTunes might be stretching the video to conform to it's window size. Right-click on the video when playing and choose a different setting.
posted by phrayzee at 1:13 PM on August 6, 2008