H.263 Dimensions are Wrong

Question

Hi folks. I am implementing a system which translates exported iMovie videos to Flash FLV files for Internet placement. Fun stuff.
I've been having some issues with files not having the right dimensions. I export from iMovie at 320x240. CD_ROM as a quick choice for export, as well as Expert Settings, set to H.263, same resolution. All things fine. I play in QuickTime, and the info window says it's 320x240. I play in VLC Player, and its info window also reports 320x240.
Now, the software that translates (ffmpeg) reports that the source file (my exported file) has dimensions of 352x288. So it has a right black border of 32pixels, and a bottom border of 48 pixels, which is about right to my eyeball.
So the output video is a problem. I'm exporting, as any consumer would, from their iMovie, to 320x240, and it is adding fudge to the video stream.
Will this be fixed in better versions than 3.0.3? Or is this type of output going to remain?
I'm trying to leverage the Mac as a valid business platform. If iMovie exports won't take video footage and export them accordingly, then that is creating a problem for my potential customers that need a surefire way of getting video footage to me. Naturally I would want to push the iMovie platform, as it's as friendly as you can get, and therefore it's a natural for clients to choose, and for me to recommend.
Any advice/comments welcome.
Cheers

Answer 1

Hi there. That's what I thought. So I tested and tested, then posted in the ffmpeg list and got some lovely reply:
| Now, some details. Source file was exported at 320x240. ffmpeg
| reports it as 352x288. Quicktime reports it as 320x240. VLC Player
It is actually 352x288. Quicktime is lying to you. I could have told
you this right away if it were in your original report -- Quicktime
files contain fake dimensions as a 'crop directive' the the player,
allowing part of the video to be hidden. FFmpeg ignores this and gives
you your whole video. You need to crop it if you want it cropped.
| reports it as 320x240. I have asked it to output to 320x240 but the
| sizing is smaller, putting black to the bottom and to the right.
Blame the XXXXXX at Apple or whoever wrote the software that generated
the mov file -- they're the ones who actually encoded 352x288 h263
video and put it in a Quicktime container with a false "320x240" label
on it."
Having exported from iMovie in H.264, the video corrected itself, with the very same instructions that I used for the H.263 file.
Second, that converter won't work. This is a web app that behaves like YouTube, so incoming videos have to be translated on the fly, and I can't hire someone 24/7 to click buttons on this stuff. And like I said, this will do it automatically in the workflow for H.264 files.
I am also making sure that there is a proper workflow as well, as I want to give advice about minimizing the size of exported files while maintaining quality. Having mega MB files to upload will take bandwidth and have users cancelling. Second, Safari already has a 1 minute page timeout, reintroduced with version 3 that I have to code around, so it's already feeling the crunch. Users will need to export some way, and currently H.264 is the only way I can give that advice. And that has audio issues in the web translate.