RE: Converting PAL 720 x 576 DVD files to .AVI

Hello,
I recently bought 'AVS Video Converter 5.5' so that I could convert my home DVD files to .AVI for editing in 'Premiere Pro 2.0' but I continue to have problems with the videos aspect.

IN AVS VIDEO CONVERTER
The 'Advanced-->File Information-->Input File' column displays the Image Width and Height in my .IFO files as 720 x 576 and the Video Aspect as 4:3.
However the 'Output File' column displays the Image Width and Height as 720 x 536, or 720 x 540 (depending on codec used).
This is despite the 'AVI Profile Editor-->FrameSize' being set to Original(The original aspect of the input file).
Changing the 'AVI Profile Editor-->FrameSize' to 720 x 576 corrects this BUT the 'Video Aspect' (Advanced-->Aspect Correction) has the following effect on the output file:

Original - Image is not tall enough to fill the height, leaving black bars above and below the video. Changing the 'Crop Scale' to 100 expands the image, removing the black bars but cuts off the left and right edge of the video.

No correction - Image becomes distorted as it is stretched vertically to fit.

PAR?
I am unable to find any menu that displays the pixel aspect ratio (PAR) which I would like to remain at 0.094 for viewing on a Television set when editing is complete. But the conversion process changes the pixel shape to square.
If this is just a codec problem, please point me to the correct codec for converting .IFO files to .AVI without changing the PAR(0.094), Frame Size(720 x 576) and Video Aspect(4:3).

Video Codecs Tried:
Microsoft Video 1
Panasonic DV
MPEG 4
H.264
Uncompressed

Thank YOU

P.S. 'AVS Video Converter 5.5' recieves an error when ever I try to convert any exported .AVI file from 'Premiere Pro 2.0', regardless of what I'm trying to convert it to.

See if the microsoft DV codec in the list. It is native to windows but maybe hidden because you have the Panasonic DV codec installed or the software is not compatible with type 2 DV. If you have a camcorder test this by capturing some DV to premiere and movie maker(choose DV-AVI in MM) and then see if this is accepted by the software.

Also try importing a clip to premiere, right click it, interpret footage, choose the aspect you require, and see how it looks.

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Edius Pro 4 Broadcast, Edius DVX, ADVC300 -- PremPro 2.0, Matrox RT X100