Making HD footage

[Krisqo]

I doubt I'll get any responses but I'll try. Is there any way to make DVD res footage HD? I've seen a few videos use 720p which probably used a HD source but I wonder if it is possible to do it with a standard Def DVD without loosing too much quality.

[LantisEscudo]

Not really. That would be upscaling, and almost always looks pretty crappy. To do HD AMVs with decent quality, you need to start with an HD source.

[Qyot27]

Without upscaling, your only option is vectorizing each and every frame and then rescaling - which for general use just isn't practical for a regular video stream. Certain vector-based and Photoshop-type 'effects'* could be utilized with stills to fudge the issue by trying to use them to mask the upscaling artifacts, but it's still not a replacement for using truly HD sources (unless you just want to use the vector 'effects' without the fudging, but it would take more work to make them look presentable after doing that).

*What I'm referring to here is brightness weighting. If you just take the weighted sections - which do still resemble the images they were rendered from - then you could do HD videos from SD sources without quality loss, but to make those weights look right you'd have to be mindful of other things in the video. I do plan to use brightness weighting (albeit without the major rescaling bit - the source would already be 720p or 1080p) on a future video, but I still need to get all of the correct source footage first.

Both times I've ever experimented with HD have been with HD-compatible sources, though (high-res doujin scans and the 1600x1200 event CG from Ina Koi!).

[Krisqo]

Without upscaling, your only option is vectorizing each and every frame and then rescaling - which for general use just isn't practical for a regular video stream. Certain vector-based and Photoshop-type 'effects'* could be utilized with stills to fudge the issue by trying to use them to mask the upscaling artifacts, but it's still not a replacement for using truly HD sources (unless you just want to use the vector 'effects' without the fudging, but it would take more work to make them look presentable after doing that).

*What I'm referring to here is brightness weighting. If you just take the weighted sections - which do still resemble the images they were rendered from - then you could do HD videos from SD sources without quality loss, but to make those weights look right you'd have to be mindful of other things in the video. I do plan to use brightness weighting (albeit without the major rescaling bit - the source would already be 720p or 1080p) on a future video, but I still need to get all of the correct source footage first.

Both times I've ever experimented with HD have been with HD-compatible sources, though (high-res doujin scans and the 1600x1200 event CG from Ina Koi!).

I'm bored to the point I might just try that.

[NeoQuixotic]

Making it HD just for the sake of being HD is a waste of space. However, if you are doing effects or composting and want more detail to work with (Skittles comes to mind), then upscaling your footage might be ok. But make sure you are using a very clean source. Also, since YTube does 720p now, you could upscale your footage to 720p (assuming its widescreen) just for a YTube upload to get it higher quality.

[Flusel]

I hardly doubt youtube is 720p (1280x720) now. Actually it does finally SD.

[NeoQuixotic]

No, it actually supports 720p now. It plays H.264 encoded in MP4 with the flash plugin. You can actually encode 720p H.264 MP4s, upload them, and YTube will actually not even convert the original MP4 for HD playback. I read up on it and tested it. Uploaded a file and downloaded it back off YTube, and it was the same file. I followed the settings from this post http://dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p= ... ost1479260.

[Flusel]

But the frame is about 640x360 -- how do I get it played in 720p?

[Flusel]

// where is my edit-function...

found it. You have to watch fullscreen or embed it in your website with a bigger size. 720p which is.