High Quality Video - Methods, Suggestions, & Tips

MindBug · Post by **MindBug** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 9:38 pm

Hi everyone,

I am currently working on a new video and I have been running into some frustration with the video footage I am trying to prepare for my video. I am ripping video from the ADV DVD release of Neon Genesis Evangelion that was released around 2001. I am running into several issues with the quality of the video and feel like my head is starting to spin from reading a lot of the different methods presented in guides here on the site.

I wanted to mention a couple of the issues I am running into and see if anyone else can offer any tips or suggestions for how to correct these problems to I can release a really nice, high quality video.

First off I am using the DVD Decryptor, DVD2AVI [had problems with DGIndex after AMVapp caused A LOT of problems on my system] and AVISynth 2.5.6 into VirtualDub to export lossless source clips. So far it seems that all the clips I have output are pretty "good" quality but they are not "GREAT!!". Part of this may be that the animation in NGE is not quite as clear and vivid as newer animes, and also that I have been analyzing the footage way to long, but I also feel there are valid technical issues I am running into.

Here are some of things I have noticed in the video clips:

01. Color seems to be a little bit less vivid than the original DVD footage.

02. Using my AVS script causes "jerky" motion in shots that pan scenery. [Such as scrolling panoramic shots.]

03. I get slightly jagged edges on solid lines [for example the NGE logo in the credits has a little blockyness to it.] Regardless of the field order I go with.

04. Any high motion scenes look terrible with a ghosting effect. It almost looks like when you play PC games on an LCD with a low response time.

05. Some of the jerky footage issues can be corrected by removing the Telecide and Decimate lines from my script but then the footage suffers from very noticeable interlacing issues.

Here is my current AVS script: [Still learning AVISynth scripts, feel free to offer suggestions / changes]

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\MPEG2Dec3.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\Decomb521.dll")
MPEG2Source("C:\AMV01\VOB\DISK03\01.d2v", idct=5)
LanczosResize(640,480)
Telecide(order=0, guide=1, post=4)
Decimate(quality=3)

I wanted to see if anyone could offer suggestions in general, or if they have experience with these particular disks and the settings they used. Also any examples of scripts that people feel work the best or changes I should make to my current scripts to get better results. After following what I have read in multiple guides I am at a loss as to why I am having so many quality issues. I would like to get past this so I could actually start working on my video instead of burning myself out just trying to acquire good footage. Any advice or suggestions is appreciated. Thanks

-MindBug-

Kariudo · Post by **Kariudo** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:06 pm

Are you working with the "old" eva dvd's (I think it's eva renewal) or the "new" eva dvd's (The Platinum version)

If it's the former, then I can't do much...but you don't need those loadplugin lines since those filters are in svisynth's plugins directory (avisynth started to autoload plugins as of version 2.5 IIRC)
If it's the latter, then I might be able to offer some suggestions

Code: Select all

mpeg2Source(d2v="D:\eva\disk1.d2v")
TFM(d2v="D:\eva\disk1.d2v",order=-1,mode=5,PP=7,field=-1,slow=2)
tdecimate(mode=1)
RemoveGrain()
Deen("a3d", 1)
LimitedSharpen()
ConvertToYUY2()
FixBrokenChromaUpsampling()
converttorgb24()

I haven't touched this in a while (there's still probably a few things wrong with this script), and since then I've become a big fan of removegrain() and limitedsharpenfaster() [because vmtoon() didn't work for me for a while]

TFM and TDecimate are part of the TIVTC package (a quick google will get you the site to dl this)
Removegrain() is the plugin with the most involved setup process, but it's worth the trouble imo

The weird thing about this script is the fixbrokenchromaupsampling() line
as pointed out in a thread a while back (page 4 of the avisynth forum, suggested scripts)
I don't use the plugin for its intended use, but it did have the pleasant effect of livening up the color (makes blacks blacker and blues blue-er, etc...)

Qyot27 · Post by **Qyot27** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:29 am

Kariudo wrote:Are you working with the "old" eva dvd's (I think it's eva renewal) or the "new" eva dvd's (The Platinum version)

Platinum=Renewal minus the movies because ADV doesn't have the rights to the full series; in general usage Renewal is the Japanese name for the remasters (not to mention that the actual Japanese Renewal R2s don't need IVTC-ing - they can be force-filmed). And they already mentioned the DVDs were from the 2001 release - meaning, the piss-poor quality ones. Even still, there shouldn't be anything 'wrong' using the script suggested on it. The jerkiness is a result of the IVTC being run, and while TFM may not be able to totally get rid of jerkiness, it should do a better job of restoring the frames, thus reducing the noticability of jerky pans.

MindBug · Post by **MindBug** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:58 pm

Cool, thank you so much for the input. I have fixed the problems as much as possible based on the input you both provided. I was able to get the "Platinum" version of NGE from my sister, and I am now using the script Kariudo mentioned with the exception of the RemoveGrain() argument which was crashing VirtualDub on me.

The quality is much, MUCH BETTER! Thanks again guys. One other question I did have was in my original script I was using the LanczosResize(640,480) option. Was this unneeded? The reason I ask is when I play my VOBs through PowerDVD it says the footage is 720x480 [4:3] so on my widescreen monitor [Acer 22" widescreen] I have 2 black bars on the side so the picture itself looks 4:3. When I export a source clip using the new script without the LanczosResize and check the output I still have the black bars but they are smaller as though the aspect ratio has changed.

What I am wondering is do I need to worry about this upfront or is it handled in post processing options most of the time. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but it seems AMV creation has become extremely technical in the past 5 years. I think once I get this last issue squared away I will be ready to start preparing my source footage. Thanks again for all the help so far! ^_^

-MindBug-

Kariudo · Post by **Kariudo** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:16 am

at the risk of making a fool of myself (like I do on occasion) I'll direct you to this page of the new eadfag guide which should answer your question, and then some

Qyot27 · Post by **Qyot27** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:35 am

MindBug wrote:The quality is much, MUCH BETTER! Thanks again guys. One other question I did have was in my original script I was using the LanczosResize(640,480) option. Was this unneeded? The reason I ask is when I play my VOBs through PowerDVD it says the footage is 720x480 [4:3] so on my widescreen monitor [Acer 22" widescreen] I have 2 black bars on the side so the picture itself looks 4:3. When I export a source clip using the new script without the LanczosResize and check the output I still have the black bars but they are smaller as though the aspect ratio has changed.

Leaving out the LanczosResize, the footage will then be 720x480, which is not 4:3, it's 3:2. Normally, however, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 files that are 720x480 have a 4:3 aspect flag so that when played back fullscreen (or at all times with Media Player Classic) it displays as either 640x480 or another 4:3 ratio. The difference in pillarboxing you saw is a result of the video being an extra 80 pixels wide.

As for whether it was unnecessary, that's a matter of opinion as to if it's better to correct the size before or after editing. Personally, I do it as needed for what I'm working with. On most of my standalone videos I leave it at 720x480 (and a 0.9 pixel ratio) since I edit for DVD primarily and simply do other encodes after-the-fact. The only exception there is if the source footage is anamorphic 16:9, which I'll correct beforehand to 848x480 (and use the square pixels setting in Premiere). However, on projects where the aspect ratios are mixed or it's composed of many different shorts, I resize to 640x480 (and square pixels) before editing. Really, editing for disc media is the only compelling reason not to resize prior to editing, but in the long run even resizing before won't hurt anything if you are editing for DVD, as long as you use high-precision resizing like Lanczos. If there are going to be overlayed effects, though, it would be better to resize beforehand so that everything is in the right ratio and the effects won't look squished when putting it on DVD.

MindBug · Post by **MindBug** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:45 pm

Cool thanks again for the info. I really appreciate the helpful feedback you both have provided. I will get started on preparing my source footage tonight.

I have had an idea that I think is pretty good for a video and I have really wanted to get past all this so I could focus on the creative side of my video. Keep up the good work! ^_^