.avi Issues

[Porygon_Wut]

I went through all the correct steps to create .avi files from DVD, but for some reason now that my .avi file is ready, when I watch it, it's all grainy and low-quality. It was fine when it was still a .avs file, but it's been seriously downgraded now that it has turned into a .avs. It's completely unusable. I checked on a different computer to make sure it wasn't just my screen, and it worked fine. But then I watched it on another laptop to make sure and it WAS grainy. I have no idea what's causing this or what I can do. Is there some script I can put into AvsPmod to make sure this doesn't happen? I didn't think I needed one, though.

[Porygon_Wut]

Ok, so according to the technical guide on this site, this is apparently normal. I don't really understand how I'm supposed to fix it, though. Am I supposed to edit my AMV in this poor quality and fix it afterwards in post-production (which seems to be what the guide is saying I should do), or should I run the videos through AvsPmod and apply the filters beforehand? However, I already have them as .avi files. How can I do that? Or should I have applied the filters before they became .avi files? I am very confused.

[l33tmeatwad]

What codec did you use too encode the footage? Also, could you post your script? Need a few more details aside from "it didn't look good", lol...feel free to hit me up on Skype for help if you need.

[Porygon_Wut]

The script I used was

LoadPlugin("C:\Users\Spencer\Desktop\Desktop Items\dgmpgdec158\DGDecode.dll")
MPEG2Source("C:\Anime\MainMovie\FATEZERO_VOL1_DISC1\01 The Summoning of Heroes.d2v", cpu=6)
Crop(2,0,-2,0)
Spline36Resize(848, 480)

As you can see in the script, it's a DVD of Fate/Zero. The quality was quite high by DVD standards so no deinterlacing or anything else was required to make it look right. Once it was turned into a .avi file, though, it had a whole bunch of artifacts, namely ringing, blocking, and some general noise and graininess. I think there was also some banding.

I'm not 100% sure what codec I used. I ripped the DVDs with DVDFab, I used DGIndex to index them, AvsPmod to create the .avs files and VirtualDub to create the .avi files. I also downloaded the AMVapp package included in the website's technical guide.

Thank you for your response!

[l33tmeatwad]

Well your first problem is you used "cpu=6" in mpeg2source, which is really an option to enable deblocking at it's strongest setting and that will HEAVILY degrade the quality. I'm not sure why they name the deblock setting CPU, but that that is basically what it is. I can't say never, but you should almost always NOT use that setting at all, especially with a newer DVD source. Seems odd you aren't doing any deinterlacing as well, could you open your d2v file in notepad and copy/paste the first 15 lines to this thread?

[Porygon_Wut]

The first 15 (or 16) lines are the following:

DGIndexProjectFile16
5
C:\Anime\MainMovie\FATEZERO_VOL1_DISC1\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_1.VOB
C:\Anime\MainMovie\FATEZERO_VOL1_DISC1\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_2.VOB
C:\Anime\MainMovie\FATEZERO_VOL1_DISC1\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_3.VOB
C:\Anime\MainMovie\FATEZERO_VOL1_DISC1\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_4.VOB
C:\Anime\MainMovie\FATEZERO_VOL1_DISC1\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_5.VOB

Stream_Type=1
MPEG_Type=2
iDCT_Algorithm=6
YUVRGB_Scale=1
Luminance_Filter=0,0
Clipping=0,0,0,0
Aspect_Ratio=16:9
Picture_Size=720x480

As for the codec I used, I think I was SUPPOSED to have used UtVideo RGB VCM, but that wasn't an option when I opened VirtualDub. I'll see if I can download it. Or should I get lagarith? As far as changing the cpu, should I set it to cpu=4 instead?

[l33tmeatwad]

Sorry, I forgot it might be multiple files, could you tell me these lines as well:

Field_Operation=
Frame_Rate=

[Scintilla]

Ok, so according to the technical guide on this site, this is apparently normal. I don't really understand how I'm supposed to fix it, though. Am I supposed to edit my AMV in this poor quality and fix it afterwards in post-production (which seems to be what the guide is saying I should do), ...

It sounds like you're trying to use the "bait-and-switch" method, in which case, yes, this is perfectly normal. You edit the AMVs with the low-quality AVIs for speed; then just before your final render, switch out the AVIs in your project for the original AVISynth scripts -- which you said were fine -- so that you get the best quality possible when it counts.

(... though I'm not sure why it would suggest UtVideo for such a purpose; I'm used to seeing MJPEG recommended, as it's much faster and takes up much less space.)

[Porygon_Wut]

Ok, so according to the technical guide on this site, this is apparently normal. I don't really understand how I'm supposed to fix it, though. Am I supposed to edit my AMV in this poor quality and fix it afterwards in post-production (which seems to be what the guide is saying I should do), ...

It sounds like you're trying to use the "bait-and-switch" method, in which case, yes, this is perfectly normal. You edit the AMVs with the low-quality AVIs for speed; then just before your final render, switch out the AVIs in your project for the original AVISynth scripts -- which you said were fine -- so that you get the best quality possible when it counts.

(... though I'm not sure why it would suggest UtVideo for such a purpose; I'm used to seeing MJPEG recommended, as it's much faster and takes up much less space.)

OK, so, how would one switch out the AVIs at the end? I was under the impression that once an AMV was edited, it was stuck in the format with which you edited.
And, would you recommend this bait-and-switch method, or should I do the other method, wherein I redo it with a different cpu= setting, and a proper codec in VirtualDub?

[l33tmeatwad]

T also downloaded the AMVapp package included in the website's technical guide.

I overlooked this yesterday...ALL of that software is out of date and I recommend that you update them (or as I mentioned before, get AMVpack instead as it is basically an updated version of the pack they have on this site). If you don't want to install AMVpack I recommend you get updated verisons of the following:

AviSynth 2.6 (More stable than 2.5.8)
VirtualDub 1.10.4
FFmpegSource
Ut Video Codec Suite 15.2.0

The rest of your plugins probably need updating too, but ffms2 is the most important one to keep up to date.

OK, so, how would one switch out the AVIs at the end? I was under the impression that once an AMV was edited, it was stuck in the format with which you edited.

If you create low quality AVIs at the correct resolution using something like DivX or XviD you could swap it out for a lossless Ut Codec encoded AVI later, but I personally don't see the point unless you end up not using some episodes it could save you SOME hard drive space, but it also means you have to encode the AVIs twice. Swapping out at the end is as simple as overwriting the AVIs you edited with. If you have the hard drive space for the Ut encoded AVIs I don't recommend even bothering with bait and switch as decoding of them will actually slightly slow down the process (although you may not even notice a difference).

And, would you recommend this bait-and-switch method, or should I do the other method, wherein I redo it with a different cpu= setting, and a proper codec in VirtualDub?

The CPU setting should be at 0 no matter what you do to fix the quality, as for how you go about editing, either way is fine, but as I mentioned before, if you have the hard drive space just go ahead and work with the lossless AVI files instead as it will save you some time.

Also, if you could let me know what these values are in the D2V file:
Field_Operation=
Frame_Rate=