VHS Cleanup, have i done enorgh?

[Asesinato]

Ive found a list of filters to use in here in a previous post about this, and it has helped, but i would like more, but is that possible???

ive posted screen dumps of film and off the filters ive used... anyone have a idear for improvement??+

[Asesinato]

Hope there is virtualdub wizard or a vhs cleanup wizard with good ideers

[2Bdecided]

If those are before and after shots, I'm sorry, but I think you've made it worse. The horrible clipping is now even worse. See those areas of bright flat colour where all the detail (and even all the noise) has gone?

While it's probably clipped on tape, it's become even more clipped during capture, and even more clipped again when you've processed it.

I think you need to fix the levels before capturing - and/or be more careful with YUV>RGB conversion levels.

Cheers,
David.

[Asesinato]

Im a big n00b at this what do you mean ???

[Asesinato]

how do i fix the levels before capturing? And what are the levels
ive used DVD Showbiz 2 to capture the movie from VHS, is that where it when wrong?

[themaster1]

send a video sample Asesinato

[Asesinato]

here are the raw captured clip and the clip after virtueldub filters has been added

[Asesinato]

Is that the files you need or something els?

[jman98]

Im a big n00b at this what do you mean ???

I posted a couple of weeks asking for some AviSynth help. At least twice I basically had to say "My understanding of what I am doing is poor and probably wrong. That's why I need help." to people who kept expressing puzzlement at a specific step in my script, but I did get some excellent help in the end. Hang in there.

[2Bdecided]

This is what you have...
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?s4qh3h3r7jimoe4

...this is about as good as that will get...
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?ys51si8o1fts6sy


Your capture device has completed misunderstood this old video and wrecked it. It's made it way too bright - and everything that was above maybe 75% brightness in the original (about the level of human skin tones in a properly shot video), has been converted to 110% brightness in your captured version. So all the details in the face have been converted into a single very bright colour. That's what "wrong levels" means. All the information in the brightest part of the original video has been completely lost.

You need to re-capture using something else. You can't do anything useful with this capture. It's hopeless.

btw (apart from the terrible capture) this doesn't look too bad for a home movies from the late 1970s/early 1980s (?). Capture it properly, and the colours can be corrected, the noise can be removed etc and I bet it'll look pretty good (for the age).

Cheers,
David.

[Asesinato]

Should i try to cap with another program then showbiz dvd 2???
Maybe directly in virtualdub?

[Asesinato]

Well scratsh that, virtualdub is a no go... It can find the device but there is no picture, and when i say capture vid it says, Cant start capture device, and Showbizz 2 still has picture from device so it is started... What els can i use?? I have alot of programs here at my work like pinaccle and element, sony vegas pro 9.... But dont know what is best?

[2Bdecided]

I don't think it's your software - it looks like your capturing hardware. What are you using?

Cheers,
David.

[Asesinato]

USB to Component stick...

Can you recommend a capture program ? Just used Showbiz DVD 2 because it came along

[sanlyn]

[Attachment 11679 - Click to enlarge]

Are these the only filters you used? None of the filters shown here are color correction filters (the MSU plugin is a special-effects filter). Try ColorMill and VirtualDub gradation curves.

[2Bdecided]

USB to Component stick...

That's not a helpful answer - what manufacturer? What model? What driver version? What OS? These are details that would help to diagnose the cause of the problem better.

Can you recommend a capture program ? Just used Showbiz DVD 2 because it came along

It's hard to recommend software when you haven't said what the hardware is, and the software isn't the problem

Cheers,
David.

[2Bdecided]

Try ColorMill and VirtualDub gradation curves.

I wouldn't worry about that yet - he hasn't captured anything worth restoring yet!

I think he might need AVIsynth for denoising and drop out compensation, and ideally probably a decent NLE with scopes to fix the colours scene-by-scene. Though you could use VirtualDUB plugins too, I agree.

Still, first things first, eh? Capture the tape without chopping off half the signal!

Cheers,
David.

[sanlyn]

Try ColorMill and VirtualDub gradation curves.

I wouldn't worry about that yet - he hasn't captured anything worth restoring yet!

True. I was just curious.

[Asesinato]

Its a Office One USB 2.0 Videocapture from Arcsoft

[Asesinato]

Im looking at a Hauppauge WinTV PVR 500 card, will that improve anything?

[Asesinato]

Guy??? Are i gone again??

[Asesinato]

Can also get pvr 150
Which is Best???

[Asesinato]

I have now sent for the pvr-500 so ill get back with the new cap

[2Bdecided]

Since you've already ordered it (are you in a hurry? ) what you need to do Asesinato, if the new capture card doesn't give you the results you want straight out of the box, is to start a new thread with a title that describes the problem - e.g. "help - capturing VHS with strange levels through PVR-500" or something.

I bet what you'll need is a proc amp. Or a TBC with proc-amp control built-in. Or (cheapest solution!) to find access to proc amp style controls in the driver of your new capture card, if it has them. You might ideally need a TBC anyway to stop the video from wobbling, but see what your new capture card does first.

Cheers,
David.

[jagabo]

The problem could be in the VCR too. Try a different VCR. Even worse, it could be on the tapes. Are these second or third generation copies? If so, get the original tapes if you can.

Another thing to try: adjust the video proc amp settings (brightness, contrast, hue, saturation) in your capture software. You might be able to get the levels down to a reasonable level.

If you are stuck with these caps, the very first thing you should do in VirtualDub is pull the brightness down 8 percent with the Brightness/Contrast filter. That filter can work in YUV and pulling down the brightness there will bring out a little more detail at the high end. Then you can start working on further fixes. Brightness -8 percent:



Notice how there's a little more detail on the cheekbone.