VCD - can we minimize most blocks in "The Mummy Returns" ope

[vhelp]

KennyC,

as I was saying. . .
Anyhows, I wanted to let you know that I now have (gift)
"The Mummy Returns" and also, would like to try and give
it a shot at helping to reduce the blocks if possible, in
the opening scene. But I don't think that it's going to be easy.

I'm curious... Could you go into detail about how you go
about your process, from DVD to VCD and maybe that will get
things rolling???

I'm banking on that maybe your process is slitely different
than mine and maybe we (and others here) can work on it and
maybe figure out how to reduce it to a minimum! I've ben
working on the same issue - blocks during VCD play.

If you have any further questions for me, please ask!!
Also, maybe we can share the opening scene clip or too and
compare it. I use Morpheus but as you know, it's really
not a user friendly (i mean, you can't) share files directly
BUT, maybe there is another app that can. I've ben messing
around with WinMX for a while. I think that this app will
allow others to see your files in your WinMX share folder.
If this IS true, then maybe we CAN share files in this way
and help each other out (and others here too)

What do you think about this? If you're interested, please
let me know. I'm curious about these blocks you're talking
about and would like to duplicate it on my end here and see
exactly what it is you're looking at!! And go from there!

Click here for WinMX plus it gives you a head start on the
application.

Take it easy!

-vhelp

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: vhelp on 2002-01-06 13:13:55 ]</font>

[bbb]

vhelp,

I ready to go. How do i connect to you via WinMX?

[vhelp]

Hay bbb, ...Happy New Year to ya!

R U having trouble with the fight scene as KennyC is?
I noticed what this person was talking about. ...when all those men are lined up
togeter and bop up and down, etc. It's no wonder the video breaks up into pieces!
But, I really wanted to focus on the exact scene being talked about but this postee
doesn't seem interested. I've made my own discoveries in my attempts, and am
surprised at my results! But, since this person doesn't seem interested, I really
don't see any purpose in forgoing this thread!

bbb, did you click on the WinMX link??? Just do that and at the page, which
happens to give detailed instrucitons on how to use (VERY EASY) and then you
can D/L it. Only 500k I think. In my Netscape, the link is not underlined!! It's in
red and maybe that's why you missed it. Try again!

Let me know, once you have D/L'ed it and then read that webpage. Really. read
it. It will get you up and going real fast.

Ok, I don't know if it will work, as far as being able to D/L a file directly, but I think
it will, but we BOTH have to be on and ready - I think. I'll be standing by!
If all goes well, maybe I'll post the clip (first 2min. of the clip) on WinMX for just
you to D/L and then I'll take it off!! K?

This was strange - - I made one or two replys to posts here, and 4 whatever
the reason, I have to re-enter my user/pass again!! - - Strange!!
ayways, . . . . . . . .

-vhelp

[bbb]

vhelp,

I installed winmx and logged on as bbb right now. What is the name of the 2 min file?

Name it some really unique so I will know it fore sure.

[vhelp]

bbb,

filename is:
"vhelp-3-MummyReturns-(openingFightScene)-010302-02.mpg"

... this is the "widescreen" version.

there is chat, if you can give me your user name or something.
I figure, if that works, then you should be able to D/L any of my files that
I put into my WinMX share folder. - I hope!!

OH, unfortunately, it's 2 minutes long - starts off from
the begining where/at the point where the globes flashes
and text circles it, and then move right into the fight
scene. Very good fight scene for a 1 minute fight though!
and ends where the last guy false (looks like the head) and
the worrier.
For a standard VCD clip, this fight scene is awsome, with
pretty good detail. But, just remember, this is NON-pumped
up VCD with heavy movements and great detailed of small
movement!! So, at 352x240 and 1150 mbits 224k audio, I
think its not so bad - IMO.

Oh, and unfortuanly againk, the clip is 23MB in size. If
you are able to D/L it, I'll and not do anything and will
turn off my mail check!

-vhelp

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: vhelp on 2002-01-05 10:10:33 ]</font>

[bilbogod]

let us know if this works

[baker]

Baker here,
Just wanted to say if we get rid of the blocks on vcds than vcd will become a lot bigger than it is.I mean I ripped the terminator there and the vcd quailty is superb.It looks very sharp, way better than vhs and equal to svhs.The only thing that bugs me is the odd block here and there. So if you guys can fix the blocks it would rise the popularity of vcd. I will now use my guide to rip the opening scene (the link can be found at the bottom of the page) and see how it looks.

Baker,



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: baker on 2002-01-05 10:43:23 ]</font>

[vhelp]

hay Baker,

No affense towards ya pal, but could you try and utilize the
instead of posting those long links - on some browsers like Netscape (I use) they
spread out WAY accross the page and I have to scroll left/right constantly, and
also, on some browsers (mine) I can't copy select like this. This would really
help us ALL out - please, Tanx ie,

your link would like like this:
_________________
For top quailty picture,sound and speed use my Guide

...basicaly, here is how ths URL pairs work:
[u r l=http://mysiteisup.com]GUIDE[/u r l]

I spread the url apart so not to activate it.

Thank you so much!
-vhelp

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: vhelp on 2002-01-05 10:41:54 ]</font>

[baker]

trying out my link.

[vhelp]

baker,

Thank you

Now, I don't have to scroll way to the right and back to read

Ok, after jumping over to your guide (via YOUR link) I pretty
much gave up on it. I can't believe you refuse to shrink thos
images! They're not bad looking, and you can still shrink them down
to size, but just don't use .gif. Instead, use .jpg and set optimizer
level to 60 or less. You'll be able to reduce, ie, "image002.gif" from
a 88k size down to 28k.
Oh, I did this in PainShop pro (loaded one of your .gif files)


Anyways, thank you for your thoughts on VCD. I'm eating my own
words about what I used to say how bad VCD quality is. I've ben
running some tests on my VCD creation process and I am amazed at
the quality, ie, "The Mummy Returns" is spectacular. You would almost
believe you were watching a dvd quality, but without the dvd specs
behind it. Just the quality, visually. But, don't forget, these are dvd
RIPs. My next goal/task is to produce the same quality (or close)
for Satalete captures!!! I did one, for day after x-mas on the 0.1 cent
x-mas special on DirecTV "making of Illegally Blonde", but my
process was a bit redundant, but worked like a charm!! I almost
forgot it was standard, NON-pumped VCD and not my xSVCD!!!
I still prefer my xSVCD (at least for Satalete capturing) As for VCD,
if I change the 352x240 to a 352x480, the quality is pretty much the
same for my xSVCD ( very sharp! ), but I really want to stick to the
standard VCD format, for standard reasons

Well, maybe later on down the road, I'll post a new my thoughts on
VCD. I can admit when I'm wrong, he, he....

Anyways, I have my own theories on some aspects on VCDs and
why they never really took off. And, if I can prove (via good quality sample
clip) "it's all a conspericy thing!!, he, he...."

Ok, so far, no one has ben able to reach my clip via:
* < Morpheus b3d.v2 >
* < WinMX v2.6 >

-vhelp

[bilbogod]

I always thought vcd never took off commercially in the West because it was ridiculously easy to pirate. DVD was supposed to counter this threat.

[baker]

Hello vhelp.

I am sad you gave up on my guide (why did you give up anyway? I sent new images to baldrick and he hasn't uploaded them yet). I tired using it for the start of the mummy returns and it worked ok. It had blocks but was still watchable. I would recommend trying it if you have the time.

Baker.

[d4n13l]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
Ok, after jumping over to your guide (via YOUR link) I pretty much gave up on it. I can't believe you refuse to shrink those images! They're not bad looking, and you can still shrink them down to size, but just don't use .gif. Instead, use .jpg and set optimizer level to 60 or less. You'll be able to reduce, ie, "image002.gif" from a 88k size down to 28k.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>
Those images should only be about ~10Kb as (properly mastered) PNGs and will be crystal clear. The images as they stand will be better of as jpgs, as they look like they have been jpg'ed and then gif'ed - Unrecoverable quality loss and not simple flat colour images anymore. They really do need to be redone, 4 images like that, >400K, dont do any favours. In fact, some people may not even bother to wait for them to download and close the page.
If you want me to do the images for you Baker, send me some zipped (original/new captures) bmps of what images you want done and I will sort them out for you. Private message me if you want.

[baker]

d4n13l, Can u read??? I have already sent the images to baldrick it is just taking him time to upload them.

Baker,

[vhelp]

come come now... no arguing!

the above post was probably made b4 your's was posted or
was just overlooked. I've done this a a few and would
catch myself and revise my post. No name calling or any
insultations on my thread, he, he...

baker, how's the quality in your scene... I was in the
middle of posting a response back to you when I accidently
closed that browers windows - darn!

baker, some questions for you (and maybe others) to
answer:
* are you viewing on a PC or TV
* where exactly in the scene is it that you see the blocks?
* and give me the location of it

I am still trying to find that one app that will allow me
to share my clips (files) with anyone I choose (weather i'm
on 56k or DSL or Cable, etc.) I'm not expecting to share
50mb or more, but just ~10mb or something like that. So,
I'll continue to search for that app. I will share it when
I find it!!

Cineplayer 1.0 plays w/out any blocks (if your encodes were done
correctly for Cineplayer)
So, if you make VCD's via DVD RIPs, then please use the
Cineplay 1.0 version. It really cooks in VCD quality w/out
the blocks. But if you're gonna use PowerDVD, 4get it.
It shows a lot of blocks!

A SPECIAL NOTE 1
on the judging of your VCD final encodes.
When you do this, as I have, I would use PowerDVD (PDVD)
and make my judment on quality based on its play on my PC.
Well, as far as my opinion goes, I found out that I've
ben making a lot of waisted re-encodes cause of all
the clips I would test because I didn't know about the
blocks PDVD shows for VCD clips. I don't know about SVCD
yet. But, I would suspect it's the same, but maybe MPEG-2
is handled differently - I don't know!
But if you really want to test your VCD quality out prior
to burning on CD, and save youself all those many waisted
and long waiting for your CDRW to burn, view them in this
Cineplayer 1.0 app - you'll be happy

A SPECIAL NOTE 2
my above read >>
* where exactly in the scene is it that you see the blocks?
Ok, if you couple this with what I just mentioned about
about Cineplayer 1.0, in addition to juduging quality... You
may notice very small or minor blocks in some scenes when
you view with Cineplayer 1.0, BUT, trust me on this, if you
burn that same clip that you see just a hint of blocks in,
chances are, you WON'T see them on your TV!! Just a thought!




-vhelp

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: vhelp on 2002-01-05 14:02:00 ]</font>

[baker]

Here are the answers to your questions:

* are you viewing on a PC or TV
I tried both of them and the tv looks worse!! (its a 32" phillips 50 hrz).

* where exactly in the scene is it that you see the blocks?
Well the scenes which really show blocks are the high action ones, Eg. when the guy throws the guy across him using the shield.

* and give me the location of it.
Ah,what?? my computer??

[baker]

For sharing files I sudgest using msn messanger, It lets u send files however it may not be that good for your purpose.

Baker,

[vhelp]

baker,

...funny!

anyways, I ment in your DVD counter, so I can duplicate it and focus just on
that. He, he. ... ... ie, [04]:[11]:[18] (for 4th chapter, 11mn 18sec ...I think.
I'm actually looking at my VCD disk still in my DVD player - maybe different
for actuall DVD disk.

That funny about the guy being thrown over w/ shield. I didn't see any
blocks in my clip in this scene! Let me look at it again!
Question, are you being took anal about the blocks? No affense! I mean,

R U LOOKing for blocks, rather than just seeing the movie in a general point
of view, ie, if you had a visitor watching, do you think your visitor would be
cosentrating on fining blocks in HIGH ACTion scenes that would almost for
shure, not notice since they are but a half second before you even think of
actually finding a block?? OR... are the blocks really noticable in the HIGH
ACTion scenes??

leme look again, only this time, I'll be anal about it and REALLY look hard to find
any blocks. . . by right back.

Oh, I envy you for you 32" tv - you bum!!!

-vhelp

[vhelp]

baker,

Ok, here's what I'm gonna do.

I will capture the scene via my capture card!!
The only way to really be sure of such, and produce exactly what is being
displayed on my TV is to capture it as it is and I will take a snapshot of
it from Virtual Dub, not PowerDVD (would only give a false representation
of it's quality)

And, this is what I'll do. I will try and find a frame with blocks in it - unless I'm
wrong, and blocks will show up on every frame!

But, let me try this, and if I am successful at it, I will post HERE via a link to my
webpage.

Does this sound good to you??
Let me know!

-vhelp

[bilbogod]

Ha ha people being anal about blocks... My sentiments entirely!! How often I have read posts referring to things I can't relate to. People who make you feel that VHS is some sort of antiquated dinosaur... I new I had a problem when I found collecting film more enjoyable than watching it

[baker]

Thats a good idea to capture. HOWEVER it won't look as good as the original.

Baker

[vhelp]

Not so!!

I've looking at it right now, and woow!!

it's in .gif format, he, he.... you'll like!!

-vhelp

[vhelp]

Ok,

This is what I have so far.

What I did was use Painshop pro's .gif animation and copied 27 frames.
But after the creation of animation, fileisize is 1.6mb. So, that's not appropriate
for this forum's bandwith.
Another alternative to shareing this is, if you have Serv-U, I might be able to
share it directly with you, BUT, I don't know how to use and I can't seem to
see any of my files anyware - so I don't no what I'm doing here. Anyways,
I have 27 days left till trial ends on this app.

If someone has Serv-U and wants to have a look at the .gif clip I captured from
my Apex ad-1500 of "The Mummy Returns" 's opening fight sequence, where
the worrier flips a figher over w/ his shield, please help me out in sending it
to ya. It's only 1.6MB in size. Maybe I could use to share the same clip with
you (one at a time due to 56k bandwith) - just small 5mb or less .mpg files will
do nicely here.

Anyone? ? ?
Who wants to be the first???

I have filrewall up and running of course.

-vhelp

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: vhelp on 2002-01-05 16:51:59 ]</font>

[baker]

Would u e-mail it to me? Muckians@gofree.indigo.ie

[vhelp]

baker,

Na, Sorry, but that wouldn't help me. No any other way/method of sharing
my clips/files with ya here??

First of all, my origonal goal was to help KennC (or at least try) with his blocks
in his DVD transfer to VCD, "The Mummy Returns", but so far he's pretty much
ignored me or doesn't need any help and so, my goal has become useless, though there are some people
here who obviously has the same issues with the blocks in the opening scene.

But, as far as you getting it via e-mail. No, I'm trying to find a way to share my
clips/files with others here at this great forum, but so far, I haven't found any
good app suggestions from anyone - minues those nasty Ad-ware that get
attached w/ some apps. I'm really not interested in them. Morpheus, though
it's a great app, has ad-ware (to some extent) else I woudn't be getting those
nasty error messages ..."ad...

Right now, I'd like to be able to share some clips with some of you's here, but
I need some guru's out there that know how to share files with others on the
internet.

Are there any gorus out there? ? ? ?

-vhelp

[vhelp]

ok,

here's another app I'm trying out. I think this may be it
ie, i'm D/L'ing an "startrek.mov" file at 4.70k/s from someone's pc.

the D/L app I'm using is called:
* Gnucleus Info < - - - - - can get here
...just wanted to add, you can cancel a D/L and then play
whatever you D/L'ed or drag into Virtualdub and play it,
if it's an avi file - I just tried it and it worked!

It took a little getting use to but it seems to be ok. I'm hoping that once you give it
a directory (share) for others to see, you might be able to finally D/L my clips.

Let me know if you wanna try it. Should you do so, these are the files you can try
that I'm pointing (sharing) at below.

My current sample listing is:
---------------------------------
vhelp-1-The5thElement-(SCENE ZornIsChooking).mpg 'is very good quality.
vhelp-2-The5thElement-(SCENE priestAndAliens).mpg
vhelp-3-MummyReturns-(SCENE openingFight).mpg
vhelp-4-The5thElement-(SCENE divaFight).mpg
vhelp-5-MummyReturns-(SCENE chopedHeadTinyPeopleRunning).mpg
vhelp-6-The5thElement-(SCENE holdingKissing).mpg

-vhelp

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: vhelp on 2002-01-05 20:34:22 ]</font>

[bbb]

vhelp,

I just installed Gnucleus. Which clip do you want me to experiment on?

[vhelp]

bbb,

if you want to give it a quick go, try this file (not mummy returns as it's 24mb)
but try and see if you can D/L this one:

vhelp-2-The5thElement-(SCENE priestAndAliens).mpg

-vhelp

[vhelp]

bbb,

also, drag a few small files into your Gnucleus's shared folder so I can see if I
am able to see it too.

- vhelp

[bbb]

Can you do a search for your own file and find it?

I have not been able to locate your files on winmx or on gnucleus.