How can I restore this footage with free and/or trial software?

[hbenthow]

I have the special two-disc edition of the 1992 "Dracula". I am creating a fanedit of it, and I want to include some of the deleted scenes. The problem is, the deleted scenes are in horrible quality. I realize that I can't get them to look perfect, and that they won't look as good as the movie itself. However, I want them to look as good as they possibly can. The quality of the deleted scenes vary, some are only slightly poor, some are horrible. Here are some snapshots to give you an idea of what's wrong with the video quality:















So does anyone know of any free or free trial software that I can use to restore this footage? And how would I go about restoring it (I've never restored any video before). How good do you think I would be able to get it to look?

[poisondeathray]

IMO, the biggest problem is the footage looks a bit soft. I think it could benefit from a bit of sharpening, perhaps a light denoise . You might use virtualdub or avisynth for this

There is also a bit a aliasing, but that could be from your method of taking screenshots (your player might be using a bilinear resize, and you didn't post a 1:1 sample)

How does it compare to the main movie? Can you post a sample or screenshots from that

[hbenthow]

How does it compare to the main movie? Can you post a sample or screenshots from that

Here are some snapshots from the main movie:

[poisondeathray]

Yeah... any "restoration" effort is not even going to come close

Maybe if you got a hold of the blu-ray version, there is a chance those deleted scenes were better in quality.

[hbenthow]

Yeah... any "restoration" effort is not even going to come close

Maybe if you got a hold of the blu-ray version, there is a chance those deleted scenes were better in quality.

I've read that the bonus features on the Blu-Ray are in DVD quality.

Anyhow, as I said at first, I want to restore them to look as good as possible, even though they won't look as good as the main movie.

Do virtualdub or avisynth accept MPEG2 files?

[poisondeathray]

Yeah... any "restoration" effort is not even going to come close

Maybe if you got a hold of the blu-ray version, there is a chance those deleted scenes were better in quality.

I've read that the bonus features on the Blu-Ray are in DVD quality.

Well what does that really mean? For example , those screenshots of the extras you posted aren't what I consider "DVD quality". So if they were "DVD quality" they would be much better than what you have now.

Do virtualdub or avisynth accept MPEG2 files?

Vdub can with the mpeg2 plugin. Avisynth is harder to use but gives more control and access to more filters

[hbenthow]

Well what does that really mean? For example , those screenshots of the extras you posted aren't what I consider "DVD quality". So if they were "DVD quality" they would be much better than what you have now.

No, I mean DVD quality as in the exact same quality they were on DVD. There would be no difference. You see, it is very common to use extra features exactly as they were on the DVD in a Blu-Ray, with no improvement.

Vdub can with the mpeg2 plugin. Avisynth is harder to use but gives more control and access to more filters

I just tried to install Avisynth, but I can't even find the program.

[poisondeathray]

No, I mean DVD quality as in the exact same quality they were on DVD. There would be no difference. You see, it is very common to use extra features exactly as they were on the DVD in a Blu-Ray, with no improvement.

Not in my experience. Perhaps on older releases.

Often making your own DVD from the blu-ray is better than the retail DVD itself. I've seen this for many titles, main movie and extras



mpeg2 plugin
http://home.comcast.net/~fcchandler/index.html

[hbenthow]

No, I mean DVD quality as in the exact same quality they were on DVD. There would be no difference. You see, it is very common to use extra features exactly as they were on the DVD in a Blu-Ray, with no improvement.

Not in my experience. Perhaps on older releases.

Often making your own DVD from the blu-ray is better than the retail DVD itself. I've seen this for many titles, main movie and extras



mpeg2 plugin
http://home.comcast.net/~fcchandler/index.html

Well, one website that reviewed the Blu-Ray said:

"We get over thirty minutes of laborious deletions, all of them in 480p that looks so bad that I wouldn't be surprised if they were videotaped off the monitors used in production."


About the main movie, I have heard that using Blu-Ray as a source, then authoring to DVD can create better results, but my computer does not have a Blu-Ray drive, so I cannot rip a Blu-Ray disc.

Thank you for the plugin link.

[manono]

It looks to me like the extras may be widescreen 4:3 while the main movie is 16:9. I've tried this a couple of times myself (adding deleted scenes back to the main movie), and the contrast of the 4:3 (blown up to 16:9) deleted scenes with the 16:9 theatrical version is so jarring that I gave up the idea.

[filmboss80]

Deleted scenes often come from one-off edit workprints. At least these don't have timecode numbers burnt in. The only way to get any kind of match is to degrade the quality of the main movie to the point where it looks as bad as the deleted scenes--and I don't think you want to do that.

[lordsmurf]

Quite a few Blu-ray DVDs that I've worked with use extras that come from VHS or DVD.
Nothing is done to them.

Sometimes the extras are actually WORSE on the Blu-ray, because of poor encoding.

Just rebuild from what's available.