Converting 25fps (interlaced) to 29.97fps (progressive)

[chef2]

I want to convert 2 PAL DVD's (basketball recordings), that are originally from an NTSC source, to 29.97 progressive for Youtube. Is there a way to do this without jitter/stuttering and WITH smooth playback? Thanks.

[jagabo]

Maybe. Well, as smooth as 30 fps ever is. Upload a 15 second sample. Don't re-encode, just demux. Use DgIndex or Mpg2Cut2. And just so you know what you're getting into, the conversion will require AviSynth.

[chef2]

Thanks for the reply.

I work in Avisynth all the time, so it shouldn't be a problem. I've also posted this sample before (on here or doom9, cant remember) for de-interlace purposes. Just not sure how to get around the jitter.

sample:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/gmoetf

[jagabo]

That's not a really great clip test for testing this but the following didn't look too bad:

Mpeg2Source("sample-1.d2v", CPU=6, Info=3) 
QTGMC()
SRestore(frate=29.97)

You might try playing around with the SRestore parameters:

SRestore(frate=29.97, mode=2, speed=-1, cache=50, thresh=12)

[chef2]

Should I upload something longer? Your script worked pretty well. Still some choppiness, but MUCH better than what I had originally. Thanks, jagabo.

[jagabo]

The 25i video doesn't look like it was from a 30i source. It doesn't have as many blended frames as I would expect to see. And it doesn't seem to have dropped fields either. There's no way they just slowed 30i down to 25i. But the video plays very smoothly at 60 fps (QTGMC().AssumeFPS(60)) though it's obviously too fast. SRestore is used to preferentially remove blended fields and usually works fairly well with 30i to 25i field blended sources. I'm not sure what to make of this video. Maybe Manono will have a better idea.

[sanlyn]

I'm not sure what to make of this video. Maybe Manono will have a better idea.

I'm not sure at all. It's apparently duped from EP tape (there are two layers of head-switching noise). I recall something similar PAL->NTSC->PAL in a thread here a couple years back (hockey game). Also odd to me is that there are no midtones at all, which are usually very prominent in indoor TV sportscasts; all that's left is darks and brights. Its been denoised and lossy encoded so many times it looks like a 'toon. There's bad ripple across the top of the frame that appears to have been there long before its last re-encode. It will never go away. What a shame.

[jagabo]

I recall something similar PAL->NTSC->PAL in a thread here a couple years back (hockey game).

There are many such threads here. Going both ways. PAL->NTSC->PAL, NTSC->PAL->NTSC. Almost all of them end up using SRestore.

Also odd to me is that there are no midtones at all, which are usually very prominent in indoor TV sportscasts; all that's left is darks and brights. Its been denoised and lossy encoded so many times it looks like a 'toon. There's bad ripple across the top of the frame that appears to have been there long before its last re-encode. It will never go away. What a shame.

Yes, it's in very poor shape.

[chef2]

Yeah. If I had it my way, I would have trashed this thing years ago. Thing is, it has some highlights that are very memorable in the sport. Color correcting and throwing on a sharpner are the only viable options I see in making this look even passable for YT.

Appreciate the feedback, though. It's been a pain trying to get this playback looking "normal" again.

[sanlyn]

Color correcting and throwing on a sharpner are the only viable options I see in making this look even passable for YT.

The first thing is a little color correction, but I think you'll see that it will really not be at all easy.

Please: no more sharpening. I think you can see what sharpeners have done to this video already. Why? Simple: there's nothing left to sharpen. Try it. All you'll get is new edge artifacts, nothing else.

There is plenty of trashed video on UTube that looks worse than this. Give it to 'em as ready-made to their specs as you can, or they'll trash it even more.

I gave jagabo's Srestore idea a run. Worked well, of course (why are we not surprised?). Also tried a little ColorYUV and some edge cleaners. Really stubborn halos with all the previous sharpening. So no new sharpeners except a touch of warpsharp as chroma tightener around edges -- not that it could help much. Played OK here at my end. Anyway, for what it's worth.....