VHS -> VDub -> TMPGEnc -> DVD = Settings?

[Xtasy2002]

Hi! I need some help getting the best quality out of my current movie system. I have read a lot of info so far, but there are so many conflicting options! Encode type, bitrate settings, etc. etc. everyone has something different to say. There's so many different options with Vdub & TMPGEnc I don't exactly know where to start. The title says it all. I take VHS tapes through Virtual Dub, frameserved into TMPGEnc then out to DVD. The problem is that output video is slightly blocky & noisy! I know the true masters are here so I wonder if anyone has the best quality settings that I can use.

Here's what I am doing:
* I play VHS tapes through the VCR. The output goes S-Video...

* This streams through Sima Color Corrector Pro (Does quick image enhancement, color, brightness, etc). The output from that goes S-Video...

* Then streams into the PC on Xtasy Everything capture board, S-Video in..

* The Stream is captured to Huffyuv Codec (best quality settings) AVI in Virtual Dub. Resolution is 704x480 for the capture AVI. <-- This is the best capture res for VHS right? If end target is 352x480 DVD.

Now here's where I have a problem. The captured AVI looks GREAT! Like 100% quality of the original VHS source. But obviously the file size is huge & I need to compress the video to mpg. So I frameserv the AVI file out using Vdub to TMPGEnc. Right now I am using the plain NTSC DVD template in TMPGEnc & I leave other settings alone to encode to MPG. An average movie of 100 minutes takes about 2 1/2 hours to encode this way.

Then I take the final MPG files & use Spruce Up to make DVD template, then burn the DVD to DVD-R. The output plays fine on PC & Stand Alone. I get 2 movies per DVD this way! The final MPG that comes out looks good in some parts.. But whenever there is a lot of action going on in the movie there's a ton of little blocks & noise at the source of all the action. When the movie is going slow it looks fine tho. Only high action moments & it seems the more action, the blockier the end video is. I've tested the MPG file itself directly out of TMPGEnc & that's where the problem occurs. So naturally the end product on DVD also looks a little blocky.

What exact settings should I use to get the best quality MPG? I need the output resolution of 352x480 because the end target is a DVD and I'm able to fit 2 VHS movies per DVD using this method instead of 1. I've read that VHS tapes can't offer more than 352x480 resolution anyways & it would be a waste of space to go higher to 720x480. But I would love for all the blockyness to be gone from the end results. If you could share you settings with me I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

Additional Questions: In TMPGEnc will using the High Quality setting in Motion Precision get rid of the blockyness? How much time does this add to encoding?

Someone said when capturing with HuffyUV they had to use De-Interlace filter. What is this, and why use it for this method?

What is Soften Block Noise filter and should I use it. What will it do to the output video?

I don't think filters in Virtual dub will make any difference? Because the original capture.avi in Huffyuv again looks crystal clear. It's just the end result .mpg from TMPGEnc that is blocky. Or would using filters in Virtual Dub somehow improve TMPGEnc during frameserv? Which filters?

My TMPGEnc does not have a full dvd template at 704x480 NTSC. Only NTSC DVD that goes 352x480. How do you encode to full DVD in TMPGEnc?

My TMPGEnc settings are set like this when encoding the MPG from AVI:
DVD/NTSC Template CBR 2000kbps 155min/4.7GB (352x480)

When I click on browse & get the .avi file the Expert settings come up as Interlace, Bottom field first (Field B), 4:3 525 line NTSC 704x480, Video Movie

Then in wizard step 3 the range, clip, noise are not checked. Other
settings are left alone & in advanced the motion search is set to motion estimate search (fast).

^ OK is there anything for me to tweak in the above settings of TMPGEnc to get rid of the blocky/noise or would Vdub filters handle all of it the best? Thx again for any help, there's so many settings I don't know where to start. I'm converting my own personal VHS to DVD archives. I know VHS isn't great quality to begin with but I hope to keep the discs for 100 years and that's why I'm looking to get the highest quality I can.

[Xtasy2002]

So.. No one has good TMPGEnc settings for this purpose?

[Tommyknocker]

His Royal Majesty, King John, gave us this from an excerpt on his guide to codecs

A simple conversion
Virtual Dub
1, Load an AVI into Vdub and select Video > Full processing mode
2, Now select Video > Compression
3, from the codec list on the left select DivX low motion
4, click the configure button an change the value from 910 (Default) to 700 and click OK

The key frames set at every 10 will make things easier to edit or fast forward through the playback, some codec's default are key frames every 300, making it very hard to fast forward, and if the file develops bad frames, jumping to the nearest key frame before you delete is going to chop big chunks out of the movie.

Next is the audio
Audio > Full processing mode
Audio > Compression > Codec
Again from the list on the left select a codec, You will see the matching "DivX" codec that comes with 3.11 Alpha, and you will also see any other codec's you have installed. Choose DivX or any of the MP3 codec's you have.

The bitrate of the audio, works in the same way as your video bitrate in a sence.. the higher the number the better the quality, most people who share MP3 are using around 128

Once you have select video and audio, select SAVE AVI

Your output will now be a DivX video with MP3 audio, you can experiment with the bitrates to see how low a number you can use before the quality drops off. A low number will make very low file size AVI's

Most 90 Minuet movies are 700MB or so using 3.11 Alpha with MP3 audio, some DVD rips will have AC3 audio instead.

This could have been a guide in and of itself. Maybe he will publish it separately to make it easier for newbies to find.

[Xtasy2002]

Heh thx for the help but.. I'm complaining NOW about 'noise & loss' using a lossless capture to mpg. I don't think Divx esp. at 700 bitrate is anywhere close to acceptable quality. Even at 2000 bitrate it's nasty & blocky looking. My videos are crystal clear so far, but there is just bits of noise here & there when the action kicks in. I'd like to find what the best settings or filters are to minimize this.

[Thorn]

Heh, no Divx has nothing to do with DVD mpeg2 quality.

The problem may simply be the bitrate. While the image may look perfect to you is is NOT perfect. There is analog noise that becomes apparent when you encode to a compressed (not lossless) format and the encoder starts to try to accurately reproduce the noise (since it can't tell the difference between noise and signal). The lower the bitrate, the more the encoder can get overworked. Furthermore, the blockiness often results from not-enough bitrate for a scene with movement.

Most importantly, CBR may be bad choice at low bitrates like 2000. Normally for a DVD 4000 would be a lower-end bitrate. While CVD requires less space, it isn't half as much space. Furthermore, VBR has the advantage of allocating more bits to complicated scenes (like ones with movement) and can help significantly, especially when the bitrate is low. So try 2-pass VBR, and experiment with higher bitrates.

The 'soften block noise' is intended for low-bitrate streams. If you keep the bitrate the same you can try this.

[graemee]

Try filters in TMPGENC

You will find the filters in tmpgenc under the MPEG setting -> ADVANCED
They are a series of check boxes, double click a filter's name to load the settings screen. I use the sharpen fillter in tmpgenc to sharpen the picture & use the colour correction filters if the colours are washed. I use ~40 on both settings for the sharpen filter. The noise reduction filter does the bulk of the work for me in removing artifacts and smoothing, 80,3,80 are the settings. (I use the above settings for animation) Experiment with other sources, 12,1,12 is good for video.


OR

Try encodig to MPEG1 and use the SOFTEN BLOCKS @35 under the QUANTIZE MATRIX tab. This removes most artifacts in MPEG1 @1150 bitrate. This is what I think your problem is.

[Xtasy2002]

Thx for the help so far. Here are the steps I will try. I am going to try them 1 at a time to see what improves quality the most:

0) Motion Search Precision set to HIGH instead of fastest.

1) Noise Reduction filter (MPEG, Advanced dbl click for settings).

2) Instead of CBR 2000 then VBR 2 Pass let the encoder decide when to allocate more or less bitrate.