Batman 1966-1968 TV Series Restoration Project

[El Heggunte]

There's several reasons why uploading to Mega is better than any other file sharing site or uploading directly to this forum

I see. THEY have hired you alright

http://scriptogr.am/mattsah/post/html5-sucks-part-1

[sanlyn]

I'm not sure why but the black silent scene changes are all pixellated after I encode to h264 even though the original MPEG2 video was OK quality at 4.74 Mbps Bitrate and it never had blocking in those sections, it just had noise which is normally removed yet I get blocking there.

The originalMPEG2 doe not look "okay". Removing all grain from low bitrate garbage results in macroblocks and banding upon re-encode.

I have an 8 core 4.4 Ghz CPU. Each episode is around 25 minutes long. I can spend up to 3 hours encoding each episode.

No way. I give anyone a year, maybe more. And the results won't be worth the effort. By then a BluRay will be on sale at Amazon.

I'm open to any ideas as to how to improve the quality of these videos. Preferably the script would work in multithreaded without having to use VirtualDub but if I have to I'll use VirtualDub to create a lossless AVI then encode that with another program to h264.

Still think myou're going to "improve" this source with one-button automation? And I thought I was wasting my time on this junk.

I don't think you'd be open to anything beyond MCTD and a degrainer. There's no detail at all -- just noise. got tired of fooling with it. The source doesn't have enough video data to work with. Garbage in, garbage out.

[jagabo]

I have to agree with others that this project is a waste of time. I found some old over compressed Xvid AVI files of the Batman series that are in far better shape than the MPG file in the first post. They do have the occasional TV Land logo but that's minor distraction compared to all the problem in this source.

[sanlyn]

For what it's worth to the O.P., the attached text file has some sample scripts and notes that I used on the sample MPEG. Results one can expect from that source are, as noted earlier, severely limited. It might be a good idea to know about more than the same two or three plugins that the O.P. seems to be using for everything. The same few plugins can't always be used for every piece of video.

Sometimes you have to go to RGB. The scripts have suggestions for better ways of doing it.

[VideoFanatic]

Thanks for your help everyone. I think I'll try to find a better quality set. My set was described as studio masters which I believe they are and there are no more than 4 25 minute episodes per disc so I thought they would be good quality but it seems they are not.

[jman98]

Well, anybody can call what they sell anything at all ("Greatest quality sources known to man!") but that doesn't make it so. And keep in mind that the vast majority of human beings are not members here and as long as the quality is above "awful" they are not going to complain. You just happen to be in that small group of people who actually does care. Most people happily watch 4:3 stretched to 16:9 without a single complaint. The ONLY person on the planet who I have been able to give a crap about video quality and not doing that is my brother and even he complains about how nobody in his family cares and they just watch everything in 16:9.

[sanlyn]

Burns me up that people are putting out such blatant garbage and getting paid for it. Last post I saw like this was from a rare Japanese early kungfu movie ("rare DVD!" Original DVD quality!"). Seller posted pics of the video, which should have been a dead giveaway. Since when does DVD have 10 pixels of head switching noise at the bottom border (you can even see it in the pics!)? Besides the kind of horrible image that can come only from VHS, on top of that the original wide-screen movie is pictured as obviously squished down to full-screen 4:3 and plays that way as 4:3, no letterbox. I don't mean it was cropped: it was squished. Took some real work in that thread to clean it up and make it a 16:9 wide screen movie again.

I would say "unbelievable", but you have to believe it because we see it happening. Maybe I should overcome my residual Catholic guilt and get into that business myself!

[vhelp]

i didn't see the samples, but, how realy bad were they ? is it worse then just capturing them yourself ? the stations that used to air these episodes were in good quality, similar to lost in space, and star trek original series, but now they are aired (tec) time expanced/compressed, which adds more pixelation artifacts before we get it. oh well. all of these are broadcasted on the same channel i mentioned in post # 19.

here's a sample (below) of what i capture back in dec/2012 to dv codec, recoded to vp8 as small as i could get it for DLS upload. this is a retelecined tec cadense version.

if this sample is worse than yours, then there's no hope unless you go out and just get the dvd's. i know i have the original movie on dvd before they became a series.

[VideoFanatic]

Once I use McTemporalDenoise and QTGMC they are perfectly watchable but a bit blurry in places - these are studio masters converted from VHS to DVD. Like you say there are sets recorded off TV in better quality but I don't know where to buy them. I don't live in the USA so I can't record them myself.

[october262]

Once I use McTemporalDenoise and QTGMC they are perfectly watchable but a bit blurry in places - these are studio masters converted from VHS to DVD. Like you say there are sets recorded off TV in better quality but I don't know where to buy them. I don't live in the USA so I can't record them myself.

you can buy them here - http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=+Batman+1966-...om=R40&afsrc=1

[sanlyn]

Once I use McTemporalDenoise and QTGMC they are perfectly watchable but a bit blurry in places - these are studio masters converted from VHS to DVD. Like you say there are sets recorded off TV in better quality but I don't know where to buy them. I don't live in the USA so I can't record them myself.

A bit blurry ? ?

VideoFanatic, what can we do in this forum to help you raise your standards bar, rather than keep lowering it? This "studio master" looks like something done in a studio apartment with a cheap VCR that sat next to the Coleman beer coolers, the hash pipes, and a vaporizer blowing steam from boiled marijuana.

But have it as you wish.

[sanlyn]

i didn't see the samples, but, how realy bad were they ? is it worse then just capturing them yourself ?

Why ask? Just watch 'em.

here's a sample (below) of what i capture back in dec/2012 to dv codec, recoded to vp8 as small as i could get it for DLS upload.....

All that work just to ruin a TV capture?

if this sample is worse than yours, then there's no hope unless you go out and just get the dvd's.

Your sample is merely godawful, unwatchable, and generally wretched -- but not quite as bad as VF's ruined "studio master".

[hech54]

please don't use sites like MEGA, they are now forcing you to download chroma or firefox extension, which i don't need and won't do. so i can't d/l your sample.

Incorrect.
MEGA works flawlessly(uploads and downloads) on Google Chrome. Always has....no plugins.
Mega does NOT require a Firefox plugin just to download a file/link from Mega.

[VideoFanatic]

Once I use McTemporalDenoise and QTGMC they are perfectly watchable but a bit blurry in places - these are studio masters converted from VHS to DVD. Like you say there are sets recorded off TV in better quality but I don't know where to buy them. I don't live in the USA so I can't record them myself.

A bit blurry ? ?

VideoFanatic, what can we do in this forum to help you raise your standards bar, rather than keep lowering it? This "studio master" looks like something done in a studio apartment with a cheap VCR that sat next to the Coleman beer coolers, the hash pipes, and a vaporizer blowing steam from boiled marijuana.

But have it as you wish.

No offense but you're a video expert and your standards are too high! I know it was a crap conversion. However after I clean them up in my opinion they are watchable despite being blurry in places due to tape dupes, etc and the sound is good with negligible hiss. If the picture quality was any lower I wouldn't watch it even if there were no other sets in existence. They ARE from studio masters because they have no TV station logos. Having said that if there's a better quality set I would happily trash my rubbish set and buy the better quality one. Maybe someone can PM me if you know of a better quality set? All the sets on Ebay are worse than my set.

[sanlyn]

OK, granted your interest level in what you have makes the collection personally worthwhile. I have a few of those grungy projects myself. And thanks for considering me an expert (LOL!), even if I think I still have a long way to go. But you're right, I am kinda picky with video. However, instead of advising you to ditch the vids I hope I showed that they could be improved somewhat but with enough new script ideas and plugin suggestions to keep anybody busy for a long time. That was by way of saying that you can do something with your collection besides run the same old bunch of procedures that you use for everything else. Likely you have your own limitations which I can accept. It's just frustrating (for some of us) to see that you don't seem to learn that much from these projects. But if that's the way it is, so be it. We'll just keep trying to offer better ideas and hopefully to explain them better than we do.

Anyway, looking forward to the next one.....

[oldfart13]

Not just TVLand but several other channels have run the series more or less intact over the years in Canada. Ditto with The Green Hornet, 12 O'Clock High, etc. Some have been released but lots like Batman and the Green Hornet may never be released. Some other old series like Sky King are released by their copyright holders (as was the case with the 1st season Superboy episodes as I recall) but lots of childhood faves are languishing in vaults somewhere or only available on MOD (Manufactured On Demand [burned] discs) from the studios. Even those state that they come from "best available elements" so the quality could be great or not so great. My own current project is finding the old commercials, bumpers, inserts, etc. from runs of shows from the late 70s and early to mid 1980s. Lots of work sorting through hundreds of tapes looking for this or that gem. Satisfying though when you do find something...

[jagabo]

I suspect most of the TV broadcasts these days are cut to shorten the running time -- to make room for more ads.

[Brad]

They ARE from studio masters because they have no TV station logos.

VHS was around for about 17 years before TV bugs were introduced.

[VideoFanatic]

I've no idea what you're talking about.

[Brad]

Well, how old are you? None of the networks used a digital onscreen graphic in the lower right until ~1993. Besides that, there are still satellite feeds that are logo-free. Recording either of these doesn't mean you have the studio's master.

[sanlyn]

Those TV logos didn't appear onscreen until VHS had been around for a few years. I used to have some old tapes recorded off antenna and cable that had no TV logos at all.

I don't believe that anyone can claim "studio master" for something made from a bad dupe of a bad tape and that apparently has been thru multiple re-encodes. Whoever made it didn't even filter the tape noise out of the "master". It was played directly into a DVD recorder or capped directly to MPEG2 with a cheap capture card. That "studio" made no improvements at all.

[VideoFanatic]

This is what I read somewhere on a Batman fan site

The "Studio Masters" set was actually created from VHS tapes professionally produced in 1988 of uncut episodes exclusively for the stars of the series. To the best of my knowledge, it was simply one way the studio showed it appreciation to the stars for doing promos used for the re-syndication of the series, due to the new wave of Batmania that the Michael Keaton movie was stirring up. The VHS sets were meant only for the star's private use.

I assume those are what my videos are sourced from (also due to the good audio quality with little hiss). Then somebody did a crap VHS-to-DVD conversion.

[vhelp]

the clip i posted was as-is, telecine, etc. it was not a demo to show high quality. it was made to be 'small' so i can upload over DSL. i made a typo in that post.

hose TV logos didn't appear onscreen until VHS had been around for a few years. I used to have some old tapes recorded off antenna and cable that had no TV logos at all.

well, to my memory, the logos didn't fully take off until around 2004, when dvd recorders became popular. they were occasional around or before that time, maybe 2001 they started, when i recorded the first-time airing of Star Trek's 'enterprise series to vhs tape.

also, as for the logos, well, you can remove that one in the sample clip i posted earlier, pretty cleanly, i'm sure. i just don't bother with them. not sure how easy it would be to remove that one via virtualdub or avisynth plugins. but i'm sure it can be done. those are pretty basic transparent logos. to properly remove them best, you should run the process at the telecine level, then ivtc or whatever. else there's residual noise where the logos were.

[yoda313]

also, as for the logos, well, you can remove that one in the sample clip i posted earlier, pretty cleanly, i'm sure.

I hate to argue this but the little I tried those delogo filters myself I was not impressed. You were left with watery afterimages. If it was rotating or somehow animated the removal patch was even more blurry.

Granted I am not an expert, just an advanced amateur but I was not impressed with delogoing stuff.

Now I freely admit its been a few years since I did it. There may be different techniques now. But unless its a static logo and unless its only a very small part of the screen I personally don't think its worth processing the video any more than you need to and end up with a blotchy patch where the logo used to be.

But you are free to do it yourself if you think the results are good to your eyes.

Just a piece of advice, still shots of deloging LIE! Watch the video after delogoing. Movement makes it more noticeable than the original logo in my opinion.

Perhaps if it was a giant red bozo the clown head or something freakish that you just have to remove then maybe. But if its something that hideous you might be better off just applying some kind of overlay patch and cover it completely.

[Noahtuck]

There's several reasons why uploading to Mega is better than any other file sharing site or uploading directly to this forum

So lets hear these compelling (or SEVERAL) reasons why uploading to Mega is better than uploading directly to the VH forum!!!

Must fight Satan's urges and bite my tongue!!!!!

ah, i didn't realize that they were bootleg, i went to amazon.com and followed a link they had and figured they must be legit. come to think of it $90 for the entire 120 episodes would be a bit on the low side.

Oy Vey....

I can't believe how many people I see link to Amazon or Google for use as what something is going for price wise when they are usually the WORST places to list what something is going for, as they usually show idiots wanting WAY more than what something is worth or going for.

And people linking to Amazon, even so called "knowledgeable seasoned" veterans of VH, for buying or to show legit dvd releases when Amazon is probably the largest & worst violater of selling such things!!
But it is not actually Amazon, which many people still think, that is selling the majority of what they have listed for sale.

Anyone can make an account and sell their "merchandise" on Amazon and that's how they sell it, because people just "assume" it is legit and being sold by Amazon!!

[vhelp]

I hate to argue this but the little I tried those delogo filters myself I was not impressed. You were left with watery afterimages. If it was rotating or somehow animated the removal patch was even more blurry.

actually, i came up with an experimental delogo of my own design but it was not completed. i couldn't figure out how to get the algorithm to dynamically adjust to the different brightness levels. i was close though but had other projects i wanted to persue.

but here are examples of successfull delogoing or removing logo or removing watermarks from video. as long as the logo is transparentable (like in the logos in the images in that thread below) it is possible to completely remove them without jibblets or artifacts.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/290371-Requesting-for-some-tv-station-logos-and-wat...362&viewfull=1

[VideoFanatic]

There's several reasons why uploading to Mega is better than any other file sharing site or uploading directly to this forum

So lets hear these compelling (or SEVERAL) reasons why uploading to Mega is better than uploading directly to the VH forum!!!

Must fight Satan's urges and bite my tongue!!!!!

Yet you posted about it anyway! If you can quote the 1st sentence in a paragraph then I'm sure you read the rest of the paragraph that you didn't quote!

There's several reasons why uploading to Mega is better than any other file sharing site or uploading directly to this forum but that has nothing to do with the subject of this thread. No more off topic posts please guys.

Anybody who regularly uploads files could figure out the reasons. I'm not discussing it as this thread is about Batman, not file sharing services or Amazon!

[DB83]

VF. Why do you consider discussion about the merits of mega in the context of this thread to be off-topic ?

You uploaded the link. You stated that there are several reasons. Yet YOU are unwilling to justify it.

But if you want to discuss the 'Studio Masters' source then do you really believe that BS about the stars getting the set ? How many tapes would that be ? Recorded on EP speed or slower ? Is so, they were ruined before they left the studio.

[sanlyn]

Hm. I appreciate the issue about the download site, but believe me I've seen worse. A couple of other sites made my ESET and Kaspersky antivirus light up like Christmas trees on every PC that I used to visit those icky download panels. So at least the site works, which is more than one can say for many of them.

I'm certain VF isn't the only customer that's been taken in by similar sales hype. I found the website that published the "we gave it to the stars" hooplah. It's certainly a junky looking site with really bad graphics and a layout that'll remind you of those screaming banners you see on supermarket windows or food ads in Sunday newspapers. That site seems to have closed down and moved to another forum that looks as bad. Gotta credit the Batman fans for their loyalty, but...come on, now: Studio master? I think more than one party is taking advantage of the congregation. Take a look at what eBay is selling.