VHS Family Wedding tape restoration

[sanlyn]

Sorry I missed some action. Family stuff going on here. I used DirectShowSource and ffms2 originally because I didn't have Cedocida at the time. With cedocida installed, you can use AviSource.

If you are using Avisynth 2.6, you'll encounter a problem now and then with some plugins. I stopped using it when old and new plugins are mixed in a script. Too much hassle, every time you change something you have to fiddle with MT parameters.

[Tafflad]

Only using ver 2.5 ... but issued cleared when I added the "true" value in the crop statement

[Tafflad]

To figure out what current VFW DV codec is being used on your system (and thus should be used for 32bit AVISource() in avisynth) , open up 32bit vdub, and load a DV-AVI file directly, check file=>file information .It should tell you what decoder is currently being used

As advised Cedocida is installed ... but file will be saved as Lagarith YV12... is there still a need to configure Cedocida ? as the 'opened file is DV' ... if so can you tell me steps to do that.
I'm only used to selecting output compression type and selecting colour space there

[sanlyn]

Your DV capture is YV12. Cedocida is the better choice for decoding the capture using Avisource(). If you save it with VirtualDub settings for Lagarith YV12, you are saving it correctly. However, the results are no longer "DV", but are decoded lossless AVI. That's not a problem; DV has to be decoded anyway for processing and re-encoding to MPEG or other encoders such as h264, etc.

[Tafflad]

OK ... that is what I am doing ... glad to have it confirmed.

Step 1 is estimated 6.08 Hrs ... 4Hrs into it.

[sanlyn]

Using the same filter setup for an entire tape isn't the greatest idea. Different sequences in the video might need different filters. Usually you would cut sequences shot with the same camera, lighting, problems, etc., save it and cut other scenes as needed, then join at the end of the movie. Of course none of us have seen the entire tape. But you'll know when it's finished.

[Tafflad]

what I want to do is drop it onto a DVD and at least try in via TV .... it was all shot with same camera ... but appreciate what you say regarding lighting levels etc.

[Tafflad]

Sanlyn ... in your script - Step 3 ... you add instructions ... load vcf file .... and
" set Video" to "Full processing mode, set Color depth to YV12"

Not set color depth before, been left at autoselect .... do I need to set this for 'Decompression Format' or 'Output format to compressor display' or both ?

[sanlyn]

Autoselect is usually set by default for [I]input[/I (decoding) on the left-hand side of that window. You set the output for YV12 (for recompress), or whatever is desired, on the right-hand side.

[Tafflad]

Do the compression type settings overrule this, i.e. where I set video full processing mode, compression type, color space etc. or am I missing the point.

[sanlyn]

Whether you use full processing mode or not, whatever you set for compressed output is what will be output. By defauit, output is uncompresssed RGB AVI if you don't specify antyhing.

[Tafflad]

All ran through OK ... all 3 steps.
I was surprised by the significant difference in file size considering all 3 are using Lagartith.
Output Step 1 (yuv) ... 44Gb video rate 79.6Mbps
Output Step 2 (rgb) ...54.5Gb rate 102Mbps
Output Step 3 (yuv) ...26Gb rate 48.6Mbps


As step 3 is only adjusting color curves, and saving as yuv, and finished file size is 50% smaller .... or is that typical rgb > yuv

[poisondeathray]

RGB will yield larger file sizes even when converted from a YUV 4:2:0 source, because it's unsubsampled (each R,G,B plane is full resolution 720x576) . Where as YUV 4:2:0 only the Y' plane is 720x576 but the U,V planes are 360x288 each

Noise, motion , all "consume bitrate", so the lower filesize difference between step 1 and 3 is expected if it's "cleaned up"

[Tafflad]

Thanks ... wasn't contesting it ... just wondered why.

[sanlyn]

Yet another demonstration of how much noise there is in most consumer tapes. Reduce noise = smaller file size.

[2Bdecided]

What did it look like on TV?

[Tafflad]

Looked fine .... my TV is LCD 1080p as DVD source is over HDMI ... probably not to different to seeing on my monitor ... however a copy for my parents they played on a Panasonic Vierra Plasma, via SCART .. so def all analogue ... played fine .....
Only negative I see is in places quick motion of people is not as smooth, tends to have an after image following them (I'm sure there is a proper term) but I'm pleased with end result and so are family members.

It reduced several to tears ... 6 of my Mothers brothers and sisters who walk into church in start of video are now dead .... plus my mother saw her mother on screen for first (and only video) ......... it's incredible how many people in the video are no longer here ... almost a full generation no more

I'm glad I did this .. .and for all the help received here.

[DB83]

"Ghosting"

Is this constant bitrate mpeg-2 or variable rate ?

[Tafflad]

VBR 2 pass

It's not ghosting in the way that you used to get ghosting on TV pictures, seems in the main when camera pans ... see 2 samples in this short extract.

[DB83]

I see very fast camera panning. Methinks not much one could do about that.

[sanlyn]

That's not ghosting. Motion blur, and the camera pans too quickly. 25FPS PAL doesn't help, either, with fast panning. Still, NTSC would look similar with fast camera motion. Partial solution: no fast panning with digital cameras. Use film (Ah! Good ole analog movie film, the motion handling champ, and movie cameras with better shutters).

Open it in VirtualDub and use the yadif diuble-frame deinterlace filter. No ghosting. There's some combing, though. The shots of the guy in the doorway are overexposed, highlights blown out, and shot is out of spec for RGB 16-245. Probably can't be corrected anyway, the highlights were blown out in-camera. Autogain = Satan's work.

[2Bdecided]

If it's there in the original, then it's just due to the tube camera (pre-CCD, pre-CMOS video camera techology). Look at repeats of old 1970s editions of Top of the Pops, and see the trails left by any bright spotlight (or even bright reflection) when the camera pans. Tube cameras just did that. You can't fix it, and shouldn't try.

If it's not there in the original, then something strange happened during the restoration.


I think you left "coring=false" off the end of one of your AVIsynth commands, because the blacker-than-black looks like it's been clipped off. You wouldn't see this on many TVs though, even if you were looking for it, because most TVs clip it too.


Overall the improvement is amazing, especially compared with the weird aliasing/lines in the original.

Glad people were pleased with it. I find relatives are fascinated by short clips of themselves and their family, but if some of the people on the video are no longer healthy, or no longer here at all, it can be painful to remember how they used to be.

Cheers,
David.

[2Bdecided]

I think you left "coring=false" off the end of one of your AVIsynth commands, because the blacker-than-black looks like it's been clipped off.

I'd forgotten the AVIsynth output was Rec.601 RGB. That doesn't have blacker-than-black or whiter-than-white (black=0 and white=255 with RGB - no headroom) so that's where it happened. You can use converttorgb(matrix="PC.601") to maintain the extra range (black=16 white=235), but I'm not sure that's easy to work with in Vegas, so don't worry about it.

Cheers,
David.

[Tafflad]

[QUOTE=2Bdecided;2302569]

I think you left "coring=false" off the end of one of your AVIsynth commands, because the blacker-than-black looks like it's been clipped off..

Not sure what you mean by blacker-than-black is 'clipped-off' can you explain what you mean and where I would see that ?

[pasadena]

Hi Guys,

We're about to embark on importing our couple of hundred family video tapes and a wedding tape to PC either for Media Playback or to Blu-ray disks. We have a around 80 SVHS-C tapes shot through a Panasonic SV-99 video camera and about 125 DV tapes, mostly shot through a Panasonic NV-GS400 DV Video Camera. All tapes are PAL. A few years ago we purchased a Panasonic HDC-HS700 High Def Video camera. For us, this is brilliant as the files are recorded in M2TS and we can play these directly back through our Popcorn A-400 media player in high definition. We've been mulling over these tapes for years to work what the best way to import them and seemed too hard to find the right combination of hardware/software tools to do the job.

This thread and its links have certainly been very informative and helpful but need some advice on the equipment we already have and we need and best path from tape to PC to get the job done. My wife has taken on this project and while's she's not exactly computer literate, I need a setup, that she can work with. She doesn't mind a challenge.

At the moment we have a Sony SVO9500MD medical grade S-VHS recorder, Canopus ADVC300, Panasonic NV-GS400 Video Camera and an AverMEdia AverTV CapterHD card.

In terms of Software, I was going to get my wife use Cyberlink's Powerdirector for Video capture and here lies my question. What is currently the best software for Video Capture and in what format should the files be captured in? What is the best capture format that can be easily edited?

With regards to hardware, the Sony SVO9500MD has a TBC but unsure as to whether it is frame or line based. It also has a Digital Chroma Noise Reducer. My Panasonic NV-GS400 also has a TBC and so does the ADVC300.

I envisaged converting the SVHS-C tapes through the SV9500MD -> ADVC300 -> PC. DV tapes through the GS400 -> ADVC300 -> PC. I had a look at the Avermedia Capture HD card I have and it has HDMI and component inputs but not so sure in it's ability to be used in a chain for Video Capture.

We especially want to get this right for importing our Wedding Video mastered on a SVHS tape back in 1997.

Your help is very much appreciated.

[manono]

It might be better for you to start your own thread.

[pasadena]

I thought about and didn't want to start a new thread that everyone else has brought up. Was just interested in the equipment side of things and people's thoughts were. Thanks for the tip.

[sanlyn]

It's true that this thread covers capturing original VHS for DVD output. But your question, your sources, and your intended delivery output format are different. That's why we suggest a new thread to address your specific issues.

[pasadena]

Ok thanks.

[sanlyn]

Looking forward to seeing more about your project.