What would you to do to improve this clip

[sum_guy]

I don't know if this was a bad capture or not. This is a 15 second clip, VHS-C (about 18 years old) to AVI YUY2, what would you do? what would your workflow be?

https://files.videohelp.com/u/84671/tape%201_edit.avi

Thanks in advance for your response(s).

[Sharc]

The capture format as such seems to be ok, but the capture is poor: plenty of dropped frames, comets, field parity swap, loss of frame sync .....
How did you capture it? What was your HW/SW setup? If you still have the tape you should capture it again using some form of TBC as a minimum rather than trying to fix the current capture.

[sum_guy]

I didn't have access to a better playback deck (S-VHS) and I don't own a TBC or a deck with one. This was a GoVideo dual deck playback deck composite only, a real USB EZap, Vdub2 capture. I too thought the capture itself was pretty terrible. I'm going to have to go to eBay I guess and try to find a proper playback S-VHS deck. The capture computer is an i5-8400 with 32 gb of ram running Win 11, computer speed is not an issue. Back to the drawing board...

[Sharc]

I didn't have access to a better playback deck (S-VHS) and I don't own a TBC or a deck with one.....

A DVD recorder (ES-10, ES-15, perhaps EH20, EH50) in passthrough mode may also help. There are a lot of threads/post about recommended models and setup.

[sum_guy]

I do have a Sony RDR-GX257 DVD Deck, I would just need a good VHS playback deck I guess?

[johnmeyer]

Too many drops in a row. One drop you can fix. Two drops, sometimes. More than that, no way.

[sum_guy]

I agree John, the capture is a mess!

[Selur]

Atached, spotless + despot:

# Deinterlacing using QTGMC
clip = havsfunc.QTGMC(Input=clip, Preset="Fast", TFF=True) # new fps: 29.97
# make sure content is preceived as frame based
clip = core.std.SetFieldBased(clip, 0)
clip = clip[::2]
clip = lostfunc.DeSpot(o=clip)
clip = lostfunc.DeSpot(o=clip)
clip = lostfunc.DeSpot(o=clip)
clip = lostfunc.DeSpot(o=clip)
clip = SpotLess.SpotLess(clip=clip, radT=2)

Cu Selur

[Sharc]

I do have a Sony RDR-GX257 DVD Deck, I would just need a good VHS playback deck I guess?

I have no idea if and how the SONY would work in passthrough mode. But you may want to try and connect the VHS player composite output to the composite video in (at the rear side of the SONY, LINE1 IN) and the video out (LINE OUT) of the SONY to your capture device. Still no S-video but it may nevertheless stabilize the picture (less dropped frames) and give some improvement, depending on how the SONY processes the signal.

[lollo]

Atached, spotless + despot

Well done, Selur!

[sum_guy]

Wonderful result Selur! Thank you very much!

[sum_guy]

I'm getting a syntax error on line 5 of the script. I feel pretty stupid. What do I need to do to get "clip.avi" processed?

[Selur]

What I posted was just a part of the Vapoursynth script I used.
Since you didn't share your script, didn't post the exact error and wrote nothing about your setup there isn't really a thing to say,...
Not sure whether it helps, but here's the whole script I used:

# Imports
import os
import sys
import ctypes
# Loading Support Files
Dllref = ctypes.windll.LoadLibrary("I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/Support/libfftw3f-3.dll")
import vapoursynth as vs
# getting Vapoursynth core
core = vs.core
# Import scripts folder
scriptPath = 'I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsscripts'
sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath(scriptPath))
# Loading Plugins
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/Support/libtemporalmedian.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/GrainFilter/RemoveGrain/RemoveGrainVS.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/GrainFilter/AddGrain/AddGrain.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/DenoiseFilter/NEO_FFT3DFilter/neo-fft3d.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/DenoiseFilter/DFTTest/DFTTest.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/Support/EEDI3m.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/ResizeFilter/nnedi3/vsznedi3.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/Support/libmvtools.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/Support/temporalsoften.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/Support/scenechange.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/Support/fmtconv.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/MiscFilter/MiscFilters/MiscFilters.dll")
core.std.LoadPlugin(path="I:/Hybrid/64bit/vsfilters/SourceFilter/FFMS2/ffms2.dll")
# Import scripts
import SpotLess
import lostfunc
import havsfunc
# source: 'E:\clips\tape 1_edit.avi'
# current color space: YUV422P8, bit depth: 8, resolution: 720x480, fps: 29.97, color matrix: 470bg, yuv luminance scale: limited, scanorder: top field first
# Loading source using FFMS2
clip = core.ffms2.Source(source="E:/clips/tape 1_edit.avi",cachefile="E:/Temp/avi_6fc950f08ec42f12dbe4aa07c3485b05_853323747.ffindex",format=vs.YUV422P8,alpha=False)
# making sure input color matrix is set as 470bg
clip = core.resize.Bicubic(clip, matrix_in_s="470bg",range_s="limited")
# making sure frame rate is set to 29.970
clip = core.std.AssumeFPS(clip=clip, fpsnum=30000, fpsden=1001)
# Setting color range to TV (limited) range.
clip = core.std.SetFrameProp(clip=clip, prop="_ColorRange", intval=1)
# setting field order to what QTGMC should assume (top field first)
clip = core.std.SetFrameProp(clip=clip, prop="_FieldBased", intval=2)
# Deinterlacing using QTGMC
clip = havsfunc.QTGMC(Input=clip, Preset="Fast", TFF=True) # new fps: 29.97
# make sure content is preceived as frame based
clip = core.std.SetFieldBased(clip, 0)
clip = clip[::2]
clip = lostfunc.DeSpot(o=clip)
clip = lostfunc.DeSpot(o=clip)
clip = lostfunc.DeSpot(o=clip)
clip = lostfunc.DeSpot(o=clip)
clip = SpotLess.SpotLess(clip=clip, radT=2)
# adjusting output color from: YUV422P8 to YUV420P10 for x265Model
clip = core.resize.Bicubic(clip=clip, format=vs.YUV420P10, range_s="limited")
# set output frame rate to 29.970fps
clip = core.std.AssumeFPS(clip=clip, fpsnum=30000, fpsden=1001)
# Output
clip.set_output()

Note that since QTGMC, DeSpot and SpotLess can also be used in Avisynth.

Cu Selur

[sum_guy]

Selur, once again, you've really helped me. I've got it working now and my sample came out great. Thank you sir!

[Sharc]

Nice fix of the comets and frame sync issues, definitely yes. But if you want fluent movement without dropped frames to avoid jerky playback, and if you care about "lost legs" of the horse on some of the fixed frames you may still want to reconsider a fresh capture.

[Selur]

Yup, a fresh recapture is the fest way to go.

[lollo]

Yes, a fresh recapture with Sharc's suggestions is mandatory to mitigate the problems, then use scripts to restore.

[sum_guy]

I concur about the capture, I've got to find a NTSC S-VHS deck, these videos aren't worth breaking the bank for a super expensive playback deck.