Tmpgenc guide?

[dazco]

Actually John, i tried the noise filter and i gotta figure that since you recommended that earlier we must be using different tmpegenc versions or something because it cause my encode of a 3 or 4 minute video to go from around 7 minutes to an hour and 10 ! i'm not kidding. after i set things up with the recommendations i got from all of you, the encode time went thru the roof. So i began unchecking one change at a time and trying an encode to see if the estimated time was reduced. When i got to the noise reduction filter and unchecked it the time went down over an hour. i was shocked, but it literally went from under 10 minutes to over an hour with that checked.

As for your suggesting that there ARE a lot of insults and childish behavior here, i hope not. But i'm sure it takes a lot more provocation than i've seen elsewhere. I've been to many forums where you almost can't open your mouth without being insulted by someone with a mouth far bigger than his brain. I can think of more than a few where the questions i asked in this thread alone would have conjured the rath of a legion of immature a-holes.

[dazco]

ahhh.......i just realized you said tmpgenc plus. Maybe thats the diff.

[FulciLives]

ahhh.......i just realized you said tmpgenc plus. Maybe thats the diff.

Well TMPGEnc and TMPGEnc Plus are really the same. Most of us just tend to use TMPGEnc whereas I tend to type TMPGEnc Plus.

I think "TMPGEnc" is technically used to refer to the trail version whereas "TMPGEnc Plus" is used for the registered version but like I said most of us here will just say "TMPGEnc" and nothing more. I am probably in the minority by saying "TMPGEnc Plus" though even I will sometimes just say "TMPGEnc".

The NOISE FILTER in TMPGEnc Plus works really well but is known to take a massive amount of time. The Convolution3D filter works just as well (if not better) and it MUCH faster. It does require the use of AviSynth which scares some people but it ain't that hard and if you follow my guide (ask me questions if you have any) you should be A-OK.

For most captures the "movieLQ" setting of Convolution3D is good.

As for the flame stuff ... we mostly reserve that for obvious ******** or newbies that are SO clueless they ask how to install a program rather than how to use it! Sometimes they ask what I call "open ended questions" such as "How do you use TMPGEnc Plus" instead of "If I am making a SVCD then what is the best setting for Motion Search Precision?". Granted your questions were somewhat open ended but it was obvious that although you were new you had a basic understanding and therefore capable of learning.

For a newbie you have shown yourself to have at least basic computer skills and you seem to "get" what we tell you. We like that. At least I do hehehe

You will be fine here

Just don't piss us of by making a dumb comment like DVD+R is better than DVD-R or some such nonesense :P

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[dazco]

I'll see what i can do with avisynth with Convolution3D and your guide if you think it's a good solution for grainy old VHS tapes. I've been scouring the web for VD filters for this purpose, but none i have of have found have helped much. The sharpen filter in tmpegenc actually smooths it out a bit better than many other but it's slight. The only choices seem to be which is easier to live with for you........blurry nor grainy. Not much of a choice.

[dazco]

Tried it but VDmod gives doesn't seem to offer opening of avs files. I finally tried "run script" by choosing all files so i could load it. But then VDmod crashes.

[FulciLives]

Tried it but VDmod gives doesn't seem to offer opening of avs files. I finally tried "run script" by choosing all files so i could load it. But then VDmod crashes.

You just load the AVS file by selecting it same as you would with the AVI but instead of browsing to and selecting the AVI file you select the AVS file.

If it doesn't load you should either get an error message or VirtualDubMod will crash. This means something in your script is wrong.

BTW you can load the AVS file directly into TMGPEnc Plus in the same way.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
Post your script here and I will troubleshoot it for you
Also make sure the AVS is filename.avs ... if you created it with NOTEPAD it is possible you saved it as filename.avs.txt and that don't work.

[dazco]

i tried opening it as you said and it gives me an error saying it's not an avisynth 1.0 plugin. I believe the version i have is 2, but with no gui i'm not sure. Heres the script.....(and yes, i gave it an avs extention)

LoadPlugin("Convolution3d.dll")
avisource("D:\CAPTURE\capture.avi")
SeparateFields()
odd=SelectOdd.Convolution3D (0, 6, 10, 6, 8, 2.8, 0)
evn=SelectEven.Convolution3D (0, 6, 10, 6, 8, 2.8, 0)
VHS capture Bad Quality
Convolution3D (0, 32, 128, 16, 64, 10, 0)
Interleave(evn,odd)
Weave()
AddBorders(8,4,8,4)
ConvertToRGB(interlaced=true)

[dazco]

hmm....my fault....i downloaded 2.0. I'm downloading AS 2.5 now. I'll let ya know if it works, tho i'm sure the script is hosed too since i have little idea WTF i'm doing.

UPDATE: i got it to laod. Now to see whether i can make it work

[FulciLives]

OK change the script so it looks like this:

LoadPlugin("Convolution3d.dll")
avisource("D:\CAPTURE\capture.avi")
crop(0,4,-0,-12)
SeparateFields()
odd=SelectOdd.Convolution3D (0, 6, 10, 6, 8, 2.8, 0)
evn=SelectEven.Convolution3D (0, 6, 10, 6, 8, 2.8, 0)
Interleave(evn,odd)
Weave()
AddBorders(0,8,0,8)
ConvertToRGB24(interlaced=true)

Now make sure you have AviSynth 2.5x right now the newest version is 2.5.5

Also make sure you have downloaded the correct version of Convolution3D (the version for AviSynth 2.5x that works with YUY2 video sources). Refer to my Convolution3D guide (CLICK HERE FOR THAT GUIDE) for more info on this if you need it.

Try loading the AVS file directly into TMPGEnc Plus because unlike VirtualDub TMPGEnc Plus will usually tell you what line is the problem if there is a problem.

Please note that the crop and addborders is based on a capture done at 704x480 and I am cutting 12 from the bottom and 4 from the top then adding 8 to the top and 8 to the bottom. Why? VHS has a lot of noise at the bottom but cutting 12 is (most of the time) enough to get rid of it. Sometimes you might have a line or two of junk across the top. So when we cut 12 from the bottom and 4 from the top that is 16 total. We add 8 to the top and bottom to "even it out". This shifts the picture down by 4 pixels which is so NOT noticeable so do not worry about it. These numbers are significant because you can't just crop/addborders with just any numbers. They have to be a multiple of 2 and "even out". Trust me this is the best way to deal with videotape captures.

If you captured at 480x480 then it still will work but you will get a very slight (not noticeable) aspect ratio error. So to avoid that always capture 704x480 based on the capture device you are using.

For the video arrange method in TMPGEnc Plus set it up as FULL SCREEN (KEEP ASPECT RATIO 2) if you did 704x480 capture. If you did a 480x480 capture then I'm not sure ... try that or try FULL SCREEN.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[dazco]

i edited the script according to the errors i got till i got it to work and looked at the final video. It does look a bit better. However, i'm not sure it looks any better than blurring it with tmpegenc's sharpener set to negitive values. Then i saw you last post and tried you suggested script. possibly a bit better yet, but could be placebo effect. In any case i'll keep messing with it after i study the different settings for the plugin. Thanks.

[johns0]

Dazco,have you tried the 2d cleaner for vdub?I've used it for vhs caps for frameserve,it might be worth a shot.

[FulciLives]

i edited the script according to the errors i got till i got it to work and looked at the final video. It does look a bit better. However, i'm not sure it looks any better than blurring it with tmpegenc's sharpener set to negitive values. Then i saw you last post and tried you suggested script. possibly a bit better yet, but could be placebo effect. In any case i'll keep messing with it after i study the different settings for the plugin. Thanks.

Here is a test ...

Open up VirtualDubMod twice.

In one instance of VirtualDubMod open up the AVI file directly

In the other instance of VirtualDubMod open up the AVS file.

Now switch back and forth using the tabs at the bottom (assuming you have WinXP) and you can quickly see raw AVI vs filtered AVS version.

You will see that Convolution3D is doing a lot ... but no filter can do magick.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
The AVS version will encode MUCH quicker than using the "noise filter" in TMPGEnc Plus so if you really think there is no difference still go with the Convolution3D method but Convolution3D really is the best single "video noise" reduction filter.

[dazco]

In one instance of VirtualDubMod open up the AVI file directly

In the other instance of VirtualDubMod open up the AVS file.

Now switch back and forth using the tabs at the bottom (assuming you have WinXP) and you can quickly see raw AVI vs filtered AVS version.

You will see that Convolution3D is doing a lot ... but no filter can do magick.

I just tried that, but i can't see any difference. Mind you, it is a pretty horrible VHS. oddly tho i do see a tad of improvement when comparing the encode to the original.

The AVS version will encode MUCH quicker than using the "noise filter" in TMPGEnc Plus so if you really think there is no difference still go with the Convolution3D method

Actually i was referring to the sharpen filter in tmpegenc. If i set it to negitive values it blurs it a bit and makes it look less grainy and does about the same amount of improvment as Convolution3D.

Dazco,have you tried the 2d cleaner for vdub?I've used it for vhs caps for frameserve,it might be worth a shot.

No, but thats one of those filters with no preview which makes it a real pain to use if you don't know how to set it. I'll give it a shot tho.

[lordsmurf]

Good find. Negative sharpen is quite useful sometimes. Double deinterlace on progressive source (NOT INTERLACED SOURCE!) has the same effect.

[dazco]

Here's a better find.....video denoise by Alexander Tchirkov. This one made a considerble difference to the good. Anyone else used this. I just used the default settings and it worked better than i thought possible. Still not great, but great isn't even a possibility with this crappy video. But even a noob can look at a bad video and realize where the limits of what can be done as far as improvment goes. And i don't think it's possible to do better with the source. However, i'll try taking the fixed video and see if i can apply other filters to enhance whats been doe with the denoise.

[dazco]

Ignore that last post. Murphy showed up and inflicted his law on the denoise filter. Seems the 5 second clip i was testing with was fine. But when i tried a few longer files after a few seconds you see dropped frames to the point where theres about 3 frames a second as far as i can tell. Can't win with this video stuff man !

[FulciLives]

Ignore that last post. Murphy showed up and inflicted his law on the denoise filter. Seems the 5 second clip i was testing with was fine. But when i tried a few longer files after a few seconds you see dropped frames to the point where theres about 3 frames a second as far as i can tell. Can't win with this video stuff man !

Hang in there!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[dazco]

Trying. Just uninstalled win DVD player and it took my mpeg2 compressor with it. Geez.....