capture noise

[burgesda]

Using WinTVgo/VDub/high performance cables from my 8mm Camcorder for capture, ran results thru VDubs 2Dcleaner and dynamic noise reduction at max settings, and still have a lot of movement of pixels in scenes which are supposed to be still, especially halo-like effects around people who are moving thru the scene. How can this be eliminated?

[Dave B]

These halo's you refer to are typical artifacts from the MPEG compression algorithm. You don't mention which codec you are using to capture - or even if you have subsequently converted your capture material.

For a step by step guide to capturing (and producing good results) read http://www.vcdhelp.com/mjpeg.htm. This is the method which many people (myself included) use to capture video. It requires a two step process i.e. Capture -> MJPEG/HUFFY -> TMPGEnc (VCD/SVCD) but the results will be worth it.

[burgesda]

I did use huffyuv for compression of the .avi captured file, and yes, you're right, I noticed the noise after .mpg compression using TMPenc. Where did I go wrong?

[Dave B]

Basically, you haven't gone wrong. MPEG is not a lossless compression algorithm like Huffy so there will always be some artifacts present.

There are many techniques and filters available to increase perceived quality (and decrease the amount of artifacts) but the main influencing factor is bitrate.

VCD specs say that the bitrate should be CBR 1150. This means that throughout the video, every second is digitally described by 1150 bits of data. Any modification to this will mean that you would produce an XVCD - often not a bad thing.

Take a twenty second clip out of your capture and continually try re-encoding with different settings and bitrates in TMPGEnc. There are some good TMPGEnc template (setting) files available from the links on the left.

Beware though that some DVD players will give funny results or refuse to play some XVCDs.

If your player supports it, you may also like to try to create an SVCD. SVCDs natively offer a greater resolution and quality than VCDs - once again read up on some of the material available on the site.

[rurke]

The "halo" effects you are seeing are caused partly by your high noise reduction settings. (Most noise reduction filters work by smoothing areas of low contrast and leave high contrast areas untouched. During encoding, subblocks of the image that have both smoothed areas and unsmoothed areas will produce this "halo" affect.) Use only enough noise reduction to control "blockiness."

[Shabubu]

In VDub always set the amount of noise reduction to the minimum level required. Noise reduction takes a lot of time and if you go overboard can look bad. Use the preview and keep increasing till your happy, then leave it.

[burgesda]

Thanks everyone for this good stuff, I'll update in a few days