Basic Question RE: Video Restoration

[hondaspeedx]

Hello everyone. I'm new here and fairly new to video editing. This question is in regards to restoration. I have a VCR tape my aunt had made some years back where a place transferred a bunch of old 8mm tapes they found going through my grandfather's stuff after he passed. (Some of it was still undeveloped I think!)

I just moved down here with my parents and in watching the tape I think it has even deteriorated further . So, I immediately imported the tape to a .mpg using a dazzle pro. I got pretty decent results, all things considered. I played with Premiere CS3 (v3.0), Cyberlink PowerDirector v7, and Sony Vegas Pro v8. I've been trying to use Vegas and have been playing with the FX's, including an "Auto Level FX" I downloaded which works pretty well.

Now to the real heart of my question. Is there anything else I should try that would be good for a person new to restoration? I know programs like Picasa have a "I'm feeling lucky" option which does an amazing, automatic[ job at enhancing photos. Is there anything along those lines for video? Because each segment varies in quality and characteristics, I've "trimmed" the 1 hour video into about 200 segments which I'm trying to refine individually.

Any help or advice would really be appreciated! Thanks.

NOTE: The footage varies greatly in quality, but the following are two examples of some of what I'm working with... just screenshots from the Vegas preview window:



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[guns1inger]

If you can post a couple of minutes of footage it would be better.

Some of this is probably best addressed through hardware during capture - TBC and/or Proc Amp.

Failing or even post that, virtualdub or better yet, avisynth would be the best application to address any remaining issues. Vegas doesn't have great filters for restoration of these types of issues. It's filters are more aimed adjusting good quality footage for colour consistency etc.

[themaster1]

Ouch* it's that ol' good vhs that's coming back.You definitely wanna try virtualdub mod, avisynth being a harder path .Then i suggest you play with the msu filters, color mill.Also, try to avoid capturing in mpg or if you do, at least pick a gop/sub gop of 1/1 and a high bitrate.

Well that's my advice of the day

[hondaspeedx]

Thanks Master... I'm trying to figure out VirtualDubMod now. These programs sure don't have the easiest UI to work with... but I'll keep trying to learn them. Appreciate the info.

As far as AVI, yes I should try to recapture it when I have appropriate h/w. I am also trying to borrow a VCR with s-video connections as that might help a little.[/quote]

[edDV]

Prelim look shows serious levels, gamma and color balance issues.

This will be difficult from VHS source due to narrow chroma bandwidth.

The wiggly vertical lines can be helped with a time base corrector (TBC).

Can the 8mm films be retransfered? Do you have a budget?

[2Bdecided]

If there is any chance of re-transfering the 8mm films, this is what you should do.

Much better transfers are possible these days, and the VHS itself has some serious issues.

Here are links to state-of-the-art 8mm transfers...

http://www.moviestuff.tv/8mm_telecine.html

http://dvisionvideo.com/transfers.htm#videos

It makes a difference, doesn't it?

Cheers,
David.

[hondaspeedx]

edDV & 2Bdecided: Thanks very much. Budget would not be too much of an issue for this. Unfortunately, I don't think the 8mm tapes exist anymore. At least I don't think so... my Aunt has passed away and I can't get a solid answer from her husband, my uncle.

edDV: Is a TBC something I can implement with just the VCR tape? Wow, you know Vegas... there is just so much there for me to learn. Kinda unfortunate I'm learning with a project that I consider important. My goal is to finish by Christmas though, so I have some time to learn.

[edDV]

You are meaning 8mm film, not tapes right? You said some weren't developed.

Consider a film to tape or film to disk (individual frames) transfer service if you still have the reels.

A TBC goes between the VCR and the capture card. It will reduce the line to line horizontal jitter.

[edDV]

oops

[hondaspeedx]

You are meaning 8mm film, not tapes right? You said some weren't developed.

Consider a film to tape or film to disk (individual frames) transfer service if you still have the reels.

A TBC goes between the VCR and the capture card. It will reduce the line to line horizontal jitter.

Sorry my bad... yes 8mm originally, now on VCR tape. I don't think the originals exist anymore, at least I don't have access to try to find them.

My comment about some being undeveloped was in reference to before my aunt had them transferred. They found undeveloped 8mm from like at least 20 years before, had them developed the best they could, and then transferred everything to vcr.

[edDV]

You are meaning 8mm film, not tapes right? You said some weren't developed.

Consider a film to tape or film to disk (individual frames) transfer service if you still have the reels.

A TBC goes between the VCR and the capture card. It will reduce the line to line horizontal jitter.

Sorry my bad... yes 8mm originally, now on VCR tape. I don't think the originals exist anymore, at least I don't have access to try to find them.

My comment about some being undeveloped was in reference to before my aunt had them transferred. They found undeveloped 8mm from like at least 20 years before, had them developed the best they could, and then transferred everything to vcr.

OK then you are limited to techniques discussed here for VHS capturing and filtering. A TBC will improve VHS capturing. For best results, pay a top quality dub house to do the transfer*. For image enhancement, there are hundreds of discussions in the archives ranging from basic levels correction, to color correction using editing programs to complex AVISynth filtering strategies.

* Ask a local TV station video engineer who he would use locally.

[hondaspeedx]

OK edDV, sounds like good advice... thank you!