VirtualDub problems

[Hypersonic1]

I am in the process of transferring VHS-C tapes to a digital format. I would like to use VirtualDub to capture the videos. I am currently having the following problems:

1. The video is streched; the aspect ratio is not maintained.
2. VirtualDub saves the video to a HUGE .avi file.
3. The video is interlaced. What is the best tool in VirtualDub for deinterlacing that doesn't take too much processing time? Yadifmod+NNEDI2 I seem to like the best according to this post:
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/313797-Best-deinterlace-method
I just wish I could use that method in handbrake or VirtualDub. AviSynth is too complicated for me.
4. When will I have to worry about color space conversions, YUV to RGB?

Thank you.

[DB83]

1. Have you being playing around with the capture settings ? You can set a custom AR
2. Vdub defaults to uncompressed. So you must set the compression from the video menu (in capture mode). Lagarith or Huffyuv (depends what you have installed) are good choices. Still quite big files but not as big as uncompressed
3. What is your intended final format? If dvd, keep as interlaced.

[LMotlow]

Why are you deinterlacing? what do you want for final output? DVD and standard definition BluRay/AVCHD are interlaced.

If you capture to 4:3 frame size, the video won't look stretched. If you capture to 704x480 or 720x480, it will look stretched on a PC. But you can't make standard DVD/BluRay/AVCHD from 4:3 frames. You do understand at this point that DVD/BluRay/AVCHD standard-def are not square-pixel formats. Apparently those standard, universal formats are not what you're after but are looking more for PC or web playback at 60fps progressive.

Who sez the combination of yadif/NNedI2 was the "best"? That's subjective anyway. Most would say that the "best" deinterlacer around these days is QTGMC, or your TV or player.

Capture to huffyuv or Lagarith lossless compression to reduce your capture AVI to about 1/3 the sized of uncompressed AVI. You should be capturing to YUY2. As soon as you open a YUV file in VirtualDub and run filters, the file is converted to RGB. If you don't want RGB, don't use VirtuaLDub filters.

[Hypersonic1]

1. Have you being playing around with the capture settings ? You can set a custom AR

In set custom format, it is set to 720x480 UYVY, but it's still stretched out.

2. Vdub defaults to uncompressed. So you must set the compression from the video menu (in capture mode). Lagarith or Huffyuv (depends what you have installed) are good choices. Still quite big files but not as big as uncompressed.

I don't see those on there. This is what I see:

Also, I would like something that opens in Premiere Pro CC.

3. What is your intended final format? If dvd, keep as interlaced.

I already have other clips on the timeline that are progressive. It would take too much work to recapture everything as interlaced. My intended formats are DVD and computer.

[Hypersonic1]

Okay, I just installed Lagarith.

Who sez the combination of yadif/NNedI2 was the "best"? That's subjective anyway. Most would say that the "best" deinterlacer around these days is QTGMC, or your TV or player.

I heard QTGMC deinterlaces at about 1 fps, which is incredibly slow. Why would a TV or player be a better deinterlacer? Deinterlacing couldn't work that well in realtime. It makes sense to do all of the heavy processing before playing the video.

Capture to huffyuv or Lagarith lossless compression to reduce your capture AVI to about 1/3 the sized of uncompressed AVI. You should be capturing to YUY2. As soon as you open a YUV file in VirtualDub and run filters, the file is converted to RGB. If you don't want RGB, don't use VirtuaLDub
filters.

So then what am I suppose to do if I want to bring the video into Handbrake or eventually into Premiere Pro? I would probably like to use Neat Video as my final step.

[DB83]

You have to install the codec for it to appear in the list. Install Lagarith since there are several versions of huffyuv.

720*480 is not 4:3 (square pixel). I do not use vdub to capture but logic dictates that you choose 640*480

[Hypersonic1]

You have to install the codec for it to appear in the list. Install Lagarith since there are several versions of huffyuv.

720*480 is not 4:3 (square pixel). I do not use vdub to capture but logic dictates that you choose 640*480

I have some videos that were captured by someone else that are currently showing at 720x480 on my computer. However, they appear to be in the same aspect ratio as videos at 640x480. There is no stretching at all.

[johnmeyer]

You do understand that deinterlacing degrades the quality of the video? Even with high-end approaches, like the motion-estimation used in the QTGMC script you referenced, the fields created in order to bring the even and odd fields to the same point in time will contain artifacts.

Once you deinterlace, you can never get back to the original, so the quality loss is permanent.

A TV set does a better job at deinterlacing because it has direct access to the display's pixels and can do things specific to that particular hardware. Put another way, when was the last time you watched video on a modern television, and were aware of artifacts from how interlaced video was being handled?

I strongly recommend you capture, edit, and save your video in its original interlaced format. You'll save a lot of time, and the quality of the result will be better.

The final reason for this recommendation is that most people screw up the process of deinterlacing.

[DB83]

You have to install the codec for it to appear in the list. Install Lagarith since there are several versions of huffyuv.

720*480 is not 4:3 (square pixel). I do not use vdub to capture but logic dictates that you choose 640*480

I have some videos that were captured by someone else that are currently showing at 720x480 on my computer. However, they appear to be in the same aspect ratio as videos at 640x480. There is no stretching at all.

Unless there is somewhere in the capture properties to add a 4:3 flag, or the pixel aspect ration is not 1:1, to that 720*480 capture it will display as 3:2. Remember that the SAR for dvd is 720*480 but the pixels are not square so NTSC 4:3 dvd effectively displays at 640*480. Mpeg2 is usually captured that way.