A Couple Conversion ?s (1 re multi-angle & 1 re 3D)

[Seeker47]

The first is a long set aside problem that I'm now returning to. Have a Side-by-Side 3D format video that I'd like to convert to 2D, if I ever hope to view it. What software to use for this ? One of the more common converter programs ? [Or, are there some type of 3D glasses that will allow this to be viewed as 3D, even though I don't have a 3D player or 3D tv ?]

I have a couple of multi-angle concert DVDs from some years back. Somewhat surprising to me, but my Oppo BR player just could not handle them. Attempted playback was extremely fragmentary, constantly ricocheting every couple seconds, like broken up video + music that kept lurching and continually repeating. (Well, that's the best I can describe it.) I tried to turn OFF the multi-angle, but the Oppo could not get me anywhere useful in the menus for this. Some other things I had in mind to try next: See if other playback options like the WD Live might fare any better; run the DVDs through MakeMKV or AVStoDVD to see if I could lose everything but one mainline stream. Or am I on the wrong course here ?

[jagabo]

AviSynth can easily convert your SBS 3D video to 2D:

WhateverSource("filename.ext")
Crop(0, 0, width/2, -0).Spline36Resize(width, height)

But don't most 3d players let you force 2D display?

You could convert to anamorphic (red, cyan 3D glasses) but nobody wants to see that:

WhateverSource("filename.ext")
ConvertToRGB()
left = Crop(0, 0, width/2, -0)
right = Crop(width/2, 0, -0, -0)
MergeRGB(left.ShowRed, right.ShowGreen(), right.ShowBlue())
Spline36Resize(width*2, height)

If your source is full width SBS (eg. two 1920x1080 views side by side to make a 3840x1080 frame) you don't need the Spline36Resizes() filters.

Try VOB2MPG for the multi-angle stuff. It should remove all but one angle.

[Cornucopia]

Good options.

Anaglyph is poorer quality, but barring weird split-eye viewing, it is really the only consistent way to view 3D with legacy equipment.


Scott

[Seeker47]

AviSynth can easily convert your SBS 3D video to 2D:

WhateverSource("filename.ext")
Crop(0, 0, width/2, -0).Spline36Resize(width, height)

But don't most 3d players let you force 2D display?

You could convert to anamorphic (red, cyan 3D glasses) but nobody wants to see that:

WhateverSource("filename.ext")
ConvertToRGB()
left = Crop(0, 0, width/2, -0)
right = Crop(width/2, 0, -0, -0)
MergeRGB(left.ShowRed, right.ShowGreen(), right.ShowBlue())
Spline36Resize(width*2, height)

If your source is full width SBS (eg. two 1920x1080 views side by side to make a 3840x1080 frame) you don't need the Spline36Resizes() filters.

Try VOB2MPG for the multi-angle stuff. It should remove all but one angle.

Thanks for the suggestions.
I own no 3D playback equipment; the Oppo BR deck is not one of those 3D feature models. Haven't done much with AviSynth, other than what AVStoDVD does with it automatically. But I will try that. I think that SBS 3D video may have been in 720P, but will have to go back and confirm this.

Still wondering why the Oppo was so flummoxed by that multi-angle DVD. My wild guess turned out to be correct though, as the files of Disc One played fine with no issues through the WD Live TV. No problem controlling it via the menus. As long as it was playable through one device or another, that's fine with me. Never made any use of a multi-angle feature in the past, so I'm not even clear on what it is supposed to offer. (Obviously not the repetitious stutter-step that I ran into . . . . )

[aedipuss]

multi-angle was used for interactive dvds. like a murder mystery stopping to ask if you thought a or b did it, the video could branch off as per your choice.

half side by side has a single 1920x1080 frame with 2 versions of the frame next to each other. the 3d player would show the left eye one version and the right eye the other usually by use of blu-tooth connected active glasses that blanked the eye with the half frame not being displayed on the tv.


might be easier to go find a non-3d version....

[Seeker47]

I can't seem to locate the executable (?) for Avisynth, in order to run it standalone. Perhaps it requires another front end for that ? I tried to directly run the Avisynth 260 that is found in the program tree for AVStoDVD, though it seems to just install that Avisynth, but then again if there was some program .Exe there I'm not seeing it.

[jagabo]

I can't seem to locate the executable (?) for Avisynth, in order to run it standalone.

Because there is none. You create AviSynth scripts with a text editor then open those scripts as if they are video files with an editor or encoder that supports them (VirtualDub2, MeGUI, etc.) A lot of people like to use Avspmod to create and edit AviSynth scripts -- it has a lot of helper functions. VirtualDub2 also as an AviSynth script editor built in though it's not as helpful as Avspmod.

[Cornucopia]

Think of it like a script-based runtime API that requires a compatible receiving application (editor, encoder, previewer...) to complete.


Scott

[Seeker47]

And there is no way to do this through AVStoDVD, which also has the Avisynth component, and with which I've had some acquaintance ?

This procedure might have been easier and more direct if one of the converter programs I had on hand (like WinX HD Video Converter or Wonderfox HD Converter, or a couple others) offered that facility. But I already checked those first two and apparently they don't. They still just output the dual side-by-side frames.

O.K., if there is no cut to the chase on this, I'll see what headway I can make with Avspmod & MeGUI.

[jagabo]

Pretty much any editor that lets you crop the frame and resize can do this. Just crop off half the frame, resize if necessary, then encode.

It may be possible to do it without even reencoding, depending on what player you use. You could remux the source into an MKV container with cropping and aspect ratio flags.

[Seeker47]

Pretty much any editor that lets you crop the frame and resize can do this. Just crop off half the frame, resize if necessary, then encode.

It may be possible to do it without even reencoding, depending on what player you use. You could remux the source into an MKV container with cropping and aspect ratio flags.

Thanks again for your help. I used this, one of the Digiarty programs, which have seemed decent

https://sharewareonsale.com/s/free-videoproc-100-discount

(a free promo for another 3 days, btw)

and of which I had used an earlier version on another rig in the past. It did have a convenient, easy to access crop function, and I ran the .MKV file through that. Did not quite manage to hit the mark precisely, as there is about a 1/16th of an inch vertical slice of the 2nd. frame remaining, for the full running time. But, no matter, this can be ignored; just as I did not care very much about any 3D viewing option, this will be sufficient to enable a one-time watch, and that's all I was after. Everything essential will be present. (The 12.something GB .MKV file was transmuted into a 3.3 GB H264 .MP4)

Out of curiosity, was this SBS format popular among the 3D fans ?

[Cornucopia]

(1/2) SBS is/was one of the most common formats for frame-compatible (aka legacy-compatible) stereo 3D. Some might say that made it most popular, but it was common by necessity & convenience (even though 1/2 Top/Bottom was ostensibly better at preserving 3D definition).
I would also say that Red/Cyan Anaglyph was still very common (popular?) due to its legacy compatibility & convenience.

Neither of those, nor any of the frame-compatible formats, were fully and natively/automatically backward compatible to 2D, and that has always been a sticking point. One reason the service-compatible formats (with base + enhancement layers) like mvc were so welcomed. Too bad they came late to the game.


Scott