Pulsing problems

[salvo00786]

Hi... I want to try to restore the first series of The Simpsons, because I don't like the Disney+ restored version, but in the first 3/4 seasons there are various pulsing problems. I have tried with Checkmate and QTGMC, but I can't resolve this. Can you help me to understand what I have to use for this problem and what is this problem name (probably flickering)?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tnnVXDtvuxlEM7yVijRyAyA0IR8Jrdsm/view?usp=sharing

You can see that the details in the background and in the face are pulsing.

[jagabo]

I noticed that there is a period of about 12 frames where an edge will be up for 6 frames then down for 6 frames. So taking every 6the frame of the source will give lines that bump up and down every frame. QTGMC(InputType=2) is good at removing the up/down bounce with every frame (typically from simple bob deinterlace). So:

LWLibavVideoSource("Pulsing.mkv") 

# stabilize the film bounce first
Stab(dxmax=2, dymax=2, mirror=15)

# build a map of horizontal edges
hzedges=Sharpen(0.0, 1.0).mt_edge(mode="-1 -1 -1 1 1 1 0 0 0", thy1=20, thy2=20).mt_expand(chroma="-128").Blur(1.0)

r0 = SelectEvery(6,0).QTGMC(InputType=2, Sharpness=0.0)
r1 = SelectEvery(6,1).QTGMC(InputType=2, Sharpness=0.0)
r2 = SelectEvery(6,2).QTGMC(InputType=2, Sharpness=0.0)
r3 = SelectEvery(6,3).QTGMC(InputType=2, Sharpness=0.0)
r4 = SelectEvery(6,4).QTGMC(InputType=2, Sharpness=0.0)
r5 = SelectEvery(6,5).QTGMC(InputType=2, Sharpness=0.0)
steady = Interleave(r0, r1, r2, r3, r4, r5).QTGMC(InputType=2)

# QTGMC introduces some ghosting, limiting the heavy processing to just around horizontal edges removes a lot of that
Overlay(last, steady, mask=hzedges)

# a strong temporal noise reduction filter removes most of the remaining ghosting and flicker
SMDegrain(thsad=1000, tr=6, PreFilter=0)

The string temporal filtering might cause problems in some panning shots.

[jagabo]

Regarding the above script: If you want less filtering of the main video apply SMDegrain only to the "steady" clip.

[salvo00786]

Wow Jagabo, you are the master at this.

Another question out of this problem.

What is the best media player for seeing the real video file (a strange question, I know). I can explain, I finished a file and until Yesterday, I was very happy of the result but... Today I opened the file with VLC and the file is very dark. My default media player is MPC-BE, but at this point I don't know if is reliable for opening video edited files. Now, tell me please, between mpc-be and vlc, who give the real vision of the file?

[jagabo]

It depends on the player's settings. Pretty much all players can be set up for correct or incorrect playback. Here's the video I uploaded above played in MPC-BE, MPC-HC, and VLC:


[Attachment 72236 - Click to enlarge]

They're all the same.

Are you working with HDR video?