Star Wars Conversions-Hit me with your best shot...

[Mythos2002]

I wouldn't think it would be the video card. Have you noticed dropped frames? I did all of Empire with 17 dropped frames which isn't bad. It averaged 4 dropped frames spread out per LD side. If I dropped 17 in one spot, I probably would have noticed. Dropped frames can affect your audio sync if there is enough of them. That's why I recommended Huffyuv. If I try to capture uncompressed AVI, I will drop frames like crazy.

Actually, I think your soundcard would be more likely to cause sync issues. I use the soundcard that is built into my motherboard. Whenever I captured directly at 48,000khz, I would get out of sync. as well as sped up audio. I solved this by capturing at 44,100khz and then converting it to 48,000khz. What type of soundcard do you have.

Those are a few of the suggestions I have off of the top of my head. There are others here who know a lot more than me. I'm still trying to resolve quality issues.

Mythos

[prev]

During the whole 49 min capture i did not drop a frame in uncompressed mode. My soundcard is a Creative Live! Value with a Live Drive II attachment.

[Robster]

Would something like a Canopus advc1394 help. I want to capture to uncompressed .avi and NOT dv though as DV has a strange effect when capturing laserdisc.

Yes it would help.

What strange effect are you talking about?

[prev]

I've got some serious DV artifacting when capturing via my Dazzle Hollywood Bridge from Laserdisc. The uncompressed route is working at the moment. It's just the audio that's out of sync. I managed to fix that in Premiere but it's a lot of work. I even tried capturing the soundtrack only on Sound Forge at 44,100 but it was still out of sync (capture settings: Input: SMPTE Non-Drop frame 29.97, 44100)

[Mythos2002]

Prev,

I'm not sure what to tell you on that. I would check the capture card comments link on the left of this page to see if there is any information on how to correct it. Hopefully, Menace will chime in. I think he has a Dazzle (not sure which one) and has finished encoding the films. You can check back through the thread and see if there are any clues on how to fix it. A Canopus would definitely be nice, if you could take back your Dazzle instead of being stuck with it. There may be a simple fix. I wish I knew what it would be.

I have a couple of questions. I encoded my Wav into an AC3, but only ended up with an hour of noise. Any ideas what I did wrong. I have the AC3 filter installed from SourceForge.

I was wondering if someone who has finished encoding Empire can do me a favor and check out the scene where Han finds Luke on Hoth. I'm getting a lot of noise due to the blowing snow. It looks more like ghosting, especially around Han's face. In the original LD source, there is no ghosting, but his face is barely visible even there. Any suggestions?

Also, what AVISynth filters do you recommend? TMPNGenc's is just too slow. Do I have anything in my above script ( a few posts up) that is just unnecessary? I seem to get the ghosting effect with and without using AVISynth.

DJrumpy: What AVISynth filters do you normally use when it comes to noise reduction?

Thanks.

Mythos

[MJPollard]

Can you believe it? Exactly one year ago today, therick started this thread with a laudible goal:

Ok, I am a self diagnosed video nut now, I admit it...but a year ago this little obsession started out with one thing on my wish list-to be able to watch the ORGINAL Episodes 4,5,and 6 on my DVD player in WIDESCREEN. Now I have been scouring many forums trying to learn all that I can to make this happen and get the best quality.

We've been discussing this topic ever since, and though I haven't checked, this thread may qualify to be one of the longest continuously updated threads on this site. And though it's only added to on occasion, it nevertheless shows no sign of stopping. Maybe a new forum should be started just for this topic.

(Makes me wish that Lucas read this board; he could see for himself just how hungry people are for episodes 4-6 on DVD.)

As for myself, I came into this thread late, but I know I've picked up quite a bit from reading it. It's helped me immensely in my LD-to-DVD projects (even the non-SW ones I've begun pursuing). Kudos to all who've made such fantastic contributions, and let's keep 'er going as long as we can!

[indolikaa]

I was wondering if someone who has finished encoding Empire can do me a favor and check out the scene where Han finds Luke on Hoth. I'm getting a lot of noise due to the blowing snow. It looks more like ghosting, especially around Han's face. In the original LD source, there is no ghosting, but his face is barely visible even there. Any suggestions?

I finished Empire and have both the .avi and .mpeg files backed up. I will check them when I get home tonight. I don't remember specifically what settings I used for the mpegs, but it was pretty high.

[Mythos2002]

Thanks Martin.

Thanks Indolikaa. I appreciate that. You do have some interesting avatars. This is like the fourth one I've seen for you. The one I have now was one they gave me at the OriginalTrilogy.com forum. I guess they did it since I mentioned my LD conversion endevour.

Mythos

[indolikaa]

Thank you. I like changing the avatars and the signature on a regular basis. Adds a little fun to this board.

I have been saving my .avi files in hopes that I will better understand this whole process. I am still getting thoroughly confused over NTSC geometry, so when I figure all this out (interlace, telecine, 3:2 pulldown, etc.) I'll always have my original transfer to play with.

I have tossed the DVC-II and am going to order the Canopus. In the meantime I'm just passing the signals through my DVCam and capturing them with WinDV. I have also started using BeSweet for all audio coding and I am playing with DVDLab for authoring and burning. Both programs appear to be worthy of registration/donation.

I am going back to study this NTSC thing a little more. It almost seems like PAL is the simpler way to go...

[Robster]

Although I'm in PAL-land, all of my LDs and DVDs originate from the US/Canada so my viewing is predominantly NTSC - and so are my LD-DVD conversions.

Here's I solved insurmountable problems of NTSC:

1. Capture using the ADVC-1394 card.

2. Encode using TMPGENC - ticking the options for IVTC and 3/2 pulldown when playback.

3. Enjoy those perfect transfers

[Mythos2002]

I've decided with doing single disc versions. I know I'll lose some bitrate, but realistically, I'm not going to sit there and watch these over and over again. Robster said that I should try single disc versions first because I would be surprised at the quality. I think he was right.

I can't take credit for this discovery, but I also can't find it again on the forum. It appears that TMPENG might be backwards with Aspect Ratio settings. If I put the source at 16:9 525 Line (720x480) and the Stream at 4:3, I get an image with no bars down the sides (just on top and bottom as they should be). I'm still experimenting with this as I could be way off.

I was wondering if someone could help me with the GOP settings. I'm going to go through the film and insert the I pictures where the scene changes occur. I just don't know what the settings should be under bitrate for B and P picture spoilage and the GOP structure tab. My spoilage is at the default of 0 for P and 20 for B. My GOP numbers under the structure tab are at the default 1 5 2 1 18 and the Output bitstream for edit (Closed GOP) and Detect scene change options are checked. Is that correct? I also know I have to check the option Force picture type setting. My structure looks like IBBPBBPBBPBBPBBP. Is that correct or do I need to hit I picture only, I,P picture only, or the standard tabs?

Thanks
Mythos

[indolikaa]

Mythos2002:

Here's your Empire frames for comparison!



Frame 1 is the .avi captured as follows: LD Player (S-Video + RCA Audio) Sony DV Camcorder (Firewire) WinDV.
Frame 1 is 720x480 @ 29.97 fps as Uncompressed RGB24.
(I used the Panasonic DV Codec to capture from the DV Cam, but VirtualDub reports no compression on the .avi file.)

Frame 2 is the .m2v coded as follows: TMPGEnc 720x480 @ 29.97 fps, 2-Pass VBR 0/5000/8000 with no filters and no additional processing.

This frame was the worst frame I could find in the sequence. Hope this helps, but I don't see any frames where the face is obscured enough to match your description.

.indolikaa.

[Mythos2002]

Thanks indolikka

Here is my image. I didn't use any noise filters on mine. I've pretty much scrapted noise reduction all together because it tends to make things worse. This image came from the source range filter inside TMPENG. I can't figure out how to get a picture from Windows Media Player.



I'm still trying to work on the Aspect Ratio and GOP picture settings. My image doesn't look good, but it is an improvement over what it would be with noise reduction.

Thanks again.

Mythos

[Robster]

Myth, I'm still confused over the aspect ratio problems you're having.

The TMPGEnc settings should be:

Video tab, Aspect Ratio: 4:3 display (or 16:9 display if you want 16:9).

(this sets the OUTPUT aspect ratio)

And on the advanced tab; 4:3 525 line (NTSC, whatever lines) and Full Screen (keep aspect ratio).

If this is coming out wrong then perhaps AviSynth is screwing things up. btw you should have slight bars left/right, but you wont see them on your TV due to overscan.

Then again, I'm still not sure why you're using AviSynth

[Mythos2002]

I've tried that with and without AVISynth. When I set 4:3 525 line (NTSC, 740x480) for source under the advanced tab and 16:9 Display under the video tab, I get a picture in the center with thick bars on all sides. That's also with using Full Screen (keep aspect ratio) for the Video Arrange Method. Maybe Center (custom size) would help.

Mythos

[energy80s]

Use the "Full Screen" option without keeping the aspect ratio correct for your video arrange method. Set your output to either 4:3 if it's already letterboxed, or 16:9 if you have an anamorphic capture.

[Mythos2002]

Well, the source is 4:3, but I'm trying to make it 16:9.

Mythos

[Robster]

Something weird is going on there.

I wouldn't mind getting a hold of a little bit of one of your captures to try it on my sytem.

[Mythos2002]

That would be cool. Would you prefer the raw capture or one after it had been encoded? The bad thing is that I don't have any webspace. Do you have any ideas?

One other note. If I choose 16:9 for both settings using Full Screen (keep aspect ratio), it looks about right. Unless there is something wrong with how I'm viewing. I use Windows Media Player and WinDVD3.0 to check out my encodes.

I found something else. Check out this thread and go down to where DJRumpy lists his results with each of the Video Arrange Methods.
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=484968&highlight=wrong+aspect+ratio#484968

By what he is saying, I think that I have to set 16:9 for both tabs in order to have the black bars from the sides removed. I know monitors are different than TV's, but I think my monitor is 4:3 and shouldn't have bars on the sides when I view the clips I encode. My captures blown up to full size don't have bars on the sides. It's just my TMPENG encodes when I use 4:3 options for source. Thanks.

Mythos

[Robster]

Raw capture Myth, that way I can play about with it. Just a few seconds - 5-10 at the most.

Easiest way would be for you to upload it to me via FTP. Give me a day or two to get things sorted here.

[Mythos2002]

Thanks Robster. What I did when I joined the files together in Virtual Dub was save the wave. Then when I saved the video, I selected no audio. That way, I could save space. I'll pick out a small 10-15 second section of my capture and send it to you when you are ready. Thanks again for all of your help.

I had another question concerning the aspect ratio. I have the black bars down the sides when I use 4:3 for source and 16:9 for display and play the clips in Windows Media Player and WinDVD. Is that normal since this is on my monitor? I haven't had time to burn these clips to my test DVD-RW to see how they will be displayed on the TV.

Ok. I made a test DVD-RW using several clips encoded with variations of the Source and Display aspect ratios. I have two DVD Players, so I was able to compare my clips and Phantom Menace. I also marked off the black bars on top and bottom so I could compare results. My TV is 4:3. The clip that matched the aspect ratio of Menace and had the top and bottom black bars in the same place was the one I used 16:9 for Source and 16:9 for Display and Full Screen (Keep Aspect Ratio) for the Arrange Video Method. Both DVD players were setup with the 4:3 Display mode since my TV is 4:3. The clips with 4:3 for source either had black bars on the sides or were stretched out of proportion.

My goal is a 16:9 DVD because I plan to buy a Widescreen HDTV down the road. Do my results make sense, or is something going wrong with
TMPENG?

I have one other question that may be the cause of all of my problems. Do I need a DVD authoring program that will put a 16:9 flag into my DVD? Would putting a flag like that in help, so when I pick 4:3 source and 16:9 Display, my TV would display the DVD correctly with just the top and bottom bars?

Mythos

[Robster]

Myth, I'm gonna have wait 'till the weekend to get the FTP set up so I'll be able to investigate then.

[Mythos2002]

Thanks Robster. I appreciate all of your help. I've still been experimenting here and there. What do you recommend for authoring software?

Mythos

[indolikaa]

If I ever figure out all the nuances, DVDLab looks to be THE authoring solution. It's robust, to say the least.

[Hazza]

I second DVDLab. Very flexible and powerfull.

I have a question for the people out there capturing off VHS or LD using Analogue-to-Digital Passthrough with a Handycam (or ADVC100 etc) I have no problems with the video but the audio is coming out very tinny (almost as if there is a few milliseconds delay between the stereo channels). Is anyone getting perfect stereo out of captures using this method? I am using VHS so I know the video quality won't be perfect but I am impressed with it. My handycam is Sony DCR-TRV22.

Also are there movie sound tracks available to download anywhere?

Cheers.

Hazza.

[Robster]

Myth - DVDLab. Nothing else in the price range ($79) comes close in terms of features.

Biggest attraction for me was the ability to import Dolby Digital soundtracks. The only other one I know of in the sub $400 range is TMPGENc's own author program, but that's massively inferior to DVDLab.

Hazza, my audio was captured through the ADVC-1394 at the same time as the video and there's no sync or quality issues at all. If you're feeding the signal through another device (i.e. camera) before caputre that's likely to be the source of the problems.

If you've got a soundcard with digtal-in then it would be better to capture through that (digitally, obviously) and then sort out the sync yourself. Not easy, but not impossible and guaranteed good quality.

[Robster]

Myth, PM'd you with FTP details.

[tarpot]

I've just completed Star Wars from the definative collection boxset.
Captured through a Canopus advc-50.
Encoded with TMPGenc, cropped to 16:9 image.
Used besweet to convert .wav to .ac3
Used Spruce up to author each side.
Ifoedit to strip, enable player 16:9 and join.
I know it probably doesn't make sense cropping to 16:9, but it does look better than leaving it as 4:3.
I'm happy with the results.

[Robster]

Cropping means to chop off part of the image - I presume (hope) you don't mean this

[Robster]

Right, I've done the test.

I've had no problems at all with the aspect ratio. This is using Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Display, Source Aspect: 4:3 525 line, Video Arrange: Full Screen (keep aspect ratio).

However, using the same settings I used for my own transfers, I'm noticing a slight 'judder' to the image when play. I'm not sure what's causing it, but it doesn't look right.

If you go back to my FTP server, you'll find a copy of the 4:3 encoded test I've just done (Empire test 4-3.m2v), plus a file called 'sw 4-3.mcf' which is the settings file for TMPGEnc I use. For some reason the settings doesn't retain the Inverse Telecine option, so I always tick that before encoding.