Two VirtualDub questions: cropping artifact, file splitting start/end points
 

Like most people on this forum, I'm transferring old VHS tapes to DVD. I'm using VirtualDub, a Diamond VC500 capture device, and a Magnavox mono HQ VCR, model number illegible, salvaged from GoodWill. I'm satisfied with the quality of the capture (it's actually better than the TV playback from a newer Panasonic VCR I have attached directly to our HDTV) and have worked out good settings for the few filters I want to use (mostly noise reduction, with a bit of sharpening to compensate for sharpness lost in NR). However, two issues have come up that I can't find answers for, either here or anywhere else I've searched online:

(1) I'm trying to split a one-hour tape into several shorter segments in order to create chapters on a DVD, and I would rather not drop any frames in the process, so that playing through the split on the DVD will not be noticeable (and sound in the second segment won't slip out of sync). I understand that VirtualDub's selections are end-point exclusive. I'm guessing this means that if I want, say, two chapters, one containing frames 0-10000 and the other containing frames 10001-20000, I should set the first selection to 0-10001 and the second to 10000-20001. Is this correct, or will it cause a one-frame overlap? As a side issue, does anyone know of free (or cheap) DVD authoring software that will allow chapter or scene cues to be set where the user chooses instead of where the software chooses without having to split the video at those points before handing it off to the authoring program?

(2) To mask out the overscan noise at the bottom of the capture, I've tried using (a) the fill filter, (b) the resize filter with cropping, and (c) both together. All three methods leave one nice bright line of overscan at the very bottom of the screen, beneath the black mask created to block it out, when played back through a computer media player such as WMP or KMP. Should I be worried about this for playback through a DVD player attached to an LCD TV? If so, does anyone know of a way to get rid of it?

(1) End point is exclusive but start point is inclusive. Your method duplicates frame 10000. Go to frame 10001, hit End, save video. Don't change the frame you're on. Hit Start, go to frame 20001, hit End, save video.

DVDs have to have chapters that start on keyframes. You could force the keyframe in your MPEG-2 encoder instead of cutting, if you know how.

(2) Not sure what's going on there... I use Avisynth's Letterbox feature (or Crop + AddBorders to center).

Thanks, msgohan. I'll correct the overlap. I was afraid that might be happening.

I've been saving in uncompressed avi and letting the authoring program do the mpeg-2 conversion. Perhaps I should be doing it myself. However, I'm not sure how forcing a keyframe where I want one is going to guarantee that the software will put a chapter on that particular keyframe and not another nearby. Is there something I'm missing?

Re the overscan noise: I may just skip blacking any of it out. The black band with a single flashing line under it is flat annoying. Anyone else having this problem? Any ideas how to fix it?

It won't. I assumed you were manually specifying chapters.

I wish. I've tried 4 authoring packages - DVDflick, DVDstyler, ArcSoft, and MS DVD Maker. Of those, only ArcSoft appears to allow chapters to be user-specified, and it doesn't seem to work (the program crashes midway through chapter setting). I've looked at the specs for a few others and haven't been encouraged to try them. That's the reason for the splitting part of my original post here. If anyone knows something inexpensive that actually works, I'd appreciate knowing about it.

Re the other problem - the bright flickering line at the bottom of the screen after cropping and letterboxing - it appears, after a little more experimentation, to be an artifact of the way uncompressed AVI files are played back on a Windows computer. I've come to that conclusion after noting that it was prominent in KMP, occasional in WMP, and apparently absent altogether in Quicktime Player. I'm going to go ahead and burn a DVD and see if it shows up there. I'll post the results here, probably later today.

-- update --

OK, so I missed "later today." Time flies when you're having fun. I did want to report success on the bright flickering line issue - it doesn't appear on the DVD. Success on the chapter issue, too, tempered somewhat by the fact that MS DVD Maker insists on holding the last frame of each chapter for a couple of seconds before the next one starts. I don't see an option to get rid of that behavior, which kinda plays havoc with continuity. Still looking for a better authoring program.

Most of this is easily solved with a better VCR: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...ing-guide.html
An external TBC is also advised for dropped frames, and flicking (likely false Macrovision dteection)

And the chapter issue is fixed by using TMPGEnc DVD Author (or the newer TMPGEnc Authoring Works).

I'm curious how this project turned out, or if it's still not complete.

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