digitalFAQ.com Forum - Feedback on 8mm/VHS workflow captures?

Thank you for the samples.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveFiveThousand (Post 67991)

3. ffmpeg to convert to FFV1 + FLAC audio in MKV container

Why?
What are your plans for this format?
What software are you using for cleanup?
We would prefer the original capture.

Some notes on the samples:

VHS sample.mkv:
Not too noisy, but it appears to be out of focus. Sample is a bit too short for determining the proper color balance because of mixed lighting. There's nothing you can do about the focus. In the attached trial cleanup my choice of color balance is mostly arbitrary, but black levels seem to me to be far too high. Again, the sample is too brief to determine.

Code:

# ================== FFMS2 ==================

FFpath="D:\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\ffms2231\"

loadplugin(FFpath+"ffms2.dll")

Import(FFpath+"ffms2.avsi")



# ========== QTGMC for AVS26 & YUY2 =========

Qpath="D:\Avisynth 2.5\plugins\AVS26\QTGMC\"

Import(Qpath+"QTGMC_333s_for_avs_260.avs")

LoadPlugin(Qpath+"avstp.dll")



FFmpegSource2("I:\forum5\faq\DaveFiveThousand\VHS sample.mkv")

AssumeTFF()

ConvertToYUY2(interlaced=true)

ColorYUV(off_v=15)

QTGMC(preset="very fast",EZDenoise=6,denoiser="dfttest",ChromaMotion=true,\

   border=true,ChromaNoise=true,DenoiseMC=true,GrainRestore=0.3)

ConvertToYV24(interlaced=false)

vInverse()

ConvertToYUY2(interlaced=false)

Crop(12,4,0,-6).AddBorders(6,4,6,6)

SeparateFields().SelectEvery(4,0,3).Weave()

ConvertToRGB32(interlaced=true,matrix="Rec601")  #<- For VirtualDub RGB color

return last

VirtualDub filters used for color correction were ColorMill & gradatioon curves.

Attached cleanup trial is encoded for DVD: VHS_trial_480i_DVD.mpg

8mm sample.mkv:
Good control of signal levels. Very fuzzy, with obvious, powdery grain. Typical noisy interlace and aliasing on motion with consumer camera. It's the way the shutter and camera cause mismatched field edges. A common problem, not very noticeable on CRTs or plasmas but annoying on LCD's. The cures are worse than the problem, and anti-aliasing filters don't fix it. One fix is to deinterlace and discard alternate fields, but this destroys 50% of temporal resolution and causes choppy playback on fast motion video. The other solution is double frame rate deinterlace. I would advise that deinterlacing in ffmpg somewhat sucks. The reencoding also looks somewhat eviscerated, a little anime-like but not much -- maybe this is just a perceptual effect from the codec used. Color is a little too cyan. I processed two versions, one version at 4x3 59.94p for web posting or other progressive playback, and one version reinterlaced.

Script for double frame rate 640x480 progressive:

Code:

# ================== FFMS2 ==================

FFpath="D:\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\ffms2231\"

loadplugin(FFpath+"ffms2.dll")

Import(FFpath+"ffms2.avsi")



# ========== QTGMC for AVS26 & YUY2 =========

Qpath="D:\Avisynth 2.5\plugins\AVS26\QTGMC\"

Import(Qpath+"QTGMC_333s_for_avs_260.avs")

LoadPlugin(Qpath+"avstp.dll")



FFmpegSource2("I:\forum5\faq\DaveFiveThousand\8mm sample.mkv")

AssumeTFF()

ConvertToYUY2(interlaced=true)

QTGMC(preset="medium",EZDenoise=8,denoiser="dfttest",ChromaMotion=true,\

   border=true,DenoiseMC=true,GrainRestore=0.3)

ConvertToYV24(interlaced=false)

vInverse()

ConvertToYUY2(interlaced=false)

Crop(14,0,-8,-12).AddBorders(10,6,12,6)

Spline36Resize(640,height)

return last

For the DVD interlaced version, replace the line "Spline36Resize(640,height)" with:
SeparateFields().SelectEvery(4,0,3).Weave()

Attached, encoded for 4x3 59.94p: 8mm_trial_59.94p_4x3.mp4
Attached, encoded for DVD: 8mm_trial_480i_DVD.mpg