Problems with Donald Graft’s Smart Bob filter

Leica Man · 17th February 2002, 08:06

Hi all,

Please help!

I have tried many different methods of transferring my home videos onto Divx. I have tried many deinterlacing filters, the best one I find by Donald Graft and his smart deinterlace filter.

However the video is always unsmooth and jerky. The simple fact is that going from 60 fields a second to 30 frames a second causes loss of smoothness. So I tried converting 60 fields a second to 60 frames a second.

The results I got at 60 frames per second were amazing. The motion was silky smooth. It was like watching video on a high quality NTSC monitor, if not better.

This is how I did it. Basically I used the instructions from the web site of Donald Graft’s “smart bob” filter. I created an AVISynth script file:-

clip=AVISource(“c:\file.avi”)
clip.SeperateFields

I then opened this file in Virtual Dub and I applied the “smart bob” filter to it and then saved the file. After that I reseized it, compressed it, etc. The end result was a silky smooth file at 59.94 frames per second.

Anyway my problem is this. If I do this on a small file of say 30-60 seconds, then all is well. However if I do this on a large file of say 10 minutes then Virtual Dub crashes. It crashes right at the end when it is about to finish the job, as shown in the status window.

I further found out that the exact limit is not in time but the resulting file size. If the output file is less than 2GB then all is well. Anything over and Virtual Dub crashes.

I am using Windows XP and I have plenty of memory and hard drive space. All my partitions are NTFS. I am using verision 1.4.8 of Virtual Dub and version 1.05 of AVISynth. I tried 1.04 of AVISynth and the same results happen. The version of the smart bob filter is 1.1 beta 2.

Anyway can someone PLEASE help me with what I am doing wrong?

Or is there ANY other way using any other software in reaching my goal, which is to convert my home videos to Divx format at a frame rate of 59.94 fps?

I am intent on 59.94 fps, as it offers amazing smoothness and fluidity of motion.

Thank you very much!

zettai · 18th February 2002, 01:52

Doesn't the

Bob

command in Avisynth do exactly what you want?

Guest · 18th February 2002, 02:00

@zettai

No. Smart Bob is a motion adaptive algorithm.

@Leica Man

You shouldn't jump to conclusions about which software is at fault!
It is very unlikely that Smart Bob could be responsible for your file size problem. What encoder are you using to compress? Have you tried different codecs? Are you able to save files that big when the filter is not applied (with all other variables the same)? When other filters are applied?

Leica Man · 18th February 2002, 02:27

@neuron2

Sorry I did not mean to blame your filter. I love your work!

I am encoding with Huffy and also uncompressed. Same thing. I can't save more than 2GB of a clip. Of course with huffy I can get many more frames in 2GB than in umcompressed format.

The software I am using is VirtualDub 1.4.8.

I use your new DeComb filter and I apply it to 2 hour movies with huffy and my file size is a massive 27GB and no problems using Avisynth and DeComb again, via Virtual Dub.

Is there a way to use AviSynth without Virtual Dub?

Thanks!

Guest · 18th February 2002, 03:27

Please post the VirtualDub crash dump. Thank you.

Leica Man · 18th February 2002, 04:06

<<Please post the VirtualDub crash dump. Thank you.>>

Sorry, but how do I do that? When the program crashes, I get a message from Windows XP saying the progam as encountered an error, etc.

By the way I really appreciate your help.

Also, I am surprised at the lack of informaion when it comes to converting NTSC or PAL video into progessive 59.97 or 50 fps Divx files. Looks like no ones else is doing it!

Sure for film originated stuff you can't beat IVTC, like your Decomb filter, but for stuff that originates on video like home movies or sports, i.e. lots of motion, 59.97 looks amazing. What do you think?

Thanks again!

Guest · 18th February 2002, 06:10

Generally, when filters crash VirtualDub catches it and produces a crash dump dialog box. If this doesn't occur it tends to exonerate the filter. I suggest you consult the author of VirtualDub, Avery Lee, about this.

Yes, 60 fps can be nice, but the flutter and sparkling resulting from the field bobbing can sometimes be objectionable. Also, you need a very fast computer to play it at full frame rate, especially if it is full-sized video.

17th February 2002, 08:06	#1 \| Link
Leica Man Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 9	Problems with Donald Graft’s Smart Bob filter Hi all, Please help! I have tried many different methods of transferring my home videos onto Divx. I have tried many deinterlacing filters, the best one I find by Donald Graft and his smart deinterlace filter. However the video is always unsmooth and jerky. The simple fact is that going from 60 fields a second to 30 frames a second causes loss of smoothness. So I tried converting 60 fields a second to 60 frames a second. The results I got at 60 frames per second were amazing. The motion was silky smooth. It was like watching video on a high quality NTSC monitor, if not better. This is how I did it. Basically I used the instructions from the web site of Donald Graft’s “smart bob” filter. I created an AVISynth script file:- clip=AVISource(“c:\file.avi”) clip.SeperateFields I then opened this file in Virtual Dub and I applied the “smart bob” filter to it and then saved the file. After that I reseized it, compressed it, etc. The end result was a silky smooth file at 59.94 frames per second. Anyway my problem is this. If I do this on a small file of say 30-60 seconds, then all is well. However if I do this on a large file of say 10 minutes then Virtual Dub crashes. It crashes right at the end when it is about to finish the job, as shown in the status window. I further found out that the exact limit is not in time but the resulting file size. If the output file is less than 2GB then all is well. Anything over and Virtual Dub crashes. I am using Windows XP and I have plenty of memory and hard drive space. All my partitions are NTFS. I am using verision 1.4.8 of Virtual Dub and version 1.05 of AVISynth. I tried 1.04 of AVISynth and the same results happen. The version of the smart bob filter is 1.1 beta 2. Anyway can someone PLEASE help me with what I am doing wrong? Or is there ANY other way using any other software in reaching my goal, which is to convert my home videos to Divx format at a frame rate of 59.94 fps? I am intent on 59.94 fps, as it offers amazing smoothness and fluidity of motion. Thank you very much!

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18th February 2002, 01:52	#2 \| Link
zettai Fascinated Lurker Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Durham, UK Posts: 243	Doesn't the Bob command in Avisynth do exactly what you want?

18th February 2002, 02:00	#3 \| Link
Guest Guest Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 21,901	@zettai No. Smart Bob is a motion adaptive algorithm. @Leica Man You shouldn't jump to conclusions about which software is at fault! It is very unlikely that Smart Bob could be responsible for your file size problem. What encoder are you using to compress? Have you tried different codecs? Are you able to save files that big when the filter is not applied (with all other variables the same)? When other filters are applied?

18th February 2002, 02:27	#4 \| Link
Leica Man Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 9	@neuron2 Sorry I did not mean to blame your filter. I love your work! I am encoding with Huffy and also uncompressed. Same thing. I can't save more than 2GB of a clip. Of course with huffy I can get many more frames in 2GB than in umcompressed format. The software I am using is VirtualDub 1.4.8. I use your new DeComb filter and I apply it to 2 hour movies with huffy and my file size is a massive 27GB and no problems using Avisynth and DeComb again, via Virtual Dub. Is there a way to use AviSynth without Virtual Dub? Thanks!

18th February 2002, 03:27	#5 \| Link
Guest Guest Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 21,901	Please post the VirtualDub crash dump. Thank you.

18th February 2002, 04:06	#6 \| Link
Leica Man Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 9	<<Please post the VirtualDub crash dump. Thank you.>> Sorry, but how do I do that? When the program crashes, I get a message from Windows XP saying the progam as encountered an error, etc. By the way I really appreciate your help. Also, I am surprised at the lack of informaion when it comes to converting NTSC or PAL video into progessive 59.97 or 50 fps Divx files. Looks like no ones else is doing it! Sure for film originated stuff you can't beat IVTC, like your Decomb filter, but for stuff that originates on video like home movies or sports, i.e. lots of motion, 59.97 looks amazing. What do you think? Thanks again!

18th February 2002, 06:10	#7 \| Link
Guest Guest Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 21,901	Generally, when filters crash VirtualDub catches it and produces a crash dump dialog box. If this doesn't occur it tends to exonerate the filter. I suggest you consult the author of VirtualDub, Avery Lee, about this. Yes, 60 fps can be nice, but the flutter and sparkling resulting from the field bobbing can sometimes be objectionable. Also, you need a very fast computer to play it at full frame rate, especially if it is full-sized video.