MipSmooth 1.0 released

sh0dan · 12th October 2003, 12:50

Hi folks!

I pulled myself together and implemented a new idea into MipSmooth, along with some bugfixes, speedup and adjustments. I'm quite happy with the filter now, and see it as a good replacement for smartsmooth, C3D and a supplement to VagueDenoiser.

Changelist:

v1.0
* Two new SuperMip modes. These mode reduces artifacts greatly.
* Massive speedup - this requires an AviSynth dated October 11th or later. This will give a >100% speedup.
* Scenechange values can be float values.
* Presets adjusted (preserves more detail in general).
* Fixed: Nasty bug that provided wrong thresholds on first mip. Quality improved!
* Fixed: Mips have a minimum size (16x16 pixels) to avoid resizer crashes.
* Added resolution checks to avoid crashes.

As it has hit v1.0 I now see it as "production ready", and with the latest cvs binary it is also quite speedy. It can also be used for a nice gaussian-like blur.

Download from: http://cultact-server.novi.dk/kpo/av...mipsmooth.html.

Feel free to post any experiences or problems here.

12th October 2003, 15:06

thanks sh0dan!
i was waiting for this great news!

Chainmax · 12th October 2003, 21:42

'tis some very nice news indeed. I have a question, though:

Quote:

this requires an AviSynth dated October 11th or later.

I don't get this. Isn't there only one version of Avisynth v2.52 (from 2003-05-31)?

Dreassica · 12th October 2003, 22:09

Check Shodan's sig, u'll see a link to a site with CVS binaries. One of the files there is a test version released 11th october. get that for the speed improvement.

12th October 2003, 22:34

WOWOWOWOW!!
thx for your great work, sh0dan!

Quote:

* Massive speedup - this requires an AviSynth dated October 11th or later. This will give a >100% speedup.
* Fixed: Nasty bug that provided wrong thresholds on first mip. Quality improved!

digitalman · 13th October 2003, 13:06

This filter is unbelievable on low bitrate DVDs. I usually put two movies on one DVD+R, so the VBR is around 2000-2500Kbps. They almost look better than the original!!!

Dams · 13th October 2003, 14:13

what do u mean by "low bitrate DVDs" ?

digitalman · 13th October 2003, 14:44

Usually DVDs are over 4000Kbps Variable Bit Rate. Most people on this board consider a low bitrate around 2000Kbps VBR for DVDs.
Also, I would like to add that I tried the latest and greatest filter Vague Denoiser with the low bitrates, and Mipsmooth does a superior job.

Dams · 13th October 2003, 15:04

oki

Wilbert · 13th October 2003, 15:09

Quote:

This filter is unbelievable on low bitrate DVDs. I usually put two movies on one DVD+R, so the VBR is around 2000-2500Kbps. They almost look better than the original!!!

Just curious. Why is this filter any better than (say) convolution3d(preset="movieHQ") considering the source and target?

digitalman · 13th October 2003, 18:31

(I should have added that I use UNDOT() before Mipsmooth)
There are less artifacts, which is noticeable when comparing to Convolution3d, and the picture looks a little sharper. I do not do any resizing or cropping. Maybe it is just my eyes and opinion, but it just looks better to me. Okay, maybe it doesn't look better than the original, but it still looks awesome. Could be the new SuperSoft setting that is used in Mipsmooth. Maybe at higher bitrates there is no difference between Convolution3d and Mipsmooth, since the source is already clean, but at the bitrate I use, I can see a difference. I am using CCE Basic, without any of their filtering settings enabled. I am also using PowerDVD 5 to view my MPEG-2 files, with default settings. Media Player Classic is giving me an issue when trying to move through a video, so I am not using that right now. Media Player 9.0 has some noise filtering settings enabled in the video section, so even if I disable them, I am still worried it is not giving me the true picture.

known_03 · 15th October 2003, 13:47

digitalman I'm curious in what your settings for mipSmooth are?

I have converted a 3 hour movie and have notice artifacts in the face and background. I was hoping that mipSmooth could help limit these problems?

Anyway thanks for any help you can give me.

digitalman · 16th October 2003, 12:23

I just use Mipsmooth(preset="MovieHq"). You may try Mipsmooth(preset="MovieLQ")for older movie DVDs or independent films(which to me, always seem grainier than big budget movies).

Chainmax · 16th October 2003, 16:42

sh0dan, could you upload the "two downsizers, one upsizer" version here?

sh0dan · 16th October 2003, 18:43

If you are interested in a new suggestion you can try out:

SuperSubSample MipSmooth.

This version creates two mips using scalefactor, and one mip using 1/scalefactor instead of a third mip. This will create a mip at the inverse factor.

Very experimental - very untested.

known_03 · 17th October 2003, 03:08

I used the suggestion from digitalman -- undot(), then mipsmooth (moviehq) and results where very impressive indeed on a 3 hour movie (3000 ish) bitrate.

The arifacts that I was getting in the movie have smoothed to the point that they are not noticeable specially in in close ups of peoples faces and slow motion in the background.

Great job sh0dan!

Boulder · 17th October 2003, 07:55

Looking very good, sh0dan

I'm currently waiting for a capture with lots of rainbows so I can test how MipSmooth can get rid of them.

Does the filter work properly with interlaced material or do I have to do the SelectEven()-SelectOdd()-Interleave trick?

Didée · 17th October 2003, 08:35

Alas, I had no time for testing so far ("Fulltime Job" with Restore24), but I really look forward to test it out.

However, Sh0dan, two questions:

1. If a given pixel lies within the threshold in more than one mip, how do you decide from which mip to take the destination pixel? Or do you, in this case, average the destination from the according mips?

2. Spontaneous idea:
In case of working with a scalefactor>1, it could be worthful to additionally involve XSharpen. (Inspired by mf's SharpTools, and its brilliant results.)
I.e. instead of creating three mips

[source] * [scalefactor] * [scalefactor] * [scalefactor],

create

[source] * [scalefactor^3].XSharpen(0~255,255) / [scalefactor] / [scalefactor]

Of course, this would need quite some CPU cycles more. But I could imagine that this way even more smoothing through higher thresholds can be achieved, without smoothing away the sharpness - or perhaps even smoothing the noise while enhancing the definition.

What do you think?

- Didée

Chainmax · 17th October 2003, 18:15

sh0dan: up factor = 1 / scalefactor doesn't reflect my suggestion.

For instance, if scalefactor was 0.6, then the two downsized "mipmaps" would be 60% and 36% of the original frame's size and the upsized "mipmap" would be ~167% of the original frame's size.
What I meant to suggest was that using a scalefactor of 0.6, the upsized "mipmap" should be 140% of the original frame's size, so as to be symmetrical (so to speak) with the first "mipmap" taking the original frame as reference point. So, according to my suggestion:

Up Factor = 2 - Scalefactor

Zarxrax · 17th October 2003, 19:50

I think something funky is happening with this for me. I tried out the anime presets and they both were very destructive to the image and also increased filesize quite a bit.
Here's the original:
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~baclontz/mip-orig.png
And here's with AnimeHQ preset:
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~baclontz/mip-smooth.png

Is something wrong here?

12th October 2003, 12:50	#1 \| Link
sh0dan Retired AviSynth Dev ;) Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Dark Side of the Moon Posts: 3,480	MipSmooth 1.0 released Hi folks! I pulled myself together and implemented a new idea into MipSmooth, along with some bugfixes, speedup and adjustments. I'm quite happy with the filter now, and see it as a good replacement for smartsmooth, C3D and a supplement to VagueDenoiser. Changelist: v1.0 * Two new SuperMip modes. These mode reduces artifacts greatly. * Massive speedup - this requires an AviSynth dated October 11th or later. This will give a >100% speedup. * Scenechange values can be float values. * Presets adjusted (preserves more detail in general). * Fixed: Nasty bug that provided wrong thresholds on first mip. Quality improved! * Fixed: Mips have a minimum size (16x16 pixels) to avoid resizer crashes. * Added resolution checks to avoid crashes. As it has hit v1.0 I now see it as "production ready", and with the latest cvs binary it is also quite speedy. It can also be used for a nice gaussian-like blur. Download from: http://cultact-server.novi.dk/kpo/av...mipsmooth.html. Feel free to post any experiences or problems here. __________________ Regards, sh0dan // VoxPod

12th October 2003, 22:09	#4 \| Link
Dreassica Registered User Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 384	Check Shodan's sig, u'll see a link to a site with CVS binaries. One of the files there is a test version released 11th october. get that for the speed improvement. Last edited by Dreassica; 12th October 2003 at 22:13.

13th October 2003, 14:13	#7 \| Link
Dams Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: France Posts: 190	what do u mean by "low bitrate DVDs" ? __________________ Dams

13th October 2003, 14:44	#8 \| Link
digitalman Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 192	Usually DVDs are over 4000Kbps Variable Bit Rate. Most people on this board consider a low bitrate around 2000Kbps VBR for DVDs. Also, I would like to add that I tried the latest and greatest filter Vague Denoiser with the low bitrates, and Mipsmooth does a superior job. Last edited by digitalman; 13th October 2003 at 14:58.

13th October 2003, 15:04	#9 \| Link
Dams Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: France Posts: 190	oki __________________ Dams

12th October 2003, 15:06	#2 \| Link
jorel Guest Posts: n/a	thanks sh0dan! i was waiting for this great news!

13th October 2003, 13:06	#6 \| Link
digitalman Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 192	This filter is unbelievable on low bitrate DVDs. I usually put two movies on one DVD+R, so the VBR is around 2000-2500Kbps. They almost look better than the original!!!

13th October 2003, 18:31	#11 \| Link
digitalman Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 192	(I should have added that I use UNDOT() before Mipsmooth) There are less artifacts, which is noticeable when comparing to Convolution3d, and the picture looks a little sharper. I do not do any resizing or cropping. Maybe it is just my eyes and opinion, but it just looks better to me. Okay, maybe it doesn't look better than the original, but it still looks awesome. Could be the new SuperSoft setting that is used in Mipsmooth. Maybe at higher bitrates there is no difference between Convolution3d and Mipsmooth, since the source is already clean, but at the bitrate I use, I can see a difference. I am using CCE Basic, without any of their filtering settings enabled. I am also using PowerDVD 5 to view my MPEG-2 files, with default settings. Media Player Classic is giving me an issue when trying to move through a video, so I am not using that right now. Media Player 9.0 has some noise filtering settings enabled in the video section, so even if I disable them, I am still worried it is not giving me the true picture. Last edited by digitalman; 13th October 2003 at 18:51.

15th October 2003, 13:47	#12 \| Link
known_03 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 17	digitalman I'm curious in what your settings for mipSmooth are? I have converted a 3 hour movie and have notice artifacts in the face and background. I was hoping that mipSmooth could help limit these problems? Anyway thanks for any help you can give me.

16th October 2003, 12:23	#13 \| Link
digitalman Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 192	I just use Mipsmooth(preset="MovieHq"). You may try Mipsmooth(preset="MovieLQ")for older movie DVDs or independent films(which to me, always seem grainier than big budget movies).

16th October 2003, 16:42	#14 \| Link
Chainmax Huh? Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Uruguay Posts: 3,103	sh0dan, could you upload the "two downsizers, one upsizer" version here?

16th October 2003, 18:43	#15 \| Link
sh0dan Retired AviSynth Dev ;) Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Dark Side of the Moon Posts: 3,480	If you are interested in a new suggestion you can try out: SuperSubSample MipSmooth. This version creates two mips using scalefactor, and one mip using 1/scalefactor instead of a third mip. This will create a mip at the inverse factor. Very experimental - very untested. __________________ Regards, sh0dan // VoxPod

17th October 2003, 03:08	#16 \| Link
known_03 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 17	I used the suggestion from digitalman -- undot(), then mipsmooth (moviehq) and results where very impressive indeed on a 3 hour movie (3000 ish) bitrate. The arifacts that I was getting in the movie have smoothed to the point that they are not noticeable specially in in close ups of peoples faces and slow motion in the background. Great job sh0dan!

17th October 2003, 07:55	#17 \| Link
Boulder Pig on the wing Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Finland Posts: 5,733	Looking very good, sh0dan I'm currently waiting for a capture with lots of rainbows so I can test how MipSmooth can get rid of them. Does the filter work properly with interlaced material or do I have to do the SelectEven()-SelectOdd()-Interleave trick? __________________ And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes I'll see you on the dark side of the Moon...

17th October 2003, 08:35	#18 \| Link
Didée Registered User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 5,391	Alas, I had no time for testing so far ("Fulltime Job" with Restore24), but I really look forward to test it out. However, Sh0dan, two questions: 1. If a given pixel lies within the threshold in more than one mip, how do you decide from which mip to take the destination pixel? Or do you, in this case, average the destination from the according mips? 2. Spontaneous idea: In case of working with a scalefactor>1, it could be worthful to additionally involve XSharpen. (Inspired by mf's SharpTools, and its brilliant results.) I.e. instead of creating three mips [source] * [scalefactor] * [scalefactor] * [scalefactor], create [source] * [scalefactor^3].XSharpen(0~255,255) / [scalefactor] / [scalefactor] Of course, this would need quite some CPU cycles more. But I could imagine that this way even more smoothing through higher thresholds can be achieved, without smoothing away the sharpness - or perhaps even smoothing the noise while enhancing the definition. What do you think? - Didée __________________ - We´re at the beginning of the end of mankind´s childhood - My little flickr gallery. (Yes indeed, I do have hobbies other than digital video!)

17th October 2003, 18:15	#19 \| Link
Chainmax Huh? Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Uruguay Posts: 3,103	sh0dan: up factor = 1 / scalefactor doesn't reflect my suggestion. For instance, if scalefactor was 0.6, then the two downsized "mipmaps" would be 60% and 36% of the original frame's size and the upsized "mipmap" would be ~167% of the original frame's size. What I meant to suggest was that using a scalefactor of 0.6, the upsized "mipmap" should be 140% of the original frame's size, so as to be symmetrical (so to speak) with the first "mipmap" taking the original frame as reference point. So, according to my suggestion: Up Factor = 2 - Scalefactor

17th October 2003, 19:50	#20 \| Link
Zarxrax Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 1,219	I think something funky is happening with this for me. I tried out the anime presets and they both were very destructive to the image and also increased filesize quite a bit. Here's the original: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~baclontz/mip-orig.png And here's with AnimeHQ preset: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~baclontz/mip-smooth.png Is something wrong here?