improving video quality

[Static42]

I have used DVDDecrypter to rip a few episodes from a DVD onto my computer. What I want to do is make .avi of these episodes. So I used DGIndex and VirtualDubMod. The filters that I used were the deinterlace, sharpen, and resize. Then I used the XviD codec and did a Two Pass encoding. My goal was to get good quality while maintaining a reasonable file size.

The video quality turned out to be alright, but I would like it to be better. Here's a screenshot from one of the episodes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/SableyeRULES/vlcsnap-1933915.jpg

Is there any way to make the quality of the video a bit better while maintaining a reasonable file size? Right now, the episode is 200MB.

I've also seen some parts in the video where a "shadow" is left behind when you pause the video at a certain spot.
Something like this: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/SableyeRULES/vlcsnap-1933376.jpg

I'm not completely sure, but I thought the deinterlace filter was to take care of that. Does anyone know a way to get rid of those "shadows"?

[Dark Shikari]

For anime, the best way to maintain a low file size while keeping good quality is to use x264 instead of Xvid :p

Denoising beforehand can help also.

Also note that sharpening generally increases the bits required to encode the video at a specific quality.

[Guest]

To get rid of the shadows, assuming you don't have blended fields, use a non-blending deinterlacer. For example, use Smart Deinterlacer with one of its interpolation modes.

If it's progressive though, which is quite likely, given your screenshots, you should be doing field matching/IVTC rather than deinterlacing.

[Static42]

Thanks for the responses.

For anime, the best way to maintain a low file size while keeping good quality is to use x264 instead of Xvid :p


I have downloaded the x264.exe file, but how do I load it in VirtualDubMod? Or is it suppose to be used in a different program?

If it's progressive though, which is quite likely, given your screenshots, you should be doing field matching/IVTC rather than deinterlacing.


Probably is progressive. Never heard of field matching before. Would you mind explaining it to me? Also, where would I get it, and how would I use it?

[Dark Shikari]

1. Virtualdub uses Video for Windows, an ancient system for managing video codecs and encoding. Modern codecs, like WMV, Xvid, and x264, are only supported in Video for Windows through ugly hacks. x264 does not have a supported Video for Windows interface; to use it, use a GUI like MeGUI, Staxrip, etc, or run it directly from the command line.

2. Telecining means that your source is 24 FPS but was converted to 29.976 FPS to fit on a DVD. This process is very easily and completely reversible; the process of doing so is called IVTC--inverse telecine. If you don't do it, your encodes are guaranteed to look like crap.

[Static42]

Man, I'm still having trouble with this. I've used several programs including StaxRip, RealAnime 6, SUPER, and AutoMKV to try and get this thing to work. Each time I encode the .vob files or the avi/mkv version of the DVD files, the quality ends up remaining the same. I still end up with quality like this (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/SableyeRULES/vlcsnap-1933915.jpg) screenshot.
Perhaps I'm just messing around with the settings in a wrong way. I would like to get the newly encoded video in a .avi format if possible instead of .mkv. Would that be possible with the x264 codec?

[Taktaal]

You can put h264 video into .avi, but you really shouldn't. AVI is really outdated and you can't keep working with old stuff just because you don't want to learn new things :)

And the screenshot you referenced there is pretty much how cartoons are always going to look in MPEG4. Mind that if you make a screenshot and then stare at it for several seconds you screw up the whole psychovisual theory behind the codec, as a compressor is trying to find detail to get rid of based on what's noticeable when the movie is playing.