help cleaning up hi8 capture (new raw capture file avi)

[RjBeals]

I've captured analog hi-8 video using 352x480 YUY2 settings via Video component input on my Phillips capture card. It averages about 600MB/Minute of capture. I'm still tweaking filters to clean the video, and I thought I would ask some of you who have way more experience than me. I'm very new to this, and don't have much time to devote to learning all there is.

I posted here a few years ago and asked if there was a "crash course in avisynth". There wasn't - but I think I know enough to be dangerous now.

Below are the guts of my avs file. And below that are 2 animated gifs (because I never could find that splitscreen plugin for plugin testing) showing before / after shots with the following tweeks applied. They are gif's so only 256 colors - but you get the point.

My end goal is to get the best damn looking video I can from those little 8mm tapes. Both for DVD and for xvid archives (more for the xvids).


Telecide(order=1,guide=0,post=2,vthresh=45)
FadeIO2(30)
ResampleAudio(48000)
Tweak(sat=1,cont=.90)
MSharpen(30,100,true,false,true)
Lanczos4Resize(720,480)
Crop(8,56,-8,-56)


I've read about dedot filter, but couldn't find that either. I think my source is so bad that there's not much I can do. Any suggestions and I'll be forever in your debt. Thanks!
Anyother Comb filters

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/rjbeals/yardgif.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/rjbeals/kitchengif.gif

[Malcolm]

Hi RjBeals,
can you post an unprocessed clip?

Cheers,
Malcolm

[SeeMoreDigital]

I've captured analog hi-8 video using 352x480 YUY2 settings via Video component input on my Phillips capture card.Why only 352x480... Why not 720x480?

[RjBeals]

Hi RjBeals,
can you post an unprocessed clip?

Cheers,
Malcolm

By Clip do you mean a frame? Or like a 5 sec avi? The frames above are unprocessed. (well, before and after that is).


Why only 352x480... Why not 720x480? I've read that that is the highest quality I can capture with hi8 anyway, so there was no reason to capture a higher resolution. Maybe I was wrong?

[Malcolm]

By Clip do you mean a frame? Or like a 5 sec avi? The frames above are unprocessed. (well, before and after that is).

I've read that that is the highest quality I can capture with hi8 anyway, so there was no reason to capture a higher resolution. Maybe I was wrong?

An AVI please. And yes, you were wrong. Capture at 720x480.

[Wilbert]

I've read that that is the highest quality I can capture with hi8 anyway, so there was no reason to capture a higher resolution. Maybe I was wrong?
http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/capture/introduction.html

So yes, capping at 720 will result in higher quality.

[RjBeals]

www.rjbeals.com/files/test_clip.rar

90 frames uncompressed. 37MB (zipped), 81MB Unzipped.
Captured at 640 x 480 using YUY2 4:2:2 interleaved.

Not a very interesting clip. Just walked into front yard and panned from left to right. Overcast day - auto exposure on Sony Handycam video Hi8 (NTSC) TRV608. I will be getting a new camera soon, but alas I have tons of footage of the kids on these tapes already. Thanks.

EDIT:
Also realized the 8mm tape was not Hi8 tape. Hence the crappy quality.

[scharfis_brain]

have you enabled a denoising filter during capturing?
If so, DISABLE it!
the video shows horrible denoising trails during the pan.

[TSchniede]

Apart from getting the data as untouched as possible from the tape to the computer...
btw the video is RGB not YUY2.
I recommend mvbob or mcbob for deinterlacing.
As the edges are already oversharpened, so sharpen will create more visible artifacts.
Against mosquito noise, which is unusually nonexistent - an other hint to some temporal filtering on the sample clip, (spatio)-temporal filtering like fft3dfilter or mvdegrain (just my favorites) helps.

[RjBeals]

Here is a new file, not sure what I did with the last one, but I have so many test files right now, I may have mixed them up. This one i just captured.

I'm not sure if the field order is normal or reversed. I thought it was normal, but I'm not to sure. Anyway - I appreciate all the suggestions so far.

NEW RAW CAPTURE FILE
Download here: www.rjbeals.com/files/hi8_test_2_174frmaes.rar
GSPOT INFO:
Codec: YV12 / Name: IYUV w/U&V Switched
29.97 fps
720x480
sar 1.500 (3:2)
par 1.000 (1:1)
dar 1.500 (3:2)

clip is 174 frames
86 MB unzipped
48 MB zipped

family at kitched table.
Recorded on brand new Hi8 tape on SP mode.
Sony Handycam video Hi8 (NTSC) TRV608
----------------------------------
Virtualdub Settings

http://www.rjbeals.com/virtualdub/device_menu.gif
http://www.rjbeals.com/virtualdub/video_menu.gif
http://www.rjbeals.com/virtualdub/custom_video_format.gif
http://www.rjbeals.com/virtualdub/capture_pin.gif
http://www.rjbeals.com/virtualdub/capture_filter.gif

[scharfis_brain]

something went wrong:
1) you saved as YV12, thus totally messed up your chroma interlacing.
2) the real horizontal resolution still seems to be 352 pixels
try to install another driver for your capture card.
also try virtual VCR
use HuffYUV to compress the video in real time.
3) lower the brightness a bit. It is already clipping 255 luma level. It must not exceed 235 luma level. Also lower the colour saturation.

[2Bdecided]

If it was Hi8, you should use the S-video connection, though that seems to be the least of your worries for now.

EDIT: if you have any Hi8, it should look something like my S-VHS...
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1118591#post1118591
... i.e. a lot better than the Video8!

Cheers,
David.

[RjBeals]

2) the real horizontal resolution still seems to be 352 pixels
3) lower the brightness a bit. It is already clipping 255 luma level.
How do you know this? How do you know the "real' horiz res.? Just by looking at and experience?

My camera does have s-video out, as well as my caputre card supports s-vid in. So during lunch today I will by the s-vid cable. I'll also try the huffyuv codec - but my card does have the latest drivers. I will go through the virdualdub capture guide today to see if I'm missing something, but I thought I had all the correct settings.

And 2Bdecided - that link you posted is perfect. If I ever can get a clean capture, I'll try looking at your posted scripts. I'm to the point now where I might have to invest in a new capture card. I have about 20 tapes of the kids that I want to capture.

----------------

By the way - Some of my 8mm tapes say "Hi-8" on them and some just say "8mm". If I don't have the Hi-8 tapes than that will make a big difference in my source - correct?

Thanks all.