Ripping DVD9 and Upscaling to 720p

[uzair_rock]

Hi everyone,
well as the title says, i have a collection of some Original DVD9 and i wanted to Rip them to my PC using MeGUI and avisynth. Apart from that i also wanted to upscale them to 720p.

I have attached the image of the source, the script used and the result im getting.
As i am not satisfied with the result im getting, I have attached a third image ripped and upscaled from the source by another person not willing to share his script.

This is the image captured from original source(dvd9):

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/1258/1dvd9source.jpg (http://www.imagehosting.com/)

The is the image captured after processing my script:

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/5562/2myresult.jpg (http://www.imagehosting.com/)

This is the result i want to achieve, ripped and upscaled from the source by another person not willing to share his script. :

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/8341/3resultintended.jpg (http://www.imagehosting.com/)

Now i need some help from the experts here as i know im very close to it and missing out something. Please help me to achieve the quality im looking for or even better if possible.

Waiting for you earliest responses and solutions.


Script Used by me:


LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\gradfun2db.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\UnDot.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\UnFilter.dll")
DGDecode_mpeg2source("C:\Documents and Settings\Uzair\My Documents\Video enhancement tools\PROJECT\Project\KI.d2v", info=3)
ColorMatrix(mode="Rec.601->Rec.709",Clamp=0)
crop( 0, 56, 0, -56)

Spline64Resize(1280,536) # Spline64 (Sharp)

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\undot.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\masktools.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\warpsharp.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\LoadPluginEx.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\dustv5.dll")

Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\iip.avs")

iip( dest_x= 1280, dest_y= 536,
\ ss1_x = 1.414, ss1_y = 1.414,
\ duststr = 0, dustweight = 0, antiflicker1= true, antiflicker2= true,
\ detailcontr1=127, detailcontr2 = 255, contr_radius = 3, PixSharp=0.25,
\ ss2_x = 3.5, ss2_y = 3.5,
\ Xstren = 255, Xlimit = 255,
\ subpelstren= 1.0, flatweight = 64,
\ protect_floor= 4, protect_bias = 16,
\ dering = -60, dering_weight= 1.0, dering_floor = 16, dering_bias=8,
\ detail_floor= 1, EQ = 3,
\ warp_Y = false, warp_UV = false,
\ debug= "showall | compareH/V | protect | dering",
\ cropx=32, cropy=16
\ )

UnFilter(-100,-100).UnFilter(-100,-100)
UnDot()

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\RemoveGrainSSE2.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\mt_masktools.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\warpsharp.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\RepairSSE2.dll")
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\LimitedSharpenFaster2.avs")
LimitedSharpenFaster(strength=100).LimitedSharpenFaster()

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\gradfun2db.dll")
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\SmoothLevels.avs")
SmoothLevels(Smode=-2, Mfactor=20, RGmode=20)
SmoothLevels(gamma=1.2, Lmode=2, DarkSTR=250, BrightSTR=250)

[uzair_rock]

Waiting for your help. I'll soon be posting the Link to the Source Video.

[uzair_rock]

Here is the Link to the Source File, its a bit high in size (70MB) but its in original state.
http://uploading.com/files/bab76c72/sample.VOB

[Didée]

short résumé of that script:

varnishing ... sandblasting ... varnishing ... sandblasting ...

[uzair_rock]

short résumé of that script:

varnishing ... sandblasting ... varnishing ... sandblasting ...

you mean to say that i have to use varnishing and sandblasting twice in a row?
and apart from those, what might be other filters used??

[uzair_rock]

and btw i cannot find anything relating to varnishing and sandblasting, they are filters right?

[7ekno]

and btw i cannot find anything relating to varnishing and sandblasting, they are filters right?
Um, it's a literal reference to the use of filters in your script (as in: If you are remodeling the kitchen, why would you varnish, then sandblast, then varnish then sandblast :P) ..

The bottom image looks like MCTemporalDenoise(), possibly using settings="medium" (or maybe settings="low", chroma=true, etc) or a little more tweaking of sharpening and chroma processing (although the Chroma adjustment may just be some added saturation, hard to tell) ...

7ek

[shahrukh_mughal6]

Nice rip

[Didée]

Yepp, I wanted to say that the script is a botch. First sharpen with the (hoplessly outdated) iiP function (without denoising, but with halo treatment). Then the (probably pixelized) result-of-sharpening is blurrrred with two times (!) Unfilter(). Then it seems to blurry again (whata surprise), and LSF is applied two times (!) in the hope it would remedy anything. Lastly, desperate clutching at SmoothLevels, in the hope it helps to smoothen out the quirks of all that previous mis-filtering.

In a nutshell: such way of filtering is pretty much nonsense.

The way is not to throw filters, more filters and evenmore filters ad.inf. at the source. Mom, I've cooked those eggs for over an hour, and they are still hard. When will they get soft?

The good way is to follow a dedicated and purposive processing strategy.

Poking in the blue might get you somewhere, too ... but that way may take you many years, before the poking starts to turn into "educated guessing" ...


You might try SeeSaw.

Handmade, I would head in direction of

a1) upscale SD to HD with NNEDI2
a2) minblur() the SD, peak enhancement on that, apply the diff. to original SD, spline resize to HD

b) highpass sharpen (a1), limited by result of (a2)

c) Possible usage of noise filtering depends on how the above turns out on closer inspection. Maybe before, maybe in the middle, maybe after. It depends.


BTW, that result of "another person" is not impressive at all. It looks like joe-user's upscale usually looks like, more blurry than sharp, with oversaturated colors to give it some pepp. No wonder he doesn't want to share his script: he would have to hide away for all the shame.

[uzair_rock]

Thanks a lot Didee, you have really explained it well. Well im working on what you say, but can you also make a script with the above suggestions you gave me, that would be easier for me to work on.

[uzair_rock]

As im new to this, so its being a bit difficult for me to make script according to what you suggested. Im still waiting to see your script???

[Didée]

Off hand, this could be a rough outline:

## possible noise filtering - do it here ... ?

o = last

mb1 = o.minblur(1)
enh = o.mt_adddiff(mt_makediff(mb1,mb1.removegrain(4)) # needs adding of strength and stuff ... see SeeSaw for how to do

## ... or do it here?

big1 = o.NNEDI2upsize(x,y) # this' a dummy, don't have NNEDI2 syntax at hand
big2 = enh.spline36resize(x,y)

## ... or do it here?

sharp1 = big1.mt_lutxy(big1.sbr(),"x x y - +",U=2,V=2) # needs adding of strength and stuff ... y'know
sharp2 = sharp1.repair(big2,1)

## ... or do it here?

result = sharp2

return(result)

#-----------------------------

# helper function: make a highpass on a blur's difference (well, kind of that)
function sbr(clip c) {
rg11D=mt_makediff(c,c.removegrain(11,-1))
rg11DD=mt_lutxy(rg11D,rg11D.removegrain(11,-1),"x y - x 128 - * 0 < 128 x y - abs x 128 - abs < x y - 128 + x ? ?")
c.mt_makediff(rg11DD,U=2,V=2) }


I'm not going to develop on that now or near future.

Making exercises is more fruitful than waiting 'til getting blue in the face. I sugest making exercises.

[uzair_rock]

Everything was working as smooth as it can get, suddenly i get this error while loading the .D2V file.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/7029/errorhv.jpg (http://www.imagehosting.com/)

I did all the stuff again i.e.

go d2v creater, created d2v file and as soon as it moves to avisynth script creator it gives the same error. I have also tried uninstalling everything and re-installing and updating MeGUI again. But the problem remains the same.

Any help guys, everything was going fine , its just suddenly this error started coming..

[uzair_rock]

Didee can you please state the name of filters reuired and one more thing im unable to use the following:

mb1 = o.minblur(1)
enh = o.mt_adddiff(m_makediff(mb1,mb1.removegrain(4))) is giving me error of "i dont know what 'o' means"

big1 = o.NNEDI2upsize(x,y)
big2 = enh.spline36resize(x,y) Unable to use this

sharp1 = big1.mt_lutxy(big1,sbr(),"x x y - +",U=2,V=2)
sharp2 = sharp1.repair(big2,1) I dont know what "Big1" is

[uzair_rock]

The script im using now is :

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\degrainmedian.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\VagueDenoiser.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\MaskTools.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\mt_masktools.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\RemoveGrain.dll")
# Set DAR in encoder to 233 : 98. The following line is for automatic signalling
global MeGUI_darx = 233
global MeGUI_dary = 98
DGDecode_mpeg2source("C:\Documents and Settings\Uzair\My Documents\Video enhancement tools\PROJECT\sample.d2v", info=3)
ColorMatrix(hints=true, interlaced=true, threads=0)
tfm(order=1).tdecimate()
crop( 0, 56, 0, -56)

#resize

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\gradfun2db.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\UnDot.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\UnFilter.dll")
UnFilter(-100,-100)

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\RemoveGrainSSE2.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\medianblur.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\warpsharp.dll")
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\MinBlur.avs")

MinBlur(1)

a = last
b=a.degrainmedian(mode=2).VagueDenoiser(threshold=0.8, method=1, nsteps=6, chromaT=0.8)
SeeSaw(a,b, NRlimit=6, NRlimit2=7, Sstr=1.5, Slimit=5, Spower=5, Sdamplo=6, Szp=16)

[uzair_rock]

figured out somthing:
I changed

mb1 = o.minblur(1)
enh = o.mt_adddiff(m_makediff(mb1,mb1.removegrain(4)))

TO:

a =last

b =a.minblur(1)
enh =a.mt_adddiff(m_makediff(b,b.removegrain(4)))

Now im getting error:
Script error: There is no function named "m_makediff"

[uzair_rock]

Well somehow I managed to make the script work. But im still getting some error:
Im using this:

DGDecode_mpeg2source("C:\Documents and Settings\Uzair\My Documents\Video enhancement tools\PROJECT\sample.d2v", info=3)
ColorMatrix(hints=true, interlaced=true, threads=0)
tfm(order=1).tdecimate()
crop( 0, 56, 0, -56)

#resize

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\RemoveGrainSSE2.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\medianblur.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\warpsharp.dll")
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\MinBlur.avs")

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\nnedi2.dll")
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\SeeSaw.avsi")
o = last
mb1 = o.minblur(1)
enh = o.mt_adddiff(mt_makediff(mb1,mb1.removegrain(4)))

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\nnedi2.dll")
big1 = o.nnedi2_rpow2(rfactor=2)
big2 = enh.Spline64Resize(1280,536) # Spline64 (Sharp)

sharp1= big1.mt_lutxy(big1,sbr(),"x x y - +",U=2,V=2)
sharp2= sharp1.repair(big2,1)

result =sharp2

return(result)


now im getting an error:
Avisynth script error - There is no function named "sbr"

On removing the sbr string and everything else remains same i get:
Avisynth script error - Repair: clip must be of equal type

What should be done now?

[Didée]

The function sbr() I had posted above. And MaskTools-v2 is considered an "elemental" plugin. Sorry for my typo - m_adddiff should've been mt_adddiff, of course. But that should be obvious when looking at the code, instead of blindly copy/pasting everything with closed eyes.

Spoon-feeding and changing nappies is not what I'm going to do.

___

I've corrected the typos above. There was another one: "big1,sbr()" should've been "big1.sbr()" (dot instead of colon).


Consider using just Lanczosresize().sharpen(). It's so much simpler. Then slowly move to the higher levels as you have understood the basic ones.
When starting out to discover hillclimbing as an hobby, MountEverest and K2 are not the first ones you should try.

[uzair_rock]

The function sbr() I had posted above. And MaskTools-v2 is considered an "elemental" plugin. Sorry for my typo - m_adddiff should've been mt_adddiff, of course. But that should be obvious when looking at the code, instead of blindly copy/pasting everything with closed eyes.

Spoon-feeding and changing nappies is not what I'm going to do.

___

I've corrected the typos above. There was another one: "big1,sbr()" should've been "big1.sbr()" (dot instead of colon).


Consider using just Lanczosresize().sharpen(). It's so much simpler. Then slowly move to the higher levels as you have understood the basic ones.
When starting out to discover hillclimbing as an hobby, MountEverest and K2 are not the first ones you should try.

Didee i corrected the mt_makediff thing myself as you can see in my above posted script, apart from that i also tried "big1.sbr()" myself it gave me the same error. as you mentioned above that it should be a dot instead of a colon, i have tried both earlier and both were giving the same errors.

[Guest]

Post your exact entire corrected script as it is now.

I agree that you are biting off more than you can chew. It's like trying to fly an F16 with your eyes closed and someone talking in your ear about what to do. You simply must learn about Avisynth syntax!

[Didée]

Look again at my above post. The part that is (by now) in GREEN is what you must have somewhere in your script. (Either that, or save that part to a separate *.avs, and import() it in your main script.)

[uzair_rock]

@Neuron,
Sir you are experts here, and you also know that to learn by only reading is very difficult as it includes jargons. Didee is nicely helping me and thanks to you as well, for helping me out. For the video I have ripped it by using the following script:

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\TweakColor.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\MaskTools.dll")
DGDecode_mpeg2source("C:\Documents and Settings\Uzair\My Documents\Video enhancement tools\PROJECT\sample.d2v", info=3)
ColorMatrix(hints=true, interlaced=true, threads=0)
tfm(order=1).tdecimate()
crop( 0, 56, 0, -56)

#resize

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\RemoveGrainSSE2.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\medianblur.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\warpsharp.dll")
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\MinBlur.avs")

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\nnedi2.dll")
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\SeeSaw.avsi")
o = last
mb1 = o.minblur(1)
enh = o.mt_adddiff(mt_makediff(mb1,mb1.removegrain(4)))

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\nnedi2.dll")
big1 = o.Lanczosresize(1280,536).sharpen(0.5)
big2 = enh.Spline64Resize(1280,536) # Spline64 (Sharp)

sharp1 = big1.mt_lutxy(big1,"x x y - +",U=2,V=2)
sharp2= sharp1.repair(big2,1).UnFilter(-50,-50)
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\TweakColor.avs")
sharp3= sharp2.tweak(cont=0.8, hue=10, sat=1, bright=10)

result =sharp3

return(result)



Here is the ScreenShot of the output:

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/5917/newresult.jpg (http://www.imagehosting.com/)

Tell me if still it need any changes, im sure i does, but atleast its a better rip than what i did previosly.

[Guest]

you also know that to learn by only reading is very difficult as it includes jargons Nope. My best learning comes through reading. First you learn the jargon. :)

Tell me if still it need any changes, im sure i does, but atleast its a better rip than what i did previosly. Move the crop before the IVTC to save some processing time.

[foxyshadis]

Why's there still an unfilter in there? o.O What happened to nnedi2upsize (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=129953)?

It's generally not best to scavenge randomly anything you can fit into the script - there's zero benefit to the script you're using compared to lanczos/sharpen alone, if you compared them side by side you'll see that. When Didée can't answer any further, have patience, someone else will. You should read the tutorial in the avisynth manual, you won't learn it all the first time, but it's important that you pick up some basic concepts if you're going to be using some advanced scripting and tweaking it.

Use this line instead: big1 = o.nnediresize_YV12().Spline36Resize(1280,536)

And then once again, add the function sbr() and everything after it in Didée's original script. Then copy the sharp2 line again exactly as it was in his script. Only by doing that will you get the patented Didée magic juicing your movie.

[uzair_rock]

I replace the line from script which is:
big1 = o.Lanczosresize(1280,536).sharpen(0.5)
TO THE ONE YOU SUGGESTED:
big1 = o.nnediresize_YV12().Spline36Resize(1280,536)

but im getting an error:
nnedi: field must be set to 0 or 1 when dh=true

[EuropeanMan]

This is just inane...why people want to do 480p to 720p upscaling is beyond me. BOLLYWOOD SOURCES ARE CRAP TO BEGIN WITH. And iip sucks for the most part...and is so out-dated.

[foxyshadis]

That's right, the first post's code wasn't updated. In the arguments to nnedi, you need to add ,field=0 to both.

[uzair_rock]

Here is the nnediresize.avs

function nnediresize2x(clip c, bool pY, bool pU, bool pV, )
{
v = c.nnedi(dh=true,Y=pY,U=pU,V=pV).turnleft()
v = v.nnedi(dh=true,Y=pY,U=pU,V=pV).turnright()
return v
}

function nnediresize_YUY2(clip c)
{
cy = c
cu = c.utoy()
cv = c.vtoy()
cy = nnediresize2x(cy,true,false,false)
cu = nnediresize2x(cu,true,false,false)
cv = nnediresize2x(cv,true,false,false)
return ytouv(cu,cv,cy)
}

function nnediresize_YV12(clip c)
{
return nnediresize2x(c,true,true,true)
}

should i add the field=0 in all three function, please can you explain.

[uzair_rock]

im asking this because its a bit advance for me.

[Guest]

Only to the first one because that is the one that calls nnedi().

function nnediresize2x(clip c, bool pY, bool pU, bool pV, )
{
v = c.nnedi(field=0,dh=true,Y=pY,U=pU,V=pV).turnleft()
v = v.nnedi(field=0,dh=true,Y=pY,U=pU,V=pV).turnright()
return v
}

[uzair_rock]

Finally I got the whole script working, Here it is:

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\TweakColor.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\MaskTools.dll")
DGDecode_mpeg2source("C:\Documents and Settings\Uzair\My Documents\Video enhancement tools\PROJECT\sample.d2v", info=3)
ColorMatrix(hints=true, interlaced=true, threads=0)
tfm(order=1).tdecimate()
crop( 0, 56, 0, -56)

#resize

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\RemoveGrainSSE2.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\medianblur.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\warpsharp.dll")
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\MinBlur.avs")

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\nnedi2.dll")
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\SeeSaw.avsi")
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\nnediresize.avs")
o = last
mb1 = o.minblur(1)
enh = o.mt_adddiff(mt_makediff(mb1,mb1.removegrain(4)))

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\nnedi2.dll")
big1 = o.nnediresize_YV12().Spline36Resize(1280,536).sharpen(0.5)
big2 = enh.Spline64Resize(1280,536) # Spline64 (Sharp)

Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\HelperFunction.avs")
sharp1 = big1.mt_lutxy(big1.sbr(),"x x y - +",U=2,V=2)
sharp2= sharp1.repair(big2,1)
Import("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\TweakColor.avs")
sharp3= sharp2.tweak(cont=0.8, hue=10, sat=1, bright=10)

result =sharp3

[tedkunich]

This is just inane...why people want to do 480p to 720p upscaling is beyond me.

Don't be so quick to judge - if one has a HTPC, performing the upscaling with some smarts can provide a better picture than with the on-the-fly upscaling your TV or DVD player would normally do. I am currently experimenting around with doing this very thing to my DVD collection (I want them out of the room) - if not overdone, it can significantly enhance the viewing pleasure of watching SD material on an HD display.

I'm not going to touch your other comments..... :eek:

T

[uzair_rock]

There is one thing i want to tell, after I encode the Video, the result which i get is Lagging i.e. the video is not running very smoothing and because of that the audio sync is also out, im using mkv as the container, Encoder setting is X264:Unrestricted 2pass HQ
Any help on that , if im not wrong this may be a fps issue??

[linyx]

Slow computer? Completely crap decoder? 720p is far more demanding than 480 for decoding (around two and a half times more so for 1280x720).

[Guest]

Did you demux the audio with DGIndex? If so, did you correct for the reported audio delay?

Does the async remain constant or does it grow as the movie plays?

You say the video does not play smoothly? What is your processor?

[uzair_rock]

"Slow" No way,

Its Core2Duo Processor 2.4Ghz and 2 GB Ram.

I used D2V creater to demux the audio.

[Guest]

Did you allow for the reported audio delay?

Does it grow throughput the movie?

If you don't answer the questions asked, people (me) will start ignoring you.

[uzair_rock]

Did you allow for the reported audio delay?

Does it grow throughput the movie?

If you don't answer the questions asked, people (me) will start ignoring you.

Well I think there was some problem with the profile for encoding, i changed it now it seems to have corrected.

About your question, yes i did allow for the reported audio delay and it wasnt growing throughout the movie, but it was the same.

[Guest]

Well I think there was some problem with the profile for encoding, i changed it now it seems to have corrected. What was the profile before and what is it now?

[uzair_rock]

before it was X264: 2Pass Extra Quality

and now im using X264: 2Pass HQ

[uzair_rock]

The script is working quite slow encoding at 0.7 fps. is it because im using 2pass HQ?

[uzair_rock]

Its time for me to log off now, thanks for all the help to ALL. especially Didee. I'll log in soon.

[m3mbran3]

Your encode will be rather slow because of a combination of the x264 profile you used, and because all the filters in your avs are quite computationally demanding. If you want to experiment with different encoding profiles then I suggest you trim (http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Trim) a short snippet of your video and run multiple encodes using different settings. The MeGui profiles are relatively old and were created before x264 was updated with its own simple settings.

If you are using the latest MeGui then you could try something like --preset slower --tune film. If you want to try something even more computationally demanding then you could use the veryslow or placebo settings, if doing this though I recommend you add --ref 8 and --bframes 3 otherwise you run the risk of having a file that wont playback smoothly on a lot of systems (may not matter depending on your target systems).

When it comes to encoding 2.4Ghz dual-core is quite slow. I do most of my encoding on a dual-core 3.8ghz or quad-core 2.8ghz and most of the time it is less than 2fps even with minimal filters. Imagine the lofty heights you could reach with i7!

[foxyshadis]

The only change I would make would be to exchange sharpen() for limitedsharpen.

There is a basic problem with this approach: nnedi shifts the image in a way that doesn't quite match up with the standard resize. But it's still better than nothing. Any screencaps for comparison after the script?

[tritical]

You can replace all that nnediresize stuff with:

nnedi2_rpow2(rfactor=2,cshift="spline36resize",fwidth=1280,fheight=536)

That will resize by 2x using nnedi2, then resize that result to 1280x536 using spline36resize while also correcting for any image center shifting using the subpixel cropping ability of the avisynth resizers. nnedi2_rpow2 is a function in nnedi2.dll.

See here (bottom of post): http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1296626#post1296626

and the nnedi2 readme.

Ignore me if you are purposely using nnedi instead of nnedi2 for some reason.

[uzair_rock]

The only change I would make would be to exchange sharpen() for limitedsharpen.

There is a basic problem with this approach: nnedi shifts the image in a way that doesn't quite match up with the standard resize. But it's still better than nothing. Any screencaps for comparison after the script?

Here is the result of the final output:
http://i31.tinypic.com/2u56tcp.jpg