Auto Racing Captures (TV and VHS - US/NTSC)

[RacePhan60]

I've been pouring over these forums and guides for a couple of weeks. This is my first post and I feel like I have a million questions! :confused:

Before I jump in, I gotta say the breadth and depth of information on this board is intensely good. Thank you all! :)

About me, my objectives and my equipment^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h hardware configuration... I'm 43, born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana - racing capital of the world! I've been taping races since about 1992 and have compiled quite a VHS library.

My video wishlist/objectives are several (some probably contradictory - let me know please):
[list=1]
From now on, the races I "tape" I want as digital captures only
I want to slowly convert my VHS library to digital files as well
I would like to save my digital captures (in MP4 format?) onto DVD-R (nothing special about "-R" choice for me btw) in VHS (or better?) quality.
I want to be able to play these files in the emerging generation of standalone MP4 compatible DVD players.
I'd also like to be able to swap capture files amoungst my friends (meaning my target file size is about 700MB per 1.5 hour race.
[/list=1]

My hardware:[list=2]
JVC S/VHS HR-S3911U VCR (Using s-video cable)
ATI AllInWonder Radeon7500
AMD Athlon 2600+
1G PC3200 (400MHz) DDR Dual Channel RAM
Win XP Pro
2 - SATA150 - 120G HD's - One devoted only to video file i/o
[/list=2]

I have already captured and converted to MP4 both live TV broadcast and VHS tape (which is of course where the questions come from!).

My "recipe" for TV capture / convert is based on the excellent doom9 capture guide/translation and :[list=3]
Tune VCR to the desired channel - fed in to cap card via s-video.
Use VirtualDub (I've also tried Virtual VCR btw) to capture WAV audio and YUY2 video 640x480@29.9697 fps - Huffyuv v211 w/CCESP patch
Capture parameters seem good, less that 0.2% dropped frames and big - capture file on the HD...
[/list=3]
I started off tryin' to do the post processing in VDub, but finally took the hint that the "good stuff" was in AVISynth.


My most recent avs script (for VHS capture of Australia '94):
###Start processing file###
LoadPlugin("C:\video\AviSynth 2.54\plugins\TomsMoComp.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\video\AviSynth 2.54\plugins\PeachSmoother.dll")

AviSource("x:\RawCaptures\AUSTRALIA94.avi")

trim(1470, 18556) ++ \
trim(22105, 42053) ++ \
trim(45705, 64075) ++ \
trim(66826, 87588) ++ \
trim(90797, 107326) ++ \
trim(110075, 131465) ++ \
trim(134740, 156579) ++ \
trim(159780, 183309) ++ \
trim(186036, 204962) ++ \
trim(208631, 239530) ++ \
trim(243324, 228618)

#crop(left, top, -right, -bottom)
#Used primarilly for VHS cleanup to maintain 4:3
Crop(4, 0, 0, -6)

#The cool auto-temporal spatial filter...
#dot and readout for debug only
PeachSmoother(Dot=False, Readout=False)

# Defaults from the example - seems to work well enough
TomsMoComp(-1,5,1)

#Near 3/4 NTSC but mod16
#(3/4=480x360 but mod16=448x336 or 512x384)
BicubicResize(448,336)

#### END ####

I then converted this file to MP4 using mp3 audio and XviD 2-Pass via pimpdawg's guide - "http://www.lowleveldeity.com/id30.html"

Problems/Comments/Questions:
[list=4]
I'll start with the 3/4 NTSC frame size...full NTSC@640x480 seemed too big and 1/2-NTSC@320x240 seemed to loose too much detail 3/4-NTSC seemed like a good compromise (But it makes me nervous since no one seemed to propose it in any of the guides)
I noticed that today's capture file (others didn't seem so bad?) that there seemed to be alot of duplicate frames (aabccdeefgghii...) which resulted in kinda jerky video. How do I smooth this out? I'm guessing this may be the result of some sort of translation of Malaysian (or European?) broadcast standard to US/NTSC?
I'm guessing pimpdawg's guide is optimized for standard movies. Auto-racing is a bit different in that the camera shots usually have one of the three following forms: 1) camera pans the car through the corner - the car(s) is(are) almost stationary in frame with alot of motion bluring by in the background, 2) long-lense camera focuses on cars in a distance as they come toward the camera and 3) in-car camera showing trafic and other cars with limited motion and lots of stuff blurring by in the periphery. In the various and seemingly infinite settings for XviD, any suggestions how I might go after better compression setting?
[/list=4]
VHS Captures follow a similar process except I have to crop off the dead junk at the bottom of the frame leaving me with (640-16)x(480-12) frames which still resizes nicely to 3/4-NTSC.

OK, long first post - Am I the first race recorder to hit these forums?
Thanks in advance I hope,
RacePhan60 (torentfiend act hotmail dart com)

[avih]

hi there, and welcome to the forum.

lovely 1st post, even more so when it comes from a video newbie. congrats mate, you're on the right track ;)

now, regarding your questions:

1. resolution. aside from compatibility with MP4 dvd players (i don't know enough about those), the resolution u pick should be based on compressibility tests. you might want to consider keeping the clips interlaced, or at least give it a try. imho, a stand alone player might have a better chance to play interlaced clip than a double-framerate deinterlaced progressive clip. but you should do some more research about these potential players.

2. frames duplications. indeed, the cause is probably PAL/NTSC conversion. the quality of the conversion depends on the equipment used. imho, dupped frames might suggest that better equipment could have been used (in the production/transmission phase, not by yourself). a good conversion usually involve frames interpolations/blends. the best use motion compensation for these. i would have kept it as is, especially if it's just a single clip that you've got converted this way. some format conversions are notoriously hard to convert back into the original (mind you, it will NOT be ntsc framerate, so you should consider this issue as well).

3. xvid settings. besides checking the 'interlaced' checkbox, i can't comment much on this one. put the settings as high as u can with your system without increasing the frame drop count. and while we're at framedrops, 0.2% (=1/500 frames =~frame/8secs @ntsc) seems a _bit_ much to me, but then again, i never capped on an ntsc system, so the statistics might be a bit different there. on my pal system i get appx. 1drop/40sec. your milage may vary. try Vdub sync (VdubMod has this feature integrated).

regarding auto-racings. i sometimes cap moto-gp, and sometimes rally races (u yankees don't fancy these too much, don't u? ;) ). but i don't keep them for long. i only use my pc as a pvr with these. i cap xvid interlaced, and playback with real-time deinterlacing using ffdshow and the dscaler plugins (before ffdshow had good real-time deinterlacer, i used avisynth for real-time double-framerate deinterlaced playback). after i watch them i dump the clips.

good luck mate ;)
avih


oops, bad maths. 0.2% = 1/500 drops is actually about drop/16secs. my bad for counting fields instead of frames ;)