mpeg gamma and codec problems

[BigDDunc]

Hi, I took a film of a family wedding and have transfered the file to my PC. I have the file in .mpg form and wish to change the gamma settings on it before i send it on to other family members. Because it was filmed on a sunny day the gamma seems to intense, and when i try to open the file in windows movie maker it says some error about the codec not being installed on my computer to open that file. I have been to K-Lite and downloaded the full mega codec pack which includes every codec used.

What programs can i use if no-one can suggest a problem for windows movie maker?

Thanks, Dunc

[killingspree]

hi and welcome to the forum

1) get rid of the klite codec pack AND especially M$ Movie Maker! :)

2) let's get started!

3) adjusting the gammasettings will require you to reencode the whole movie, which again results in a general quality loss not required! So imho it would be best to tell your relatives to adjust the gamma settings on playback a little bit.

4) if you insist on doing the hard coded changes, you'll probably want to convert your whole mpg to an avi (maybe divx or xvid) and use avisynth/virtualdubmod in the process!!

hth
steVe

[BigDDunc]

well i'd rather not tell my relatives to do that, for a few reasons:

1) They think i am god when it comes to technology and any thing saying they have to adjust something because i couldnt work something out is, un-godly.

2) They proberly wouldn't know how to adjust the gamma settings even if instructed to do so.

3) The list of relatives this dvd is getting sent to is proberly longer then a leprechaun's wish list which is alot of people to tell! (Damn family breeding like rabbits)

As for your number 4, that sounds promising. I take it there are guides on how to convert it to an avi and change the gamma settings in the process of doing so? Because even god's like me haven't been in the DVD burning realm too long :cool:

A few other questions: What is the difference between xvid and divx? (isn't it just the irish spelling of one another? :D ) Is there any difference between quality and size?

Also are there guides to adjust the gamma settings using avisynth or virtualdubmod?

Thanks for your swift and detailed response.

Duncan

[killingspree]

hi again,
ok first of all you have to know what format you want to hand out this wedding clip. if you want to hand it out as a DVD, it doesn't make *any* sense to convert it to avi just for editing the gamma...

anyway, guides for all your needs can be found at doom9.org :)
divx and xvid are actually two quite different codecs. ALthough both are based on the same standard (mpeg4) and somehow originate from the same roots, divx has been proprietary whereas xvid has been opensource for a long time now. I don't really want to judge about which codec is better/worse, but doom9 has done a very comprehensive codec comparison, where you can make up your own mind. still, both are very good mpeg4 codecs - but i think it's not quite what you need right now!

adjusting the gamma setting in avisynth is really easy, it's actually a one line command: http://www.avisynth.org/index.php?page=Levels

anyway, i think you might have to familiarize yourself with avisynth aswell as the principal of frameserving and video scripting (sounds horribly difficult, but isn't!)

hth
steVe

[BigDDunc]

yeah i will be handing it out on dvd format. In which case how do i change the gamma? (i really dont want to leave it to other people to do)


Damn england game, how much did they screw that up? :(

thanks again

Dunc

[killingspree]

Originally posted by BigDDunc
yeah i will be handing it out on dvd format. In which case how do i change the gamma? (i really dont want to leave it to other people to do)

ok, in this case, what software are you going to use to author the DVD and what software do you own to encode mpeg2 video streams??

Damn england game, how much did they screw that up? :(


sorry, but they really screwed up big time! first they give away a penality and then 91st and 93rd minute! jesus christ .... :D

[BigDDunc]

I have a mate who works at a PC shop and hence i can get all the software at trade prices so i pretty much buy most of the new stuff unless of course its shareware.

I have at present:
Nero (the full package and latest ed)
DVD Shrink
DVD Decrypter
Daemon Tools
TMPGEnc

and a few more i cant remember

If there are any packages you can recomend and guide me through then ill look into buying those too :)

[killingspree]

hi,
TMPGEnc will be fine for encoding the mpeg2! for authoring you should probably give either TMPG DVDAuthor a try, or go for DVDLab! I don't have any experience with either of these as i use Scenarist NT, a far more professional but also expensive program!

Anyway, perhaps you'll want to check out the guides for
a) reencoding the mpg files with TMPGEnc (over avisynth for filtering, gamma correction)
b) authoring the DVD with DVDlab

you can find them at doom9.org

cheers
steVe

[BigDDunc]

thanks for all the help steve, although its 2am so ill look at it the morning, when im sure to come back with problems :D

thanks again.

Duncan

[Guest]

Originally posted by BigDDunc
1) They think i am god when it comes to technology and any thing saying they have to adjust something because i couldnt work something out is, un-godly. Gods in the Newbie forum! Well, you've baffled me. Congratulations.

[killingspree]

Originally posted by neuron2
Gods in the Newbie forum! Well, you've baffled me. Congratulations.
hahem...


:D

[BigDDunc]

It was so simple all along, i could use nero to change the gamma. It allows you to insert gamma manipulations along the time line, so you could increase the light in dark scenes and decrease the light in light screens its great :D i really can't believe i didnt figure it out earlier, i guess thats why they call this the newb forum :D

Btw, i'd appreciate help with my other problem (in a new post, posted tonight which can be found here: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78117 ) which is preventing me from burning the dvd :(

Dunc

[Guest]

Originally posted by killingspree
hahem... That's different. You're an exception.