Converting 50 frames to 25 frames interlaced?

[funkydude74]

Hi all. I've been using a program called "Motion Perfect" to turn B&W 25 frames/sec Australian kinescope filmed TV shows to 50 frames/sec to convert the film motion look to a synthesized video motion look which this program is excellent as a poor mans VidFIRE.

However the hard part is finding a program that will interweave 50 frames/sec to 25 frames/sec interlaced with 2 fields/frame. I only know of an Adobe Aftereffects filter that can do this but it is kind of messy and I'm unable to get it to work. And the other method that does work but quality is lost and it's a hassle is I output the video clip to my VCR which each frame gets fielded and play the videotape back and recapture it at 25 frames/sec interlaced. I want a program that will do a straight conversion so I can whack them to DVD.

If anyone knows of such a program(s) please let me know.

Cheers
Troy

[Mug Funky]

if you've never used avisynth before, today's your lucky day :)

this will do what you want:

separatefields().selectevery(4,1,2).weave()

but you'll have to figure out how to use avisynth before this will make sense :) there's plenty of resources on this site that will help you out.

btw, there's frame-rate conversion stuff for avisynth that is _nearly_ on par with motionperfect. that particular plugin is still in development atm, but things are looking very good for the future.

btw, what shows are you converting?

[funkydude74]

Hi. Thanks for the tip. I've downloaded AVI Synth but got NOOOOOOOOOOOO idea how to even get started using it as there's no executable file to run the program, just source codes. Do I run the codes with some other program??? I'll have to find the time to learn more about it.

Anyways I'm just converting clips at the moment from shows like GTK, Hitscene and excerpts from early Aussie kinescopes of the 50s and 60s etc... and pretty much anything else that's in kinescope film format. I can really only do short avi clips in Motion Perfect due to some stupid crappy Windows error popping up when I do 720x576 clips that are longer than maybe 30 seconds, so I have to split them and join them after conversion.

Cheers
Troy

[Mug Funky]

the deal with avisynth is it's an AVI spoofer.

what you installed was tantamount to installing a new codec.

you make scripts in a text-editor, then load them as if they were avi files into an app that supports them (premiere unfortunately doesn't, but then premiere sucks big round donkey balls).

furthermore, these scripts can be wrapped in real avi files, so premiere can load them (exporting seems to be a problem).

you can do editing and all manner of postprocessing with avisynth - basically everything you can do in premiere, so long as you extend it with plugins.

i suggest you get VirtualDubMod, as this has a script editor for avisynth, which makes your functions and stuff show up in colours (red for syntax error is useful). also, TMPGenc will take avs as input, as will CCE (provided the avs outputs sound and the output colourspace is YUY2 or RGB). QuEnc takes avs scripts exclusively, and is a damn good mpeg-2 encoder to boot.

so, for example, if you want to join 3 avi files that have been motionperfect-ed, make them 25i, top field first instead of 50p, then encode them in TMPGenc, do this:

1. in a text editor, make a new text file called "blurt.avs" and put this in it:

clip1=avisource("MP_clip1.avi")
clip2=avisource("MP_clip2.avi")
clip3=avisource("MP_clip3.avi")

clip1+clip2+clip3 # this joins them, while keeping audio sync

separatefields().selectevery(4,1,2).weave()
converttorgb24() # TMPGenc takes this colourspace


2. load "blurt.avs" into tmpgenc as you would a normal avi file.

3. set tmpg to encode top field first (default, i think, but it helps to check), and hit encode.

in conjunction with virtualdubmod and the f5 key, avisynth can be more powerful and versatile than any NLE you've ever used. of course, you can't do live editing with it (yet) and there's no GUI (yet), but script-driven processing isn't as daunting as it looks at first.

the avisynth manuals, in defiance of the decades-old tradition, are actually really good. there's so many functions and arguments they can be fed with, that even after 2 years using avs, i'm consulting them on a daily basis. never fear - they're useful and well set out.

the avisynth usage forum here will help you with more stuff - it gets pretty advanced. i recommend getting used to the concept first and doing a few basic scripts.

[funkydude74]

Hi Mug Funky. Thank you for the advice once again. I had a crack at it but when I opened the blurt.avs file in TMPGenc I got this stupid error message in red "Script error: Invalid arguements to function "separate fields". I tried opening it in Virtual Dub and got the same error message. I wonder what might I be doing wrong???
Here's the code I put in blurt.avs:
clip1=avisource("mc5a.avi")
separatefields().selectevery(4,1,2).weave()
converttorgb24()

Thanks again

Cheers
Troy

[Wilbert]

Try

avisource("mc5a.avi")
separatefields().selectevery(4,1,2).weave()
converttorgb24()

or

clip1=avisource("mc5a.avi")
separatefields(clip1).selectevery(4,1,2).weave()
converttorgb24()

[funkydude74]

Thanks guys, you guys are legends :D :D :D !!!!! Had a crack at the code and it works fantastic!!!!! put two sample clips that have been Motion Perfected and fielded to a rewriteable DVD and they work beaut :D :D :D !!!!!

That MC5 clip "Kick Out The Jams" from Beat Club 1972 was what I was testing through Motion Perfect and converting down from 50 frames to 25 frames 2 fields/frame. I downloaded it at 352x288 resolution mpeg off E-Donkey and I've successfully converted a sample of it to close to it's original quality 50 fields/sec 25 frames at 720x576 and on playback on DVD it looks fantastic almost as if it were recorded straight off the telly except the picture is a bit softer and the Motion Perfect guesswork does throw in artifacts during the fast motion parts.

Thank you's so much for helping me out. Will have to learn more about AVIsynth as there's a number of things I want to do with clips like converting PAL to NTSC visa-versa in the smoothest possible professional way as a normal conversion looks jerky which I assume when converting 30 frames/sec to 25 frames/sec every 6th frame is dropped. This jerky method was used in the 1970s when Australia's pop show Countdown wanted American studio video clips, though the smooth conversion method was also used in the 1970s with some of the clips, guess it was all to do with budgeting, and often Countdown opted for colour kinescope film recordings of American video studio clips.

Cheers
Troy

[Wilbert]

That MC5 clip "Kick Out The Jams" from Beat Club 1972 was what I was testing through Motion Perfect and converting down from 50 frames to 25 frames 2 fields/frame. I downloaded it at 352x288 resolution mpeg off E-Donkey (...)
I guess you missed the forum rules (especially rule 6).

Closed thread.