Processing HI8 (deinterlace, color correction, ghost removal, upscaling)

[vascostmr]

Hi everyone, long time lurker and first time poster here. Please be kind with the newbie

I have this collection of Hi8 digitized clips that i captured back in 2006. I'm not 100% sure, but i probably encoded the files with Huffyuv:

Format                                   : AVI
Overall bit rate                         : 19.9 Mb/s
Writing library                          : VirtualDub build 23604/release

Video
Format                                   : JPEG
Codec ID                                 : MJPG
Bit rate                                 : 19.2 Mb/s
Width                                    : 768 pixels
Height                                   : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate                               : 25.000 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:2
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Interlaced
Scan order                               : Top Field First

Audio
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : PCM
Bit rate                                 : 705.6 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Sampling rate                            : 44.1 kHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits

Screenshot from one example source:



After some fiddling with vapoursynth i got to this stage, with which i'm farly happy with:



I'm posting here in the hope to gather some feedback. I'm not sure if the order and plugins i'm using are the best ones for my needs.

The process script is basicly:
- deinterlace with QTGMC
- shift the UV fields to center the scopes
- slightly increase saturation
- remove ghosting with LGhost
- resize with lanczos

Is there a better plugin to remove ghosting? I left some of my experiments commented in the script but the best results i got were with LGhost.
There's other kinds of "artifacts" from the tapes as well but i'm not sure what to call them. Like some "chroma drag", can i do anything about it?
I also tried some denoising plugins, but was not happy with the loss of detail.


i'll be happy with any criticism or suggestion.
Thanks for your time!

The script i used to generate the result above:

from vapoursynth import core

import havsfunc as haf
import adjust

core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libffms2.so') 
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libfmtconv.so') 
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libmvtools.so') 
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libnnedi3.so') 
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libhistogram.so')
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libcnr2.so')
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libvideoscope.so')
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libdecross.so')
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libfluxsmooth.so')
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libawarpsharp2.so')
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libhqdn3d.so')
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libtemporalsoften2.so')
core.std.LoadPlugin(path='/usr/local/lib/libmotionmask.so')

video = core.ffms2.Source(source='source.avi')


####### DEINTERLACE  #######
clip = haf.QTGMC(video, Preset='Very Slow', SourceMatch=3, Sharpness=1.2, SLMode=4, TR2=2, Lossless=2, NoiseProcess=2, Denoiser="dfttest", DenoiseMC=True, NoiseTR=2, Sigma=2.0, ShowNoise=False, NoiseDeint="Generate", StabilizeNoise=True, NoiseRestore=0.1, GrainRestore=0.5, TFF=True)


####### COLOR CORRECTION #######
src_u = core.std.ShufflePlanes(clip,planes=1, colorfamily=GRAY)
src_v = core.std.ShufflePlanes(clip,planes=2, colorfamily=GRAY)
dst_u = core.std.Expr(clips=[src_u, src_v], expr=["x {} +".format(-5)])
dst_v = core.std.Expr(clips=[src_u, src_v], expr=["y {} +".format(-5)])
clip = core.std.ShufflePlanes(clips=[clip, dst_u, dst_v], planes=[0, 0, 0], colorfamily=clip.format.color_family)
clip = adjust.Tweak(clip, hue=0, sat=1, bright=1, cont=1.0, coring=False)
#clip = haf.SmoothLevels(clip, input_low=0, gamma=1.05, input_high=255, output_low=0, output_high=None, chroma=50, limiter=3, Lmode=0, DarkSTR=100, BrightSTR=100, Ecenter=None, protect=-1, Ecurve=1, Smode=2, Mfactor=2, RGmode=12, useDB=False)

####### HALO AND GHOST REMOVAL #######
clip = core.lghost.LGhost(clip, mode=[4,3], shift=[-3,4], intensity=[120,60])
#b = haf.FineDehalo(clip, rx=2.0, ry=2.0, thmi=0, brightstr=1.5)
#c = haf.FineDehalo2(clip, hconv = [-1, -1, 5, 5, 40, 5, 5, -1, -1], vconv = [-1, -1, 1, 1, 40, 1, 1, -1, -1])
#d = haf.HQDeringmod(clip, p=None, ringmask=None, mrad=1, msmooth=1, incedge=False, mthr=60, minp=1, nrmode=None, sharp=1, drrep=24, thr=12.0, elast=2.0, darkthr=None, planes=[0], show=False)
#clip = haf.FixChromaBleedingMod(clip, cx=-4, cy=-4, thr=4.0, strength=0.8, blur=False)


####### NOISE REDUCTION  #######
#a = core.cnr2.Cnr2(clip, mode="oxx", scdthr=10.0, ln=150, lm=192, un=150, um=255, vn=150, vm=255, scenechroma=False)
#b = core.dfttest.DFTTest(clip, tbsize=5, ftype=1, sbsize=16, sosize=12, sigma=100)
#c = haf.MCTemporalDenoise(clip, radius=None, pfMode=3, sigma=None, twopass=None, useTTmpSm=False, limit=None, limit2=None, post=0, chroma=None, refine=False, deblock=False, useQED=None, quant1=None, quant2=None, edgeclean=False, ECrad=None, ECthr=None, stabilize=None, maxr=None, TTstr=None, bwbh=None, owoh=None, blksize=None, overlap=None, bt=None, ncpu=1, thSAD=None, thSADC=None, thSAD2=None, thSADC2=None, thSCD1=None, thSCD2=None, truemotion=False, MVglobal=True, pel=None, pelsearch=None, search=4, searchparam=2, MVsharp=None, DCT=0, p=None, settings='low')
#d = haf.SMDegrain(clip, tr=2, thSAD=300, thSADC=None, RefineMotion=False, contrasharp=None, CClip=None, interlaced=False, tff=None, plane=4, Globals=0, pel=None, subpixel=2, prefilter=-1, mfilter=None, blksize=None, overlap=None, search=4, truemotion=None, MVglobal=None, dct=0, limit=255, limitc=None, thSCD1=400, thSCD2=130, chroma=True, hpad=None, vpad=None, Str=1.0, Amp=0.0625)


####### RESIZE / UPSCALE  #######
clip = core.resize.Lanczos(clip=clip, width=1440, height=1080)

########### CLIP LEVELS ###########
#clip = core.hist.Levels(clip)

########### CLIP SCOPES ###########
#clip=core.vscope.Scope(clip, mode="both", tickmarks=0, side="UV", bottom="Y", corner="UV")

####### OUT  #######
####### Stack Compare 2x2 (a,b,c,d) #######
#cima = core.std.StackHorizontal([a,b])
#baixo = core.std.StackHorizontal([c,d])
#out = core.std.StackVertical([cima,baixo])

####### Stack Compare a,b #######
#cima = core.resize.Bicubic(cima, width=1440, height=1080)
#out = core.std.StackHorizontal([cima, clip])

#out = core.std.StackHorizontal([cima, clip])
#out=clip
out.set_output()

[foxyshadis]

Sorry, just saw this thread. Hopefully one of the film experts can help!