Trying to encode a video game tournament DVD, really weird frame issues

[gameinn]

I can supply the complete DVD if needed. It's one of the most influential Street Fighter tournaments they ever had so to properly encode this is a priority.

I extracted this random chapter with MakeMKV: https://mega.nz/file/dRYB2BzD#QgUsVl...XUUNRgJnjYbAEQ

I hope these screenshots show the problem but sometimes when frame advancing I will see parts of the character (mostly colour it seems) from the next frame while still on the previous frame... I think that is what's happening anyway.

Frame 1: https://i.imgur.com/g1dem1C.jpeg
Frame 2: https://i.imgur.com/e6PQHAq.jpeg
Frame 3: https://i.imgur.com/hofgZV8.jpeg
Frame 4: https://i.imgur.com/BJMe4c1.jpeg
Frame 5: https://i.imgur.com/ZBN0mko.jpeg

I've not looked too much at raw DVD files but I just assumed this was normal due to fields or whatever. In an attempt to encode I got StaxRip. I did this because apparently it had QTGMC which from my reading should be one of the best deinterlacers.

The resulting output was ok but when frame advancing this now deinterlaced file, issues still seemed to persist. Hopefully the red colour of this character shows it better.

Frame 1 (seems ok): https://i.imgur.com/eTEZnqN.jpeg
Frame 2: https://i.imgur.com/4OdAv0T.jpeg
Frame 3: https://i.imgur.com/aq1pIZ3.jpeg
Frame 4: https://i.imgur.com/6V9osXB.jpeg

However, what I notice now when frame advancing is that the actual stages now seem to "flicker" up and down ever so slightly which did not happen on the raw DVD files (or on the game itself) I had with MakeMKV.

If anyone can play around with the above file and see if they know what is happening and how to get a proper 60fps deinterlaced encode would be appreciated. File size or time to encode the near 3 hour tournament is not a problem I just want it done properly.

[Selur]

ReduceFlicker helps with the flicker.
BasicVSR++ followed by SMDegrain does a good job for general cleanup&co
No clue, how to configure QTGMC to get rid of the chroma ghosting.

[gameinn]

Thanks for the help.

Is the flicker just a byproduct of deinterlacing in general? I'm going to mess around more soon and see if I get different results.

I was thinking about possibly cleaning up the video but the "charm" would be lost. I might do 2 encodes. One in which I adhere to 1:1 as much as possible and then a really cleaned up version with the stuff you mentioned.

Ah that was the word I was looking for. Chroma ghosting. I guess if that's part of the source not much can be done. Luckily it's only really apparent during frame advance so as long as I can get a proper 60 fps encode with no flicker I think I will be ok.

[Selur]

The flickering is not a general byproduct of deinterlacing, but for older game captures not really uncommon.

[gameinn]

So before I go full into this I decided to try Hybrid as I came across a quick tutorial elsewhere. I am pleased with the deinterlacing quality. ReduceFlicker at 2 also seemed to completely eliminate the flicker so that was good. I couldn't find anything about BasicVSR++ in the program and there was way too many options for SMDegrain I left that alone for now.

Encode gameplay: https://i.imgur.com/KkCaxUE.png
DVD source gameplay: https://i.imgur.com/mTNzDWU.png

Hard to get an exact comparison. One issue I've noticed is that static logos look much worse in comparisons.

Raw DVD: https://i.imgur.com/WE9Rwlw.png
The encode: https://i.imgur.com/aF5o9jQ.png

It's much harder to read the "Friendship & community space" text now. Also seems to be what I think is much more macro blocking around "the 4th Cooperation Cup" text.

Another example:

Raw DVD: https://i.imgur.com/unMWe5n.png
The encode: https://i.imgur.com/1QarcUg.png

I thought this was maybe a bitrate issue but even if I have CRF or even QCP at say 14 it's still present. Even at a CRF of 18 the filesize of the encode is way larger than the source. I guess this kind of makes sense since I'm trying to do a full 60fps encode but the raw file is 7.80 GB and this encode is just over 10 GB. Is this normal or have I done something wrong?

[Selur]

About the size: You are doubling the frame numbers by two and any artifact that was created during the dvd creation now to the encoder seems like details that need to be preserved.
So you might want t add proper denoising. (Additionally, if you use x264 or x265 you might also want to add the internal noise reduction of the encoder.)

BasicVSR++ is something that comes with the torch-addon for Hybrid and requires a fast modern NVIDIA gpu to be useful. So if you have a recent nvidia gpu let me know (best send a PM since instant email notification doesn't work for threads anymore in doom9) and I'll send you links to Hybrids addons.
Adding an 'Anti-Aliasing' filter like 'Santiag' might help with the lines in the logo.
Small side note about ReduceFilcker: you might want to lower the strength to 1. Otherwise, you might get artifacts like this:


Cu Selur

[gameinn]

I have a 5950x CPU with a RTX 3070 so should be ok for BasicVSR++. It's pretty funny being able to set QTGMC at Placebo with all these other filters and still encode at ~180fps.

Do you know if it's possible in Hybrid to have it merge 2 encodes together into one video after they have completed individually? I have a small 20 second intro that is not part of the main vob I would like to append.

Also just for my sanity in the audio department the source audio is 192kbps. It's going to be ok to do aac 128 kbps or should I match 192kbps to be sure? I know I could passthrough but the video is likely going to be put on a popular YouTube Street Fighter channel so adhering to YouTube's guidelines of AAC sounds like a good idea.

[Selur]

128kbit/s aac should be fine.
Hybrid itself does not allow appending stuff, but if the format you use for your reencoding is compatible, appending should be no problem. (simply encode some of your clips and try; leave out filtering to speed up the testing)
Send you links to a current dev version with addons.

Cu Selur

[gameinn]

I got everything installed. I did the same settings (QTGMC Placebo with bob, Reduce Flicker 1) but to see what BasicVSR++ did, I just ticked the box under the Other tab.

Am I forced into around ~5fps now? It's taking about 15 minutes to encode 1 minute.

Results of that 1 minute test are very promising.

No BasicVSR++: https://i.imgur.com/TatodI1.png
BasicVSR++: https://i.imgur.com/cFrtRaP.png

Maybe a tad too strong (the subway looks over sharpened or whatever) but really strong for basic. Default settings if it helps: https://i.imgur.com/pWj8y0L.png

I also noticed something weird. If I have BasicVSR++ for some reason I don't need to apply the reduceflicker option. It looks really good with just BasicVSR++ applied.

[Selur]

You might want to:
a. enabled FP16 for faster processing
b. lower length, depending on the source length=1 is already okay.
but: "Yes" BasicVSR++ is slow.
You can also try SCUNet and/or DPIR from the Denoise-tab.

Cu Selur

Ps.: sometimes it also helps to add some line darking or sharpening before applying BasicVSR++ to keep more details.

[gameinn]

I enabled FP16 and set length=1. I'm now getting just over 10fps.

I have noticed that this has led to the flicker returning but it didn't on default settings. I presume the switch from 16 to 1 did it. I can see that 1 is slightly worse in clean up than 16. Would 4 be a decent ballpark to try next?

I tried SCUNet (again default) and that was even slower than length=16 of BasicVSR++

[gameinn]

@Selur

One thing Im having trouble with is YouTube quality. The YouTube video is really blocky on text even on static scenes but they clear up after 3-4 seconds. This isn't apparent on the encodes so the encode parameters are messing it up.

Is there any Hybrid friendly YouTube encoding settings?

Example here at 0:07 till 0:11 on the main Japanese text. It looks so bad till it clears up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIkvgpvXo8U

As you see here on this version which I believe was encoded with default handbrake settings at 2:30:39 the same text looks fine.

https://youtu.be/6whgUm20P_g?t=9039