SD to HD with AviSynth

Latest version of sample upscale (as of November 5th, 2010): http://www.gyroshot.com/files/simpleslug/SimpleSlugUpscale-defaults.mp4 Using SimpleSlugUpscale v1.00 defaults, encoded with x264 revision 1745 (32 bit, 8 bit depth from http://www.x264.nl/ ), using --preset slower --tune fastdecode --keyint 300 --sar 1:1

NTSC DV original:
http://www.gyroshot.com/files/simpleslug/testclip.zip

If you have a standard definition DV clip that needs to fit into an HD project, I may be able to help. A few months of experimentation in Avisynth led me to a nice combination of high quality deinterlacing and upconversion that produced the video you see here.

Of note are the shallow diagonal lines produced by the van's doors, windows and roof racks, along with the lengths of pipe on top and the strands of rope tying them down, as well as the tiny branches seen in the trees as we swing around the corner. Toward the end you'll also see some nice diagonals on the inside of the driver's door. The text on the battery charger right at the end of the video could be clearer, but there's only so much any deinterlacer can do with the image data provided. I think the results are quite respectable, all things considered.

Since first uploading this clip I've improved on my methods a bit, and put together a script to help in the process, which as of version 0.8 will accept any size and pixel aspect ratio for input, and produce any size and pixel aspect ratio for output.

http://www.gyroshot.com/simpleslug.htm describes SimpleSlugUpscale and its use.

http://www.gyroshot.com/upscale1.htm is a tutorial walking through the process of employing it for upscaling.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/non-linear-editing-pc/140965-how-upscale-sd-hd.html is the thread that started this.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• avisynth
• didee
• tempgaussmc
• tgmc
• vit
• qtgmc
• x264
• slower
• fastdecode
• simpleslug
• blackman
• lanczos
• resize
• dv
• 16:9
• sd
• hd
• upscale
• downscale
• upconvert
• downconvert
• vx2000

[robertcmartens]

@copycatzen Yes, things have changed a bit since those days; Donald Graft's DGDecode will let you load MPEG1/2 files directly into Avisynth, and there's also FFmpegSource2 which loads anything ffmpeg can load. I can't post links in a comment, but Google should let you find what you need.

[copycatzen]

@robertcmartens My source is mpg, I remember that years ago, last time that I used avisynth I had to use dvd2avi and mpeg2dec.dll to open a mpg, is that still the case, or do I have better alternatives now?

[copycatzen]

@robertcmartens I'll try that without modifying the presets. Thanks a lot

[robertcmartens]

@copycatzen I tried to keep the presets only to the most common broadcast sizes for brevity's sake, but you shouldn't need to modify them to get what you want; try using SimpleSlugUpscale(outheight=96­0,DARout=4.0/3.0)

The output PAR defaults to 1:1 when you specify your own width and/or height, so you don't need to type that in. Modifying or adding presets is a bit complicated for a 500 character video comment, but I can always walk you through it by email or Youtube message if you want.

[copycatzen]

@robertcmartens I went over the SimpleSlugUpscale file and could not find what I was looking for. I have a 4:3 SD interlaced file that I want deinterlaced in the same 4:3 ratio but in “HD” (1280x960) and pixel ratio 1:1. There is no preset for that, and could not figure out what part of the code I needed to change to modify a preset. Thanks XD

[robertcmartens]

@magnetite2 Something I didn't really cover in the tutorial (but plan to in the future) is that actual encoding, whether with MeGUI, Staxrip, directly into x264, or anything else, is best saved for later. Running QTGMC is demanding by itself, and your safest bet for stability is to run the deinterlacing and/or upscaling to a lossless intermediate first (Lagarith, UT, Huffyuv, etc.) and then use that file as the source of your encode later, in a separate step. Much less likely to crash that way.

[robertcmartens]

@copycatzen Yeah, that can happen; proper, stable multithreading incorporated into the official Avisynth project is still some way off, and the third party MT modification can be touchy at the best of times. It's worth trying, since it can increase processing speed dramatically, but if you have problems you may just need to turn it off. Glad it's working otherwise!

[copycatzen]

@robertcmartens I had rainbow blocks and turning setMTmode off was the only way around to solve it. Also VirtualDub was crashing constantly. But now I feel like I can start messing with my own files. Thanks!

[copycatzen]

@robertcmartens Thank you, it was in front of me, and I didnt see it

[robertcmartens]

@copycatzen Yes, both of those go in the plugins directory; they contain script functions which will be autoloaded by Avisynth if placed in that directory.

The decompressor error is not uncommon: you don't have a system-wide DV codec installed. Many media players and video editing programs can open DV because they have their own built-in codec for the format, but Avisynth can't access those codecs. The "Tips" page of the tutorial covers this and has instructions which should help you.