[DB895]

A while ago I was trying to upscale a couple of movies for playback on a HDTV, before I got the process working correctly I had a disastrous result with one filter/scaling method combination which made the movie look like a cartoon, it was fairly sharp and clean but it almost destroyed the more subtle colour variations in the scene. I was thinking, however, that this might be quite a nice technique if anyone wanted AMV hell at 720p or 1080p.

Obviously, being an upscale, the quality won't be as great as true HD but I think that with a better video source (perhaps downloading the DVD instead of using an old rip of it) the compression artifacts wouldn't be so great. This: http://i35.tinypic.com/m741o0.jpg is a single frame grab or you can download a zip of more frame grabs from a test run here: http://rapidshare.com/files/144966659/1080p.zip

Comments, questions?

[Issitheus]

it'd be cool, but i don't have that kind of space. I just put the AMV Hells on a video DVD and watch them on an upscaler, but that's just me.

[DB895]

That's what I thought the opinion of people with HDTVs might be. With H264 compression I believe (because it's animated rather than live action) a 1080p version could be as small as 6GB and a 720p version could be as small as 2-3GB (That's 3, obviously the intro for 4 would push the size up by a bit if artifacts were to be kept to a minimum).

[JediMaster80]

You could burn them on Blue-Ray Disks then and have Very HQ. But i don't have a Blue Ray burner.
I do have a Dual-Layer DVD Burner so maybe i could help u with this.

I recently got a 500GB Western Digital External HD so i backed up mostly all of my Anime and TV Shows to it and i have like 40GB of free space (On my Internal HD, not my external, that has like 300GB left).
I do got Sony Vegas so i might be able to help make a DVD, though i haven't used it yet. Would have to try to get used to it.

This might be good for AMV Hell 3 or 4, have HQ version of them with like 1280x960 or 1280x1024 Resolution. Super i think is a good Video Converter so i can try to use that, but it all depends on how good of Bit Rate and Compression u want to use.

[DB895]

Thanks for the offer. I'm a little confused, if these are going to be in HD what's the purpose of converting them to DVDs? A video DVD only has a resolution of 720x576 or 720x540.

I will be using vegas, however, because one the final filter I apply to correct the slight colour disturbance caused by the up caling is a vegas only filter, I will therefore also use the mpeg 4 encoder in vegas to make the final file for distribution, it's a pretty efficient encoder and I've had success with it in the past.

To have a better starting point I really need to get my hands on an original .iso of the perfect edition DVD, I'll start downloading that now. I think that ultimately how much content on the DVD is in 3:4 and how much is in 16:9 will decide what the final aspect ratio is.
At the moment I'm testing out the system on country roads and that is 16:9, as is the HD standard but if a lot more people have fullscreen monitors then it would be silly not to produce a version for them, it wouldn't be fair to have the high resolution and end up with the 3:4 stuff postage stamped (surrounded by black borders on all sides).

[JediMaster80]

U should really seperate your sentences like i did. Having them as 1 long paragraph without seperating sentencing can make it harder to read.

[DB895]

Sorry for the wall of text. Fixed.

[JediMaster80]

Let me know what u find out then.

[Issitheus]

Thanks for the offer. I'm a little confused, if these are going to be in HD what's the purpose of converting them to DVDs? A video DVD only has a resolution of 720x576 or 720x540.

I will be using vegas, however, because one the final filter I apply to correct the slight colour disturbance caused by the up caling is a vegas only filter, I will therefore also use the mpeg 4 encoder in vegas to make the final file for distribution, it's a pretty efficient encoder and I've had success with it in the past.

To have a better starting point I really need to get my hands on an original .iso of the perfect edition DVD, I'll start downloading that now. I think that ultimately how much content on the DVD is in 3:4 and how much is in 16:9 will decide what the final aspect ratio is.
At the moment I'm testing out the system on country roads and that is 16:9, as is the HD standard but if a lot more people have fullscreen monitors then it would be silly not to produce a version for them, it wouldn't be fair to have the high resolution and end up with the 3:4 stuff postage stamped (surrounded by black borders on all sides).

Actually it's 4:3, and there is no such thing as 4:3 HD. HD is ONLY 16:9

[JediMaster80]

hehe. I usually try to watch videos in 16:9 (Widescreen) format anyway.

[masterage]

Thanks for the offer. I'm a little confused, if these are going to be in HD what's the purpose of converting them to DVDs? A video DVD only has a resolution of 720x576 or 720x540.

I will be using vegas, however, because one the final filter I apply to correct the slight colour disturbance caused by the up caling is a vegas only filter, I will therefore also use the mpeg 4 encoder in vegas to make the final file for distribution, it's a pretty efficient encoder and I've had success with it in the past.

To have a better starting point I really need to get my hands on an original .iso of the perfect edition DVD, I'll start downloading that now. I think that ultimately how much content on the DVD is in 3:4 and how much is in 16:9 will decide what the final aspect ratio is.
At the moment I'm testing out the system on country roads and that is 16:9, as is the HD standard but if a lot more people have fullscreen monitors then it would be silly not to produce a version for them, it wouldn't be fair to have the high resolution and end up with the 3:4 stuff postage stamped (surrounded by black borders on all sides).

Actually it's 4:3, and there is no such thing as 4:3 HD. HD is ONLY 16:9

looks who's never been to film class :P Old movies were still shot with decent film (even if the cameras themselves were crap, it was still at a resolution higher than today's 640x480) and indie stuff can be squarish HD since they don't conform to the widescreen standard regular theaters hold.

[Issitheus]

Actually, I learned that in film class.

[JediMaster80]

Film Class? Where do u go to school? I never had a film class at my school.

[Issitheus]

Etowah High in Woodstock, Georgia. Why do you ask?

[masterage]

Actually, I learned that in film class.

High Definition isn't always widescreen, it's just the majority.

When's the last time your teacher has been to a independant film festival? >_> Tons upon tons of square HD titles at any of em.

and besides, most of the usage of HD is from companies trying to sell product anyway.

[Issitheus]

http://hardwarelogic.com/articles/blogs/Website_Reviews_and_You/MoreYouKnow.jpg

[DB895]

OK, the standards for HD are called 720p and 1080p, these refer to resolutions of 1280x720 and 1920x1080 with a 1:1 pixel ratio (that is, the pixels are square, unlike in PAL or NTSC where they are squashed by different amounts depending on whether it's widescreen or fullscreen). However, high definition can also mean anything above the standard TV resolutions of PAL and NTSC or the footage can be encoded at the 1080p and 720p standards with a reduced horizontal resolution.

I propose, as it sounds like some people have fullscreen monitors doing 2 or 3 versions, one at 720p, one at 1080p (or possibly just one widescreen HD version) for those with widescreen monitors and one at 1280x960 for those with fullscreen monitors.

Finally, any opinions on the frame grabs or should I go ahead and get a full resolution test done of the whole of country roads?

[Issitheus]

most monitors can display 7020p, but not as many can support 1080p, fyi.

[DB895]

Thank you, my monitor can display 1080p so I guess I was being selfish. I'm downloading the DVD right now but that's looking like it will take a couple of days so I'll start a 720p widescreen upscale of country roads going, should be done in a few hours.

[JediMaster80]

my Moniter resolution is 1280x960 and i am VERY Pushing my video card to it's Limit.
It's an ATI Radeon 9200 128 MB. I do want to get another video card, along with a WHOLE new computer later.

[Zarxrax]

Converting AMV Hell to HD would be completely pointless. Most of the video source already looks pretty crappy even for SD.

[DB895]

Converting AMV Hell to HD would be completely pointless. Most of the video source already looks pretty crappy even for SD.

I hate going against the admin on any forum and I wouldn't want to insult someone who's created something so funny but what's the harm in trying this? I'm sorry if I waste everyone's time and this all comes to nothing but, if you'll allow me, I'll try my damndest to remove every artefact and smooth every pixelation I can.

I'd like some input from anyone willing to give it on this:
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.226753fee0.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?226753fee0.jpg)
I'll be back in a few hours with the test video. It's taking quite a while to upload to the host.

[Zarxrax]

Because upscaling anything and then reencoding it is always pointless. You can't make quality appear where none exists. Sure, you can use a nice resizing filter and maybe add some sharpeners or something, but that's still a far cry from making it look significantly better. If you are watching it on an hdtv that completely sucks at upscaling stuff, then I suppose doing it beforehand might lead to some improvement in that case, though you can upscale it much better just by piping it through ffdshow and filtering it in realtime (assuming you have a machine fast enough), skipping the need to reencode altogether.
What's more, since amv hell clips come from a WIDE variety of sources with a wide range of quality, you can't really apply any significant filtering to the entire thing, because what makes one clip look better may just hurt a clip that aleady looks good. When compiling the videos, I would go through and create custom filtering for each and every video.
Besides, the screenshot you posted just looks really blurry. So whats the point of making it bigger if its still going to be blurry?

[DB895]

OK, I give up.

[JediMaster80]

See what u did Zarxrax, u made DB895 give up on his dreams. How can you sleep at night ???????

[Zarxrax]

I get a sick pleasure from crushing people's hopes and dreams... I crush them like a bug... not just outright stomping on it, but just applying a pressure slowly, as it's tiny exoskeleton cracks under the pressure, forcing to sharp edges into its soft fleshy parts.

[Issitheus]

Reminds me of a quote from Stephen King... "People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy -- and I keep it in a jar on my desk."

[JediMaster80]

I get a sick pleasure from crushing people's hopes and dreams... I crush them like a bug... not just outright stomping on it, but just applying a pressure slowly, as it's tiny exoskeleton cracks under the pressure, forcing to sharp edges into its soft fleshy parts.

lol. Have to be a smart-ass. ?

[ryuk008]

it'd be cool, but i don't have that kind of space. I just put the AMV Hells on a video DVD and watch them on an upscaler, but that's just me.

couldn't you just upload it to megaupload.com and give a link?

[Issitheus]

it'd be cool, but i don't have that kind of space. I just put the AMV Hells on a video DVD and watch them on an upscaler, but that's just me.

couldn't you just upload it to megaupload.com and give a link?

what do you mean?

[JediMaster80]

U would have to torrent it. Megaupload only allows 500MB for Members (Not Preimum) for a single file.

[Nightshiver]

AMV Hell has already been uploaded to other places... just convert it into a dvd yourself if you want it badly.

[JediMaster80]

AMV Hell has already been uploaded to other places... just convert it into a dvd yourself if you want it badly.

Yeah, i did that. Perfect Collection DVD 1 works perfectly with no problems.

[azusaka110]

AMV Hell has already been uploaded to other places... just convert it into a dvd yourself if you want it badly.

Perfect collection is viably you're best and easiest choice in this regard...

[JediMaster80]

AMV Hell has already been uploaded to other places... just convert it into a dvd yourself if you want it badly.

Perfect collection is viably you're best and easiest choice in this regard...

I wish they would make the 2nd DVD, but i heard 2 things.
1) they won't bother doing it cause they don't have the time.
or/and
2) They want to wait Until AMV Hell 0/0 is out.

[azusaka110]

AMV Hell has already been uploaded to other places... just convert it into a dvd yourself if you want it badly.

Perfect collection is viably you're best and easiest choice in this regard...

I wish they would make the 2nd DVD, but i heard 2 things.
1) they won't bother doing it cause they don't have the time.
or/and
2) They want to wait Until AMV Hell 0/0 is out.

I'm going with option one.
but...I dunno. Let's keep our hopes up!
*prays*