Help with Avisynth, VirtualDub and MVBob

[Dare Kent]

Okay, I was getting ready to deinterlace video. But I did something way wrong.

PROBLEM ONE
I downloaded Avisynth and VirtualDub. I know I had VirtualDub downloaded and up and running, but now I can't seem to find it on my computer. (Two questions, how do I find where VirtualDub went? And I think I read somewhere VirualDub and ATI don't get along, so how do I uninstall if I can't find the files?)


I do have Avisynth in my program files

PROBLEM TWO
I need mini-step by mini-step directions on how to use mvbob. Those doom forums are meant for programmers.

I coded my HTML website by hand. I should be able to figure this out with some help. Is there a simple, tutorial on how to use Avisynth and mvbob to deinterlace 60i to 24p?

Any help much appreciated.

[Graham Hickling]

1) Do a file search for Virtualdub.exe

2) IIRC, the main Virtualdub app. doesn't install itself - you just copy the files into a directory and run it from there. So just delete that directory (if you find it).

The proxy server comes with an proxyoff.reg file - right click and 'install' to disable that.

3) This link doesnt use mvbob, but has some avs script suggestions for 60>24 creation. You should be able to substitute in mvbob (be sure to load the necessary plugins at the start of your script ... as described in the Doom9 threads or in the txt file in the mvbob.rar download package):

http://aqua-web.dyndns.org/avisynth_24p.php

[Dare Kent]

I can't wrap my head around this. I should be able to. I took C programming about 10 years ago, so once the pieces start to come together in my head I should be off and running. But right now I feel very lost.

I've read the doom and avisynth forums and getting started section. But I find that it's not what I need to figure this out.

Step One - turn out computer (figured that out all on my own :)

Step Two - download Avisynth and mvbob.rar (which I've done. Avisynth is under it's own directory and mvbob is under it's own file folder.)

Step Three - download virtualdub? (if I understand correctly, I need to create a VirtualDub folder first, then download the zip file to that folder and then open unzip and install VirtualDub?)

Step Four - transfer from the film camera to the computer the digital film, which I imagine I can do with a video editing software program? Do I save the film as 60iFilmName?

Step Five - How do I get Avisynth, mvbob and virualdub (if required) to work together? Do I desginate a file name for the output file of the 24p file? Where does the 24p output file go?

Step Six - Take output file and move it to the videoediting software and you are off and running.

I learned HTML from a book (I know it's basic, but I did all the HTML by hand in notepad -- http://www.niagara.com/~dbkent/). Okay, I needed a little ego boost for a moment. I'm not a complete moron.

I need Avisynth for dummies. If there was a book I'd purchase it. Checked on Amazon and found nothing.

Any help you'd be willing to give to the person sitting in the corner wearing the dunce cap would be much appreciated. I know I'm asking for a fair bit with detailed step by step request. However my hope is that others would find the post helpful.

(PS dvinfo.net is a wonderful site. I've been lurking for quite some time and I've picked up quite a bit from the post. I'm teaching myself filmmaking by the do-it-yourself, screw-it-up, learn-to-fix it method. And that would not be possible without the web and most importantly the people who post on the web.)

I tried the link for J Wilson's tutorial on Avisynth and Deinterlacing but the link is dead now. Rats.

[Graham Hickling]

I havent used MVBob and it's a little more complex than some plugins. Here I'll take you through the steps with Smoothdeinterlacer, which I do know: http://www.avisynth.org/warpenterpri...l_20030218.zip.

You can then substitute MVBob into your avs script once know it is working in other respects.

1) turn on computer

2) download and install Avisynth and the plugin. In my example, Smoothdeinterlacer.dll has been stored in the folder C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\

3) Unzip the Virtualdub files into a folder called virtualdub.

4) Transfer video from the camera to the computer. (Are you transferring HDV or DV or what? I'm gonna assume DV for now.) Save as a filename such as Clip60i.avi and put it (say) your D: drive root directory.

5) In a plain text editor like notebook, create a simple text file called Edit.avs, and save it with the following single line in it:

DirectshowSource ("d:\Clip60i.avi")

6) Run virtualdub.exe and select \File\Open videofile...

Navigate to the directory that edit.avs is in, select it, and you should see the video clip open up inside virtual dub.

7) To deinterlace your clip, modify the avs file so that it loads and applies the smoothdeinterlace plugin:

LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\SmoothDeinterlacer.dll")
DirectshowSource ("d:\Clip60i.avi")
SmoothDeinterlace()

When you load this new avs file into Virtualdub, you should now see a deinterlaced version of your raw footage. To save this as a new, deinterlaced video file, specify a compression method under "Video" on VDub's menu bar, and then go File\Save as..\[new filename]

Hopefully that will get you started!

The next steps to 24P will involve field and frame-rate manipulations....you'll need to read up on the specific mvdub plugin commands to figure that out. Just as an example, here's a PAL to NTSC script that uses smoothdeinterlacer:

# PAL DV (50 fps) to NTSC DV (59.94 fps)
LoadPlugin("C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins\SmoothDeinterlacer.dll")
AVISource("PALDV.avi")
SmoothDeinterlace(tff=false, doublerate=true)
BilinearResize(720, 480)
ChangeFPS(59.94)
SeparateFields()
SelectEvery(4, 0, 3)

What this does this all mean? Well, the # just lets you add comments.

AVISource is an alternative to Directshow source for avi files. Note that neither of these will load HDV mpg or m2t files directly. Read the Avisynth manual to learn about import formats:
http://www.avisynth.org/index.php?page=AviSynthManual

The two parameters ttf=false and doublerate=true tell avisynth to treat the incoming footage as bottom-field first, and to split the fields and output them as progressive, half-height 50p footage. These parameters are specific to the smoothdeinterlace plugin, and mVBob will have its own, different parameters.

The script then resizes each field to NTSC dimensions.

It then changes the framerate from 50 to 59.94, and then "weaves" together the separate fields back into interlaced frames. In doing so the framerate halves to 59.94/2 = 29.97, which is NTSC spec. Note that BilinearResize, ChangeFPS, SeparateFields, and SelectEvery are all internal Avisynth commands, which are documented in the Avisynth manual.

So ..... you'll need to get to grips with both the internal avisynth commands (from the manual) and the MVdub commands (from the included txt file and the Doom9 threads). Good luck!

[Dare Kent]

Thanks very much Graham, I'll give that a try. Although it is with HDV footage. Looks that is going to change things a bit.

Anyone save Jonathan Wilson's tutorial for avisynth and deinterlacing and mvbob? If anyone has them, could you email them to me?