Encoding Evangelion

**Enchanter** · 2 Mar 2003, 07:42 PM

I have a few questions for you:
1. What is your DVD source type? Is it in PAL or NTSC format? (I have the PAL version and it's just plain terrible to IVTC.)

2. Which codec and encoder are you using? And is it in 1-pass or 2-pass mode?

I find 175MB to be perfectly adequate for a full episode (24 min average) and hence you shouldn't be having any such problems. The nominal resolution to use would be 512x(). I find 640x() to be unnecessary (full-screen display of both types of resolution show little difference in sharpness) and is prone to introduce compression artifacts (due to the higher of number of pixels for the compressor to work with).

**t3ch** · 2 Mar 2003, 10:12 PM

NTSC

5.0.3, would never use anything except 2 pass (apparantly now I'm not gonna be using 2+, either)

When I used 512x opposed to 384x, 512x came out much granier.

Is there a "make eva look nicer" filter I'm missing because I'm a moron, or is there some process/adjustment I could be skipping?

**Enchanter** · 2 Mar 2003, 10:19 PM

Originally posted by t3ch

NTSC
5.0.3, would never use anything except 2 pass (apparantly now I'm not gonna be using 2+, either)

For NTSC, make sure that you have performed Inverse Telecine (removes interlace artifacts and duplicate frames that resulted from telecining). As for the compression, 2-pass encoding is sufficient.

Originally posted by t3ch

When I used 512x opposed to 384x, 512x came out much granier.

Not quite sure what you mean there. If you mean looks blockier and has higher occurence of "picture warming", they are likely to happen, though I don't believe, when done properly, 175MB is insufficient.

Originally posted by t3ch

Is there a "make eva look nicer" filter I'm missing because I'm a moron, or is there some process/adjustment I could be skipping?

Use a smoother. Eva is a pretty old series and does not look as clean as most of the current anime series. I like Convolution3D and that is what I recommend you use.

And noone should be calling themselves a moron for no reason, you know.

**t3ch** · 2 Mar 2003, 10:44 PM

I did IVTC and all my test clips have been 2pass.

I am reencoding a clip again, just in case I mixed up my old ones (I had about 30 test files).

I'm using a contrast filter (87%) and a smoothing filter, both which I got off of Donald Graft's site. I've seen a couple other people mention convolution3d as well so I guess I'm obligated to check that one out as well.

-------------------------------

Good god the Donald Graft one is taking forever, I already downloaded/installed/encoded a clip with the convo3d, and it made a little bit of a difference but it's still not as good as the 384x.

I guess I'll start from scratch and double check everything... again

edit >> is there a particular resize filter I'm supposed to be using? I'm making the avs in GK and doing the rest in Vdub.

**Enchanter** · 2 Mar 2003, 10:47 PM

The use of the Lanczos Resizer is recommended. It results in excellent picture quality and yet does not result in the infamous "staircase" effect.

What settings did you use for Convolution3D?

edit: Thanks to your edited post. I had to follow up.

**t3ch** · 2 Mar 2003, 10:53 PM

OK the other smoothing didn't do much either.

GKnot:
- 512x384 (it's at 29.97fps)
- resize filter: I tried both neutral and sharp bicubic

VDub:
- average BR: 890
- sub, contrast, smooth filters
- 2 pass

edit >> haha yeah I figured, so I thought I'd post again real quick. Looks like you beat me.

Which one is the lanczos resizer? I had no clue what to put for the settings so I left all the matrices at 0... lol... one box had 100 in it as default, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it. Maybe that had something to do with it?

**Enchanter** · 2 Mar 2003, 11:04 PM

Here's what I suggest you put in the AVS file generated by GK:

LoadPlugin("mpeg2dec2.dll file location")
LoadPlugin("DecombLegacy.dll file location")
LoadPlugin("Convolution3D.dll file location")
LoadPlugin("vobsub.dll file location") #needed for subtitles
mpeg2source("d2v file location")
Telecide()
Decimate(cycle=5)
crop() #input the appropriate cropping values as yielded by GK
Convolution3D () # The AnimeLQ Preset is appropriate for Eva
LanczosResize(512,384)
VobSub("VTS_0x_0") #match X with those for the SUB, IFO and IDX files

Load up the AVS file in Virtualdub, configure everything (codecs, etc.) and start the encoding. Done properly, the result will be satisfactory, though I have to maintain that I don't personally find DivX 5 to be suitable for anime.

**t3ch** · 2 Mar 2003, 11:12 PM

ok, I'll try those out as well as give XviD a run through. *sigh* here comes the FUN part of encoding!

When looking through the archives for something helpful, your posts were always the most informative. I'm sure everyone else appreciates your help as much as I do, thanks a bunch =]

**Enchanter** · 2 Mar 2003, 11:18 PM

Originally posted by t3ch
ok, I'll try those out as well as give XviD a run through. *sigh* here comes the FUN part of encoding!

The fun has just begun!

If you have the time, give nandub a try as well. It still holds its grounds very well when it comes to anime.

Originally posted by t3ch

When looking through the archives for something helpful, your posts were always the most informative. I'm sure everyone else appreciates your help as much as I do, thanks a bunch =]

I'm humbled to hear those words and thank you for them.

**t3ch** · 4 Mar 2003, 01:49 AM

OK a couple quick questions.

Are the filters I add in vdub put at the end of the filter list I did manually?

I have both DecombLegacy.dll and Decomb.dll, and neither recognize telecine() and say Decimate(cycle=5) doesn't have enough parameters; I looked at the help files but they didn't say much about the implementation of the functions.

edit >> btw, I'm just trying to get XviD looking as good as I can get it now, I'll mess with divx later.

**Enchanter** · 4 Mar 2003, 09:10 AM

Originally posted by t3ch

Are the filters I add in vdub put at the end of the filter list I did manually?

Not quite sure what you mean there . . .

Originally posted by t3ch

I have both DecombLegacy.dll and Decomb.dll, and neither recognize telecine() and say Decimate(cycle=5) doesn't have enough parameters;

Telecide() , NOT Telecine() . . .

Use DecombLegacy.dll if your Avisynth version is 2.0x. Use Decomb.dll for Avisynth Beta version 2.5.

**t3ch** · 4 Mar 2003, 10:43 AM

hmm, didn't word that too well.

as far as the order of operations goes, I assume the vdub filters are done after the avisynth filters?

I'd like to do the smoothing last, but I have no idea how to manually configure the 3x3 matrice in VDub, if that's the case.

edit >> err yeah I did teleciDe, don't know why I typed it with an 'n'

**Enchanter** · 4 Mar 2003, 11:05 AM

as far as the order of operations goes, I assume the vdub filters are done after the avisynth filters?

Yes, though I don't see much point in using VD filters anymore when you can do the same with Avisynth plug-ins. Take into consideration that you will slightly slow down the process by using VD filters as well.

I'd like to do the smoothing last, but I have no idea how to manually configure the 3x3 matrice in VDub, if that's the case.

I prefer smoothing first, right after cropping. The reason is that any subsequent processing you carry out may result in amplification of existing video noise, so it's best to remove them before doing anything else.

By the way, you don't happen to be thinking to use another smoother in addition to Convolution3D, do you?

**t3ch** · 4 Mar 2003, 11:11 AM

Should I be using 2 smooth filters? Convolution3d wasn't doing much on the AnimeLQ preset, so I tried adding Graft's Smart Smoother as well; didnt' get any spectacular results.

I've been trying out random programs, and came across autodub. It has some noise/sharpening filters made specifically for anime, would you happen to know about these?

Warpsharp
SmoothHiQ
2D Cleaner

edit >> With heavy movement there's still a bit of blurring in heavy motion scenes, I have IVTC and deinterlacing, but it's not getting rid of everything; any other plugins that would help with this? I imagine telecide might fix that; if i could get it working

Encoding Evangelion

Encoding Evangelion

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