Avisynth Help thread

[martino]

I really, and really suggest you read this first.

You're just copy-pasting without understanding how it works, that's not the way to get around.

[jofori89]

Sorry, demo i actual don't understand it mean.

[Orochi^]

Hello, everyone :]

I'm having some encoding trouble which is driving me crazy with an anime here. I tried a lot of things, like encoding without any filter, encoding with some filters, encoding with the Insane x264 profile [0.6 fps D:], and the result is always the same. When I open the .avs in vdub, it looks good. Not perfect, but, good. Then, when I encode it, the output comes out really terrible.

Here is some comparison screenshots:


.avs opened in vdub


encoded


.avs opened in vdub


encoded

Of course, that's only in dark scenes. Bright ones are always perfect D:

I understand that the vdub opened avs is compressionless, so it naturally should look better, but... The encoded one is just AWFUL D:

So, this is why I'm here, asking for the pros some help. I rather do this than releasing something that might make everyone blind D: I never studied a lot x264 encoding, since the default profiles and some simple filters usually did the job pretty well. But, this one... :\

Here's the avs script:

LoadPlugin("C:\x264\fft3dfilter.dll")
DGDecode_mpeg2source("air.d2v")
ColorMatrix(hints=false, interlaced=true, threads=0)
tfm(order=1).tdecimate()
crop( 4, 0, -4, 0)
Lanczos4Resize(848,480)
fft3dfilter()
gradfun2db()
Trim(6,0)

And here's the x264 settings I used to those screens encode:

"C:\x264\x264.exe" --pass 2 --bitrate 1150 --stats "air.stats" --ref 12 --mixed-refs --bframes 16 --b-pyramid --direct auto --deblock 1:1 --subme 8 --trellis 2 --psy-rd 0.6:0 --partitions all  --8x8dct --vbv-maxrate 17500 --me umh --threads auto --thread-input --aq-mode 0 --progress --no-psnr --no-ssim --output "air.mkv" "air.avs"

Thank you so much, any help will be hugely appreciated :}

[Scab]

x264 fails to retain the grain you add with gradfun2b. Re-enable AQ and tweak psy-rd. Adding --no-dct-decimate can help too. Note that when encoding to a target bitrate these are all likely to raise your quants noticeably. Consider running some --crf tests to see the effects properly.

[Orochi^]

Thank you for the answer, Scab. I tried out those settings you adviced me, but, it's still bad. Just a little better, but, not even close to what we see on vdub. Even with --crf 1 the result remains bad. So I assume I'd need to filter the .avs in someway that x264 keeps up the input as close as possible.

Any ideas?

[TheRyuu]

Originally Posted by Orochi^

Thank you for the answer, Scab. I tried out those settings you adviced me, but, it's still bad. Just a little better, but, not even close to what we see on vdub. Even with --crf 1 the result remains bad. So I assume I'd need to filter the .avs in someway that x264 keeps up the input as close as possible.

Any ideas?

Try gradfun2dbmod.
This introduces grain in areas that are prone to banding instead of just dithering it.

Also in order for x264 to keep said grain, start with stuff like --psy-rd 0.8:0.2 --aq-strength 0.8.
Adjust as necessary. You should definitely NOT disable aq.

And as scab said, run a --crf 18/21 encode to see what bitrate you might need to achive good results.

Edit:
Furthermore, fft3dfilter() on defaults (sigma=2) is quite strong (this is also a factor which introduces banding).
I would also suggest doing anamorphic encoding (if it's a dvd) instead of resizing it to 848x480, but that's just a minor suggestion.

[Dark Shikari]

If you can see any visual quality loss at CRF 1, there's something wrong in your decoder or processing chain, not x264.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by Dark Shikari

If you can see any visual quality loss at CRF 1, there's something wrong in your decoder or processing chain, not x264.

Yeah, I think I agree... This may be a colorspace conversion issue in you h.264 decoding chain using the codecs on your system versus the uncompressed video decoding chain that is used when loading the .avs

Try taking one of your encoded files and loading it in avisynth with Directshowsource and playing that .avs...

[Orochi^]

Thank you, everyone.

In fact, opening with avs's DirectShowSource showed a better image, but, still not good. Then I adjusted the other settings you adviced me, changed to gradfun2gbmod, changed some other minor settings, and it got really better.

Thank you A LOT for the help, you all saved me :}

Anything you need (if I can help), PM me or something.

Thanks again! :]

[SHiN-gx]

I have an AVI clip of an old anime with 29.976 fps (not ripped by me) and it's riddled with what you call "ghost" artifacts. Is there a way to remove those artifacts? It's a different story compared to decimating it using the original source.

Also I append three clips into one AVI file and each clip has different set of filters, etc. and I ended up with this:

AviSource("op.avi").crop(6, 0, 0, 0).unblend(threshold=5, dthresh=0.50, show=false).lanczos4resize(640, 480) + AviSource("ep85.avi").crop(8,2,-2,-2).Levels(0, 1.3, 255, 0, 255).Tweak(0.0, 1.0, 3.0, 1.0).Stab().unblend(threshold=5, dthresh=0.50, show=false).lanczos4resize(640, 480) + AviSource("ed.avi").crop(6, 0, 0, 0).unblend(threshold=5, dthresh=0.50, show=false).lanczos4resize(640, 480)

Is there a way to simplify this?

Thanks.

[TheRyuu]

Originally Posted by SHiN-gx

I have an AVI clip of an old anime with 29.976 fps (not ripped by me) and it's riddled with what you call "ghost" artifacts. Is there a way to remove those artifacts? It's a different story compared to decimating it using the original source.

Also I append three clips into one AVI file and each clip has different set of filters, etc. and I ended up with this:

AviSource("op.avi").crop(6, 0, 0, 0).unblend(threshold=5, dthresh=0.50, show=false).lanczos4resize(640, 480) + AviSource("ep85.avi").crop(8,2,-2,-2).Levels(0, 1.3, 255, 0, 255).Tweak(0.0, 1.0, 3.0, 1.0).Stab().unblend(threshold=5, dthresh=0.50, show=false).lanczos4resize(640, 480) + AviSource("ed.avi").crop(6, 0, 0, 0).unblend(threshold=5, dthresh=0.50, show=false).lanczos4resize(640, 480)

Is there a way to simplify this?

Thanks.

Try like, deblending filters or something?
IIRC there's really no 'good' way to deal with these artifacts.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by SHiN-gx

I have an AVI clip of an old anime with 29.976 fps (not ripped by me) and it's riddled with what you call "ghost" artifacts. Is there a way to remove those artifacts? It's a different story compared to decimating it using the original source.

Also I append three clips into one AVI file and each clip has different set of filters, etc. and I ended up with this:

AviSource("op.avi").crop(6, 0, 0, 0).unblend(threshold=5, dthresh=0.50, show=false).lanczos4resize(640, 480) + AviSource("ep85.avi").crop(8,2,-2,-2).Levels(0, 1.3, 255, 0, 255).Tweak(0.0, 1.0, 3.0, 1.0).Stab().unblend(threshold=5, dthresh=0.50, show=false).lanczos4resize(640, 480) + AviSource("ed.avi").crop(6, 0, 0, 0).unblend(threshold=5, dthresh=0.50, show=false).lanczos4resize(640, 480)

Is there a way to simplify this?

Thanks.

You're SOL, generally. Unblending-type filters only really work in really pristine conditions, which old anime does not have.

Normally the blending that you'd get is because of the deinterlacing/poor IVTC that was done, probably in the ripping step, and older shows often have horribly composited scenes where, say, the background has a different cadence than the foreground and true IVTC is basically impossible.
If this happens and is blend deinterlaced but not decimated than you could get a pretty horribly blended rip, with zero way to recreate original frames outside of like, manually redrawing each frame. Which is probably what you have.
Frankly, I'd try hard to find the original source, probably DVD somewhere. That's the only way you'll really be able to improve the quality.

[SHiN-gx]

^ Bummer. =/

Thanks for your extra info and I guess I'll go cry in a corner, deal what I have or look for the source. :P

[comatose]

Actually, I found that in many shows, there's minor field blending - so you have a frame that's blended followed by a frame that isn't (because anime has dupes, hooray!)... so in many cases FreezeFrame-ing is a decent solution that works for everything but pans.

Obviously though, it's very frustrating and boring as hell.

[TheFluff]

If the blended frame/clean frame pattern is consistent (haha yeah right) YATTA has some semi-automated ways to freezeframe stuff one scene at a time or so.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by comatose

Actually, I found that in many shows, there's minor field blending - so you have a frame that's blended followed by a frame that isn't (because anime has dupes, hooray!)... so in many cases FreezeFrame-ing is a decent solution that works for everything but pans.

Obviously though, it's very frustrating and boring as hell.

Yeah, that's great, except it'll take in insane amount of time and has to basically be done manually.

[jofori89]

Originally Posted by TheFluff

Overlay(clip, clip overlay, int ''x'', int ''y'', clip ''mask'', float ''opacity'', string ''mode'', bool ''greymask'', string ''output'', bool ''ignore_conditional'', bool ''pc_range'')

int ''x'', int ''y''

rtfm

Overlay(last, logo, 600, 80, clip ''mask'', float ''opacity'', string ''mode'', bool ''greymask'', string ''output'', bool ''ignore_conditional'', bool ''pc_range'')
What dose it mean?

[50119]

Originally Posted by jofori89

Overlay(last, logo, 600, 80, clip ''mask'', float ''opacity'', string ''mode'', bool ''greymask'', string ''output'', bool ''ignore_conditional'', bool ''pc_range'')
What dose it mean?

avisynth documentation

[TheRyuu]

Originally Posted by jofori89

Overlay(last, logo, 600, 80, clip ''mask'', float ''opacity'', string ''mode'', bool ''greymask'', string ''output'', bool ''ignore_conditional'', bool ''pc_range'')
What dose it mean?

Read the 'fine' manual. </stolen>
http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Overlay

and

Originally Posted by martino

I really, and really suggest you read this first.

You're just copy-pasting without understanding how it works, that's not the way to get around.

[jofori89]

Originally Posted by TheRyuu

Read the 'fine' manual. </stolen>
http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Overlay

and

Thanks a lot,