Post by Elvira on Apr 12, 2008 20:39:06 GMT -5
Get sharper video picture, better audio quality from your videos. (With sample downloadable files! 
)
Tutorials are for:
The tutorials in question are: Ripping and converting footage from your DVD and Converting your finished video into a high quality web-ready file. (Tutorial in two parts; you must be a member to access these tutorials.)
In addition, we have a number of tutorials which show you the wonders of the Lagarith codec as well as using the wonderful tool Avisynth for cleaning up your video (both Windows only).
I thought it would be a good idea to show some actual video samples, so you can see what sort of results are possible by following the above-linked tutorials. (A picture—or in this case, a video sample—is worth a thousand words!
)
How to Improve Your Video's Picture and Audio Quality:
If you've ever looked at some other fan videos, and wondered how they got everything looking so clear and smooth (not a lot of "noise" or "blockiness" in the picture)—and you lamented that you never could seem to get it that good, well, maybe now you can! (Or at least be in the same ballpark!)
So, some sample clips, made by following along to the tutorials: RIGHT-CLICK TO DOWNLOAD CLIPS. Clips are between 55-15 MB.
XviD AVI file, made with Sony Vegas Pro 8 (Files made with Movie Studio should look similar.) This is a high quality encode, 55 MB, made with the Lagarith codec.
Other video editors (like Ulead VideoStudio and Premiere Elements and Premiere Pro) should give similar quality when using the same kinds of source video.
Dial-up quality XviD AVI file, made with Sony Vegas Pro. (Again, other Windows-based video editors can yield similar results.)
DivX AVI file, made with Windows Movie Maker (I made a DV AVI file by following tutorials here, then exported out of WMM with a DV AVI file, then encoded the file at a 2000 data rate with the $20 DivX Encoder.)
H.264 MP4 file, made in iMovie 6 (watermark added in iMovie 08 and exported out of iMovie as an MP4).
H.264 MP4 file, made with Final Cut[/url]. (Was also processed with the freeware JES Video Cleaner.)
Some examples of actual videos which use the same or very similar techniques: RIGHT-CLICK to download.
Drop Dead Gorgeous by sooth, 66 MB H.264 MP4 file. DV AVI files, edited with Sony Vegas. From the TV Show "Cold Feet" (with actor Richard Armitage). Source DVD had more noise than is typical, and you'll see this in the fan video.
Lullaby (Richard Armitage fan video) by Delicateblossom. 47.8 MB, DivX AVI file. Edited in DV MOV with Final Cut Express. Video noise smoothed a little with JES Video Cleaner.
The Hand that Feeds (Guy of Gisborne fan video) by sooth. Edited in DV AVI with Sony Vegas, encoded at medium quality XviD AVI. 39 MB.
Exponential Tears (Richard Armitage video) by Elvira (that's me). Edited with iMovie 6, using various quality clips (some commercial DVD rips, some lesser-quality home-burned DVDs or downloaded footage). Encoded to XviD AVI. 33.5 MB.
Totally forgettable Richard Armitage video (56 MB, direct download), made in iMovie 08, higher resolution. Some of the source clips were of dodgy quality, so they don't look that good, but other clips look quite sharp and gorgeous!
Mac users can follow this tutorial for encoding extra "shiny" and pretty MP4, DivX/XviD AVI and/or WMV files. (Works with Final Cut and iMovie.)
If you're confused by some of the terms or techniques used, please consult the Vidding 101 page (w/ FAQs and terminology), and do not hesitate to ask questions if anything is still unclear for you!
Basically, what these tutorials teach is how to rip your DVD's footage with a lightly compressed, high quality file type (often DV), then export the finished video using a process that preserves detail as much as possible.
NOTE: For more perfection and fine tuning of your video quality, check out AMV.org's comprehensive "Guides." Those tutorials have a steeper learning curve (but the quality makes it worth it).
)Tutorials are for:
The tutorials in question are: Ripping and converting footage from your DVD and Converting your finished video into a high quality web-ready file. (Tutorial in two parts; you must be a member to access these tutorials.)
In addition, we have a number of tutorials which show you the wonders of the Lagarith codec as well as using the wonderful tool Avisynth for cleaning up your video (both Windows only).
I thought it would be a good idea to show some actual video samples, so you can see what sort of results are possible by following the above-linked tutorials. (A picture—or in this case, a video sample—is worth a thousand words!
)How to Improve Your Video's Picture and Audio Quality:
If you've ever looked at some other fan videos, and wondered how they got everything looking so clear and smooth (not a lot of "noise" or "blockiness" in the picture)—and you lamented that you never could seem to get it that good, well, maybe now you can! (Or at least be in the same ballpark!)
So, some sample clips, made by following along to the tutorials: RIGHT-CLICK TO DOWNLOAD CLIPS. Clips are between 55-15 MB.
XviD AVI file, made with Sony Vegas Pro 8 (Files made with Movie Studio should look similar.) This is a high quality encode, 55 MB, made with the Lagarith codec.
Other video editors (like Ulead VideoStudio and Premiere Elements and Premiere Pro) should give similar quality when using the same kinds of source video.
Dial-up quality XviD AVI file, made with Sony Vegas Pro. (Again, other Windows-based video editors can yield similar results.)
DivX AVI file, made with Windows Movie Maker (I made a DV AVI file by following tutorials here, then exported out of WMM with a DV AVI file, then encoded the file at a 2000 data rate with the $20 DivX Encoder.)
H.264 MP4 file, made in iMovie 6 (watermark added in iMovie 08 and exported out of iMovie as an MP4).
H.264 MP4 file, made with Final Cut[/url]. (Was also processed with the freeware JES Video Cleaner.)
Some examples of actual videos which use the same or very similar techniques: RIGHT-CLICK to download.
Drop Dead Gorgeous by sooth, 66 MB H.264 MP4 file. DV AVI files, edited with Sony Vegas. From the TV Show "Cold Feet" (with actor Richard Armitage). Source DVD had more noise than is typical, and you'll see this in the fan video.
Lullaby (Richard Armitage fan video) by Delicateblossom. 47.8 MB, DivX AVI file. Edited in DV MOV with Final Cut Express. Video noise smoothed a little with JES Video Cleaner.
The Hand that Feeds (Guy of Gisborne fan video) by sooth. Edited in DV AVI with Sony Vegas, encoded at medium quality XviD AVI. 39 MB.
Exponential Tears (Richard Armitage video) by Elvira (that's me). Edited with iMovie 6, using various quality clips (some commercial DVD rips, some lesser-quality home-burned DVDs or downloaded footage). Encoded to XviD AVI. 33.5 MB.
Totally forgettable Richard Armitage video (56 MB, direct download), made in iMovie 08, higher resolution. Some of the source clips were of dodgy quality, so they don't look that good, but other clips look quite sharp and gorgeous!
Mac users can follow this tutorial for encoding extra "shiny" and pretty MP4, DivX/XviD AVI and/or WMV files. (Works with Final Cut and iMovie.)
If you're confused by some of the terms or techniques used, please consult the Vidding 101 page (w/ FAQs and terminology), and do not hesitate to ask questions if anything is still unclear for you!
Basically, what these tutorials teach is how to rip your DVD's footage with a lightly compressed, high quality file type (often DV), then export the finished video using a process that preserves detail as much as possible.
NOTE: For more perfection and fine tuning of your video quality, check out AMV.org's comprehensive "Guides." Those tutorials have a steeper learning curve (but the quality makes it worth it).
Some DVDs are grainier than others, and it might be hard to fix that. If using the smoothing filter in Avisynth isn't giving you what you want, then I think I'd do what you did—leave it alone. The guys over on the A-m-v.org forums might have some good avisynth filters to recommend to you, if you'd like to try further. (I am not going to pretend to be an expert on how to tweak Avisynth, though I think it's a fabulous tool. 
)
It's always nice to provide quality!