PT5150: Man this thing is awesome cant wait….. Rob get that DVD burner ready Bro..
damn Ron if I could come through this computer and give you a kiss I would do it right now!!!! I AM SO STOAKED FOR THIS FREAKIN DVD…. don’t worry Pete I am sure someone (probably Sickman ha ha) will hook me up and I’ll send one out to you and whoever else needs a copy.
Way back on the first page of this topic, I mentioned how I didn’t know if what I had was any better than the AppleJack version of the show. And if you’ve been following along, you’ll note that I had located my copy of the AppleJack version, and ripped the audio from it to use in this project.
Stupidly, after ripping the audio from those DVDs, I shoved the sleeves back into the tub of discs. Several days later I made a mental note of how stupid that was, and how I should have printed off some artwork and put them in a case while I had my hands on them.
So, back to present day, and all along I’ve been wondering if this video is really any better than the AppleJack version. The two items that concern me are: a) The new video seems soft b) The black level isn’t very good (blacks are grayish)
I rendered out the new project to an MPEG2 file, but had trouble fitting it on a thumbdrive, so instead rendered out a smaller portion of the show. I also then went back through the bucket of discs and picked out the AppleJack version. Along the way I also picked out a copy that was taken from DirecTV, as well as a 2 disc VideoCD version of the show, from way back before people started authoring DVDs.
I then previewed my render on my big TV and made note of colors, black level and detail of the image.
I then popped in the AppleJack disc and did the same.
I am now pleased to report the new project will be an upgrade in all of the above aspects of video. I think one of the many things that makes a difference these days is the lack of a “safe area” or overscan from the old tube TV days. What was once hidden in the overscan, is now revealed. The new project will be better in this regard. I have yet to actually put the video onto a DVD, but I don’t think it should be any different than what I just previewed.
I think I will still take a closer look at the black levels to see if there’s anything to be done there.
I also have been thinking about that stripe at the bottom of VHS captured video, and what to do with that, if anything. I’d like to hear some thoughts on it. Example from the project below.
To mask that analog noise at the bottom of the picture – this is what I do in Vegas Video:
1. On the video time line > click Track FX > and select Sony Border. 2. In the pop up box, drag the cursor on the right of the color bars all the way to the bottom (that changes the border from white to black). 3. In the “box” to the right of “size” [0.000], start out by changing it to 0.010. Hit play and just keep bumping it up in increments of 5 [0.015, 0.020, etc.] until you don’t see any head noise poking out during play back.
This will also create the same black border around the entire video – but that isn’t a problem.
The other option would be to crop the video, but I think the black border is a much more practical option.
guitard: To mask that analog noise at the bottom of the picture – this is what I do in Vegas Video: 1.On the video time line > click Track FX > and select Sony Border. 2.In the pop up box, drag the cursor on the right of the color bars all the way to the bottom (that changes the border from white to black). 3.In the “box” to the right of “size” [0.000], start out by changing it to 0.010. Hit play and just keep bumping it up in increments of 5 [0.015, 0.020, etc.] until you don’t see any head noise poking out during play back. This will also create the same black border around the entire video – but that isn’t a problem. The other option would be to crop the video, but I think the black border is a much more practical option.
Hey Ron What Randy said and also you can use the video filters MASK SHAPE and MASK FEATHER to easily do this. I use Final cut pro to author so I dont know if your software has these filters but once these filters applied all you have to do is slide cursor effect up or down to get desired look plus the upside of these is that when you move cursor the whole image is set in one shot …No cropping just masking Great Job BTW on this
I used a mask (verses a border) to get rid of that stripe, which I learned is from the VCR heads being switched on and off as they spin and come in contact with the recorded tape. The results look excellent.
On the black level front, I messed with it some, and while it looked good on the computer screen, when I rendered out a sample and checked it on the big TV, I wasn’t happy. I think I’ll be leaving that alone.
So, next up will be to get a good read on what DVD bit rate* I should use, and render the project out. Then start on the DVD structure and menus.
*The whole show comes in at just shy of 2 hours and 1 minute, so should be able to max the bit rate out. The additional promos won’t take much space.
ron: If anyone has some good pictures or artwork that might be useful in menus, or for cover art, please share.
I got tons of cool Balance era pics. I’ll post some of my favorites tonight you guys are gonna love em….. guess I should contribute SOMETHING in this seeing as I have been the biggest proponent and mouthpiece in this project that wanted to get it going since someone posted this first post in this thread with videos of ATBL, OWTR and YRGM ha ha I still couldn’t believe it when I saw that, that night. I was like “damn we GOTTA do this one as an upgrade.” Thanks to guys like you Ron these projects turn out awesome!!!! I’ll provide some cool Balance era pics tonight after work that we can use….. you guys are gonna love em I promise!!!!! Rob
