Animaxx

4throck said:

This is an interesting project, but looking at your first 3 steps:

1. Copy the original DVD-Stream (VOB-Files) from the NTSC-DVD (SD-Resolution at 720x480p in 4:3 at VFR between 23,976 and 29,970 FPS)
2. Recode the episode to conform to a constant Framerate of 23,976 FPS
3. Deinterlace the episode to go from interlaced to progressive

I spot some problems there. I strongly doubt there’s any variable frame rate on those DVDs.
What you should have is a standard NTSC 3:2 pull-down for the 24fps film segments, and standard 60fps video for the effect composites.

So your first step would be to get rid of the pull-down, and that would also remove any interlace artifacts on the film segments. You get 24fps non interlaced video.
The effect sequences require a separate treatment. There a normal deinterlace filter would do, coupled with frame rate conversion (60 » 24fps).

As you are doing, you are running a line doubling deinterlacer (step 3). I seem to see some deinterlace artifacts on your SD-Quality (NTSC DVD) link images. And why are those images in 768x576 ?

I not saying this to put you down, just to prevent you from spending more time with something that has problems from the start. PM me to further discuss this, perhaps I can help!

(of course I might be wrong, but from the images you posted I seem to stop these problems)

I will pm you. And you are right. The NTSC VOB Files are basically on 29.970 and probably use 3:2 pulldown.
But most files on the web are encoded with vfr and when I use the vfr option in handbrake, I get a file with 23,976 on live action and 29,970 on vfx.
Thanks for pointing that out. Let’s discuss this further

Baobab Archiver said:

No problem. I’m working from home at the moment, so will just set it to record when I’m in a couple of meetings.
It’ll probably produce about a 5gb file, which I’ll upload without any post processing.
One thing the hauppauge software does seem to do on occasions is swap the field order,so you may need to do something to deal with that.
Thanks for the guide by the way - very informative.

Sure thing, looking forward to it.

Baobab Archiver said:

OK I’ll see if I can get it done tomorrow

Thanks a lot, appreciate your work. Hope it’s not to much trouble.

Hey guys, I updated the topic at the beginning to include my complete workflow to illustrate how I’m doing the upscaling and enhancing on the episodes; the “guide” also includes what software was used and what settings/filters apllied. Hope you like it and it helps/inspires you, to try your hands at it.
I’m sure, together we can improve things further.

Have fun!

Let’s go ahead with the test capture. Let’s see what SyFy has to offer. Thanks.

Artan42 said:

Animaxx said:

If anyone is interested, I could make a sort of guide on how my workflow goes, if you’d like.
I just have to find the time, for my vacation time is almost over and my dayjob is 12 hours/day.

Glad you like it. Here’s to many more episodes 😃

Without wanting to eat into time you use for processing the actual episodes, I would like to see that. Beyond just general sharpening I have no idea what actually goes into upscaling video.

Don’t worry, I will find the time. It’s just that I sometimes tend to be a perfectionist and when I am writing that, I want it to be clear and logical in case someone would like to try his/her hand at it.
I’ve been through asking people online what they have done on the files they have upscaled and enhanced, but when one has to inquire for every bit of information it gets difficult, for I don’t like to have to scroll through hundreds of comments to get info on the process, you know what I mean?
At times people also wrote back, saying things like “well, sorry, but i can’t go into detail, since then others would be able to do it” - and here I always thought people would be interested in sharing their processes so everyone might come up with better ways to do. That’s why I am so happy around here.

Anyway, I think I will update the beginning of the topic again and include the workflow/process I am using.
That might add to it’s length, but so everyone can see how it’s done, regardless of whether he/she can actually do it or not, depending on what hardware/software the reader has available (as well as the time they’re willing to put in).

And I almost forgot: In case the quality leaves something to be desired, sometimes adjusting your tv settings can help out. In the very beginning, I always tried to make the image sharper, but we all know, oversharpening is terrible for the general image quality, but then I reduced the sharpening on the filters (so no artefacts would be created) and turned up the sharpening on my tv.

Since most TVs aren’t that aggressive here, you can have a nicer image without doing damage on it or finding it visually distracting. Same thing goes for color and brightness settings.

Sometimes it actually does help. I have created specific profiles on my panasonic for that. One mode is called SciFi-Old and specifically calibrated for DS9, Voyager or other SciFi content of the 90s - most of them share similar challenges like weak colors/lighting, bad contrast, blurry/soft overall image and so on.

Then again the mode mentioned before can’t be used for HD or present-day content, cause it makes images that already have a nice quality look artifical somehow, so you best remember the settings before changing them. Save a seperate profile on your device or just write the old and new settings down and place them by the tv.

Baobab Archiver said:

Tried the 4k version and it’s very impressive! Well done.
The only minor quibble is that the scrolling text is a bit stuttery, but I’m guessing it’s just not possible to get it smooth and maintain the “correct” framerate.
The FX sequences though - wow.

I’ll check my Sky recording tomorrow and report back. The only slight concern is that I think it’s an episode from around season 4. As has been mentioned by Artan42, the latter episodes are visually superior in the first place. What that means is that in order to make a fair comparison, you may have to test your approach on the same episode as I am capturing. Let’s not jump the gun though, and wait to see what I manage to get first!

Also I was wondering if you’d be happy to share what software etc you are using to do this?

First of, I’m really happy that you guys like it. It’s nice to know that the work is appreciated. You don’t know how long I have been searching for a community to share this project with.
Before I had my present set-up, I have been searching for ways to do this and trying it since as far back as 2013, the remastered TNG inspired me.
But back then, the software wasn’t up to it, so it didn’t make much sense to do it from home. When software solutions finally caught up, I was resuming work.

But the community has to be right. People have to respect that a certain level of security has to be maintained, which includes not sharing them on public sites. Also, as you have come to know me, I respect constructive criticism and ideas (with emphasis on “constructive”). Then I began to look into other peoples projects and attempts, including some enhanced clips online. I was again inspired, but a bit discouraged when I saw and read how people commented on it, things like “that isn’t a true remaster, stop kidding yourself” or “stop blowing up dvds, you’re wasting your time and ours”. And while that might be true on some earlier attempts, I find it a bit unkind to judge something that has taken a lot of effort and work by comparing it to present day professional bluray releases, because that is just insane. Of course a series that has been around for 25 years won’t hold up to that, especially when done by a private person. And to then rip it apart in the comment section is not fair, considering it has been provided for free and the person saying that has never tried a hand on it him-/herself.

Back to my file: Yeah, the text/font is a real source of grief. Don’t know if they originally meant the letters to have a 3d shadow effect (like some fonts in word), but the text really doesn’t translate well, although I’ve read on someones blog that the font that was used changed slightly in season 4 (accompanied by upbeat theme music) and again in season 7 and therefore looks better when upscaled/enhanced. Haven’t tried it yet, so we’ll have to wait and see. Forgive me for saying so, but maybe someone around here has an idea on that, I have given up on the font, for I don’t find it to terribly important, as long as it doesn’t look to bad. But I must admit, the PAL-Version handles the font (especially the movement of it) a bit better - perhaps because of the 25 FPS at constant rate?

To the cgi/vfx: Yeah, the upscaling mode I’m using was specifically designed for computer generated content, which I can only validate through several attempts. Although it sometimes over-smoothens faces a bit, I can accept that, for it also removes a lot of the grain. Other modes of the software may retain a bit more facial detail, but also keep grain and cause more color dithering, which I don’t like. Of course I could adjust the after-filters, but then I would have to go back to experimenting. And after 43 attempts with different modes and settings (yes, it really took that many), I am pretty happy with what I got.
I can’t wait for a few later battle scenes, the mode should really bring them out 😃

On the topic of your hd-capture: Everything is fine, for now it’s abound finding out the basisc (logo, bars, general quality, audio pitch etc.). It will help to form an opinion. And perhaps I could then do a preview upscale of a 2 minute-segment as test to see what we can come up with, that wouldn’t take all that long.

On the matter of the software I am using: There are several programs involved.
The free ones (you don’t have to pay) are: DVDShrink (I don’t know if that is still available, for support has ended years ago), Handbrake, StaxRip, meGui and mkvToolnix.
The only paid-for software is Topaz Video Enhance AI (from Topaz Labs): It is the key component in my enhancing and upscaling, but it does cost 199 Dollars. But sometimes you’ll get lucky - there is a guy called “Capt Robau” who writes a blog about upscaling games and clips (even DS9) that provides a 15% discount code for the software.
I was lucky enough to catch the company having an additonal 10% or something off while offering 30-days-money-back-guarantee, so i thought what the hell and bought it for around 165 bucks. And it really is worth it. They update it regularly and have forums for beta testers and always an open ear for customers and their suggestions.
I can highly recommend it!

If anyone is interested, I could make a sort of guide on how my workflow goes, if you’d like.
I just have to find the time, for my vacation time is almost over and my dayjob is 12 hours/day.

Glad you like it. Here’s to many more episodes 😃

Oh, and doing this work I have learned to never again be a harsh critic on companies doing upscaling and remastering (except for tv broadcasts). I can still remember how some people were complaining during the original production run of the TNG-Remasters and how long it took.

After having worked on “only” the pilot … Amen to those people having done the work. It can get unnerving at times when the results don’t hold up to what you have expected.

Also: The shadows/ghosting sometimes appears to be a result of AI upscaling, for it tries to add detail but perhaps confuses it with artefacts still present in the original. Unfortunately I can’t remove them before feeding the file to the AI, that looses more detail (I have tried several times) - the best result is AI first, filters afterwards.
Whenever I did the filter-work before, people or objects in the background looked smeared and their eyes scratchy.

For now, this is the workflow I feel works ok in 90% of cases. Of course, if anyone comes up with some idea to do it better, throw your thoughts at me.

Artan42 said:

Animaxx said:

Hello guys. Great news: I’ve just finished the 4K Preview (first 90 seconds of the pilot) in 4K.
The original post at the beginning has been updated accordingly.

Here the link for the Original SD-File from the NTSC-DVD (67,5 MB) so you can compare:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nL19DeM87_kHtksh-XaGyQDPr_nX3F_K/view?usp=sharing

Here the link for the enhanced and upscaled 4K-File (106 MB):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qQrcY66SVMnGMSrIB52MTuzMfV_-IRHH/view?usp=sharing

The 1080p-Version preview is still in the works but should be finished soon, I will also post it here and at the beginning of the topic.

Afterwards the work on the full episode will procede. For the full episode please pm me around the next two days, ok?

Well that’s impressive. It really looks like footage from much later in DS9s run now. If it wasn’t for the black bars preventing widescreen you’d think it was a TNG style remaster.

I defiantly can’t wait for the full pilot.

Edit: the 1080 version looks a little funny in the way it’s enhanced the opening text as it’s cut off the first full stop and some of the letters have a shadowed lines after them. The sharpening on the Cube is also a bit odd in places and I think that’s because it’s made up of a lot of lines which may confuse the AI.
I haven’t noticed these effects on the 4K version.

Thanks for your kind words. I’ve noticed what you said on the 1080p as well. Seems to happen when I downscale from 4K to 1080p with Resizing. I had hoped I wouldn’t have to do a second ai run on 1080p, but I think it would be better quality-wise, unfortunately it would take even longer that way. But I will do it. Quality is important to me, just hope you guys can wait.

Again thanks, glad you like it.

As promised here is the link to the 1080p-File (43,4 MB):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C3Y8F5ZuHGiykfhLHWfME2saswJU90Cn/view?usp=sharing

Now I will get back to the full episode itself. My software tells me the filter-work on the 4K-Version will take about 3 more days (4K takes loooong) by the time I’m writing this, so you’ll have an idea when the 4K will pop up on the account I created. Links by pm only.

Hello guys. Great news: I’ve just finished the 4K Preview (first 90 seconds of the pilot) in 4K.
The original post at the beginning has been updated accordingly.

Here the link for the Original SD-File from the NTSC-DVD (67,5 MB) so you can compare:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nL19DeM87_kHtksh-XaGyQDPr_nX3F_K/view?usp=sharing

Here the link for the enhanced and upscaled 4K-File (106 MB):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qQrcY66SVMnGMSrIB52MTuzMfV_-IRHH/view?usp=sharing

The 1080p-Version preview is still in the works but should be finished soon, I will also post it here and at the beginning of the topic.

Afterwards the work on the full episode will procede. For the full episode please pm me around the next two days, ok?

Baobab Archiver said:

There’s an episode of DS9 on the SciFi HD channel here tomorrow, so I’ll record it to my PVR and see what it’s like. First thing I’ll check is channel logos. I’m hoping they’ll be in the vertical black bars…

Great. Thank you for your work. Fingers crossed on the logo.

By the way: My computer tells me it will take 6 more hours to finish the 4K AI upscale, then I will be able to do the filter work. Since it might take a bit longer, I will provide you guys with a preview clip in 4K and 1080p (perhaps the first two minutes of the pilot when the battle of wolf 359 is shown) - so you’ll at least know what to expect.

I’ll keep you updated 😃

Artan42 said:

Animaxx said:

And as far as hdtv broadcasts go: I have noticed a disturbing trend towards “chopping episodes”.

In the past, it was mostly related to the opening and/or end credits, which was ok I guess. But in the last years or so when I stumbled across an episode and thought “I could watch that again” … I don’t know what they are thinking!
They are editing out lines of dialogue, sometimes complete scenes where there really is no need (no offensive language, nudity or violence).
A few days ago I found Voyagers “Year of Hell” and it had several minutes missing and it whoever edited it did such a clumsy job, even someone who didn’t knew the episode would have noticed that some sentences certainly didn’t end where they did.
But just an hour later I saw some show that depicted a guy who got shot with blood splattering and some boobage … I guess that’s ok then ???

So I have become a bit distrustful of tv broadcasts …

I started watching the remastered TNG and Buffy on Sci-Fi when they started re-airing them here in England, however I picked up they basically cut things out at random episode by episode so I gave up and went back to my DVDs.
It’s not even consistent censorship, some episodes you can say ‘bastard’ and in other episodes, in the exact same context, they cut it.

That’s exactly what’s bothering me about it - if it would at least follow certain rules that would appear logical (like language, violence, nudity). I mean I would get it if certain things would be consistently edited pre-watershed, but as you have said, it is really random and most of the time it doesn’t make any sense.
Also I don’t get why other content (for example a gay kiss) would be considered offensive (thinking about the kiss between Dax and a female trill in episode “Rejoined” of season 4), I mean seriously, it’s 2020, what the ****?
Same thing happened a lot with Torchwood … as if we have never seen two women or men kissing … it’s so sad.

I even read about a discussion that seems to have taken place within the upper ranks of a broadcasting company that is about to aquire the free-tv-rights for further Trek-Content (namely Discovery) and now poses the question “should we place Discovery into a late evening slot because of the gay stuff?”
And here I always thought SciFi (or in this case Star Trek) was about advancement in all areas (social and racial diversity was a key point with TOS in the 60’s as far as I remember)? Seems like we’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere
😦

Baobab Archiver said:

I’ll certianly have a check for you and report back. I have means of capturing an HD broadcast, but not a direct capture, so it would lose some quality. However for the purpose of getting a basic idea if it’s worth exploring I could get a capture if it’s still being broadcast.
There are most likely other forum members who could do a direct capture of the broadcast stream with the right setup.
I’ll report back once I’ve looked into it tomorrow.

EDIT TO ADD: You will almost definitely have audio sync issues with ad breaks here too. Question is whether the source is superior and if so, sufficiently superior to make the extra effort worthwhile 😃

Well said, if anyone would have a “superior source” (compared to the DVDs) I would be willing to put in the extra work. One of my favorite films was just recently broadcast via cable and a friend captured it for me - there I am even willing to overlook the logo in the upper right corner, for it has never been released other than VHS.
Sometimes it is worth it.

And as far as hdtv broadcasts go: I have noticed a disturbing trend towards “chopping episodes”.

In the past, it was mostly related to the opening and/or end credits, which was ok I guess. But in the last years or so when I stumbled across an episode and thought “I could watch that again” … I don’t know what they are thinking!
They are editing out lines of dialogue, sometimes complete scenes where there really is no need (no offensive language, nudity or violence).
A few days ago I found Voyagers “Year of Hell” and it had several minutes missing and it whoever edited it did such a clumsy job, even someone who didn’t knew the episode would have noticed that some sentences certainly didn’t end where they did.
But just an hour later I saw some show that depicted a guy who got shot with blood splattering and some boobage … I guess that’s ok then ???

So I have become a bit distrustful of tv broadcasts …

SilverWook said:

Would Laserdiscs be of any benefit here? Although sadly they only got up to the middle of season 3 by the time new releases began to dry up in 1999.

The digital broadcast subchannel Heroes & Icons shows DS9 six nights a week in the U.S, but there’s a pesky bug logo in the corner and commercial breaks where there were none originally.

I have read about laserdiscs of DS9 but never actually seen an episode via that medium, so I can’t really judge the quality on that. Do you happen to know someone who owns them or could transfer them to files?

Yes, the logo issue is terrible. I have seen programs that remove them, but there is always a little bit of blur left, which I personally find distracting. And the commercial breaks add headaches when trying to sync the audio.

Baobab Archiver said:

Great project!
I’ve got some crudely converted Voyager episodes on my PC, which I got from my UK DVDs - I slowed them down to 23.976fps and deinterlaced using Avisynth filters. Seems to play back better than the DVDs did, and corrects the pitch at the same time.

The only question I have is, whether there would be any benefit in looking for alternative sources? I’m not sure if it is now, but I know some UK channels were broadcasting the show in 1080i50. Obviously it’s an upscale, but might be a cleaner image to work from than the DVD… If you’re interested I’ll check to see if there are any broadcasting at the moment.

That’s an interesting idea. If you should happen to have some hd broadcast files I would be happy to have an option to take a look at them.
I guess it all depends on the source they used and how they upscaled.

I came across some HD-upscales of Stargate lately on SyFy; unfortunately they were poorly done: They seemed to have run them through an automated algorithm based on the PAL-Versions they had - so when watching them you could spot interlacing / combing issues and the pitch was wrong, additionally they were over-smoothing the image, probably hoping to reduce noise without paying much attention to the loss of details.

But again, it would be interesting to see if you happen to have the hd broadcasts. The german HD-broadcasts of Voyager I have seen suffer from the same problems I noticed on stargate, at least the ones i know.

And while we’re talking about the matter of DVDs: I have had the same problem with DS9 and Voyager when playing the episodes from the discs - I guess it has to do with the players / TVs (or the way the software on the devices) ability / inability to handle VFR, then again it could also be an issue of the production company adjusting the Framerates to conform the country-standards in the old days (like NTSC mastering to PAL for distribution in Europe). When I started to deinterlace and adjusting to a CFR of 23,976 to more closely conform to live action scenes and later added some filters to smoothen out the cgi, the motion stutter (which was almost always present during DVD playback and very noticeable with space scenes) was at least reduced and more watchable.

I think it is a great example of technology developing in the final consumer segment, so that there is software available to make adjustments by hand / at home. Now if they would only provide us with a software that could do it all at once … how great would that be?

@Artan42: True, sorry for the bad example. I just meant I wanted to avoid legal troubles. Depending on the country you’re in it can be tricky. Even if there is no money involved.

But I’m glad you guys understand my concerns. A friend of mine told me that someone he knew had a blog and wrote about restoring old music from LPs - the blog was taken down for “possible copyright violations”, although he never once posted any content … so he got blocked just for talking about it with others.

Sometimes I think if companies all around the world would be less interested in pursuing people/fans who just want to restore old material (music, films etc.) and instead inviting them to co-ventures (perhaps if studios would outsource basic work that could possibly done by fans) the work would not only procede more quickly but perhaps even less expensive, considering deals could be done like “ok, you help us bring the content back to life and as reward you’ll get it for free”.

Just a thought in the dark. I mean the fandom out there is pretty dedicated, I remember watching documentaries about music and films where original producers would almost every time say something like "the fans would be delighted to help, creatively / work-related and/or financially … the possibilities are infinite.

Hey guys, small update here: Currently upscaling the pilot episode to 4K resolution, should be done by sunday evening.

Afterwards the filter work will be applied, but it could take a little longer, since I now have two outputs (4K and 1080p from 4K-downscale for file-size purpose). I know, it adds more time, but I think it will be better quality-wise when filters and compression will be apllied to 4K first and then downscaled.

I still hope to be done this weekend, but it could take til monday. I’ll keep you updated.

And there is one more thing I would like to ask of you guys, if I may:

I realize of course that there is demand out there for improved version of both DS9 and Voyager and that some people would do anything to get them.
And since this is purely a fan project I would love for everyone who is interested to get there hands on it, but I would prefer to keep this project as well as all related files within this community or accessible to all those who pm me around here.

Once you have downloaded the files you can use them / watch them for your own personal pleasure and / or share them with others if you like - although it would be nice to know that all of you who download at least own a dvd copy of the series (in this case DS9) so there would be less concern with spreading copies of things you don’t actually own if you all know what I mean.

And finally: Since I trust the members of this community I respectfully ask you to not post / upload files from the project to any public torrent sites or distribution platforms (such as YouTube or Vimeo).
I don’t know if any of you followed the problems fan projects (even those without any financial concerns) faced lately, but I don’t want to get into any sort of trouble since torrenting without VPN can be tricky and since public tracker / sites are sometimes badly moderated but at the same time watched by copyright hunters.
Perhaps the project “Star Trek Axanar” rings some bells around here, it was a damn disgrace what they did to those people who merely wanted to bring a new chapter to Trek.
So, if I should get knowledge about these files popping up on those sites I will abort the project.

It may seem harsh, but I don’t need that kind of trouble. All I want is to make fans happy by sharing this project in a way that is as responsible as it possibly can be. I hope you guys understand.

I recommend downloading them and watching them side-by-side on your device for a detailed comparison, then the improvements become more clear.

Hello Guys.

No, sorry, I haven’t finished the workover on the episode, but I would like to provide you with another update:

In my original post at the beginning of this topic I put up some images on Imgur to show the differences between the original NTSC DVD Version and my Enhanced Version - unfortunately imgur created some weird artefacts, especially on the HD Images.

Now I have switched to google drive and would like to provide you with the images again, but this time in the proper quality.
Please note that the links below are just for preview purposes, all other links will be provided by pm only!

Here the link for the original images in SD-Quality (NTSC DVD): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XhVUepnMETb6o376btvvh8c8Kxjoi8kT?usp=sharing

And here the link for the enhanced images in HD-Quality (after my restoration): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PLH3LfxDw58wwh7bAmcQ5KqCQSBOG8Tg?usp=sharing

Just so you see there is actual improvement and I’m not just making stuff up.