Chewtobacca

althor1138 said:I'd really like to keep it at 480p with a high bit rate and let the electronics do the scaling though.  If I encounter  more problems with compliancy though I will do it.  What is the best way to upscale without losing any detail?

Keeping it at 480p is understandable.  Are you still putting two versions (filtered and unfiltered) on one disc or have you given up on that idea?  I just can't get over how massive the overkill involved in what you are doing is.  If I were you, I would simply make a DVD (a DVD-9 if you are worried about quality).  I could show you exactly how to do it, but I know you have your heart set on the BD idea, so...

If upscaling does become necessary, there is a thread on it here.  The method that Antcufaalb outlines is basically the one I use, and I don't know of a better one.

althor1138 said:it seems that with a bit-rate over 15mb the advantages of x264 drop off. 

Yes, but you will still get blocking with MPEG-2, even at high bitrates.  If you must make a BD, use x264.  You said that you have solved the compatibility issue, and if the encoding time is a problem, drop the bitrate; you already have far more than you need.  (At the bitrates you are talking about, you might as well upscale to 720p.)

EDIT:  It is also possible to encode in 4:2:2 colorspace.

It is possible to encode it, but for BD stick to 4:2:0.

Why are you using MPEG-2?

Use tsmuxer, uncheck Add picture timing info and Continually insert SPS/PPS and remux to AVCHD.

Laserschwert said:Is there a quick way to put these new chapter marks into an MKV, or do I have to add each one manually?

Put them in a text file and open it with MKVMerge's chapter editor.

The AR should not affect the function, but you'll have to see what happens.

CatBus said:  Interesting.  Does that apply to Blu-rays too?

Yes.

Harmy said:

Also, a question - when muxing an AVCHD with TS Muxer, which options should I choose when I want to ensure best compatibility

Uncheck Add picture timing info and Continually insert SPS/PPS.

Memorex said:Yeah, well.. time heals all wounds I guess. Just gotta focus on awesome things, like the impending release :)

That's the spirit! :-)

Harmy said:(unless mpeg2 takes much longer to encode than h264).

It's faster.  I'll talk to you nearer the time.  :-)

CatBus said:  Now of course I'm wondering if Chewtobacca will downscale the AVCHD to DVD or if he'll wait for the Blu-ray...

He'll wait for the Blu-ray.  The AVCHD is meant to be a chance for people to spot issues, so there's a slight possibility that the BD will feature improvements.

Happy birthday, ot.com.  And thank you for starting the forum, Jay.

To rip the disc (and remove copy protection in the process), I would use the trial of AnyDVD or DVDFab HD Decrypter, which, in spite of the HD in its name, can rip DVDs.  Then I would use DVD Rebuilder.

Darth Mallwalker said: . . . or from so-and-so's V3 release.

Lol!  Thanks for the upload, and thanks to Molly for the track.

AntcuFaalb said: Isn't Dolby TrueHD lossless?

It is, but good luck finding an affordable encoder.  If the audio tracks have to be lossless, the choices, as I see it, are DTS-HD MA or PCM.  (I think that all that is needed is for the mono and stereo tracks to be encoded with AC-3 at bitrates so high that they are for all intents and purposes lossless, but no doubt some will disagree.)

dvdmike said:

There is more detail in the BD is it not worth sorting out the contrast on that?

I think it is.  I had the old HDTV version years ago, and it looked like the DVD master i.e. poor.  Despite the contrast issue, I'd far rather watch the Blu-ray, so I hope there's a way of sorting out the contrast and the blown-out whites.

That's an excellent idea.  I look forward to your release.

althor1138 said: Is there some cap on bitrate because of the resolution?

Not at 4.1, but it does depend on the profile.  At 720x480, a bitrate of 22000 is massive overkill anyway.  I had assumed you were upscaling.  If you stick to 720x480, you will need to use the fake-interlaced switch, assuming the framerate is 23.976fps and you have performed an IVTC.  Check this thread out.

I don't use multiAVCHD, but if the program has encoded the video correctly, and I imagine it has, I would be very happy with a file-size of 10GB because even that is probably more than is needed for very high quality.

Something is wrong.  A bitrate of 22000 sounds about right, but the folder should be bigger.  Are you sure that you input the bitrate properly?

Using DVD Rebuilder, which has an option to convert 4:3 to 16:9, is the easiest way to do it.

You_Too said: Nice results!

Yeah, I thought so.  Given that the Criterion DVD benefited from extensive color correction by Robert Harris, I thought this might be one instance in which the script might struggle; but, skipping through the movie, I'm amazed at how good the function's adjustments are. 

You_Too said:  I like how the dark shot of the fighting ring got adapted to the DVD look. The DVD having crushed shadow detail in that shot but the corrected shot has the same colors but without the crushed blacks.

I was looking at just the color, but now that you mention it the blacks do look a bit crushed on the DVD.

AntcuFaalb said:  Well, some people might think it is after looking at my avatar! ;)

Hahaha!  :-)

In answer to Rogue-theX's question, I haven't tried to encode it yet.  I've only just finished a short script syncing the two together.

Captain?  What is this the navy?

A while ago, g-force asked me to post whatever results I had in this thread, and I've at last gotten round to it.

Using the function, I've applied the colors of the Criterion DVD of Spartacus to the HD DVD by Universal.  The initial results are promising.

Top:  Criterion DVD

Middle:  HD DVD + cc

Bottom: HD DVD

The two versions were aligned temporally but not spatially.  (I assume this does not matter.)  As yet, I've not tried to go scene-by-scene, but I might try at some point.  (Going shot-by-shot seems as if it would be a great deal of work.)

Harmy said: Revisited coloring looks the best to me for every single one of those images.

While my ultimate preference is for a white Hoth and I love the colors of the '97 SE reconstruction, all the Revisited shots look more advanced in terms of color correction, as if the process being used is more mature, so I agree with Harmy.  Ady knows what he's doing, so I'll wait for the outcome and enjoy the edit the way he wants it to look.

angryboy said:  m2ts is not my format of choice because VLC on Mac refuses to stream subtitles with m2ts - and I am afraid converting the file will introduce picture artifacts that defeat the whole point of Harmy's hard work. Won't it?

You can remux the file to whatever container you like without conversion i.e. without quality loss.