New version of Virtual Dub VOB's without DVD2AVI

[Jason 00]

I really don't know how long this version has been out but, it is a modification of Virtual Dub version 1.4.13. This version made by fccHandler add's MPEG-2 support, which means it can directly open a VOB file without altering it with DVD2AVI and VFAPI. I have been creating several test videos using Wonka and Beowulf's beginners tutorial which my 1.8Ghz XP machine seems to handle pretty well. However in some anime like Trigun I get distortion in the image if I attempt a picture in picture type effect or make the image move, in the motion settings within Adobe Premiere 6.5. I am going to make further tests to see if having two less programs mess with the video stream will help. I would also greatly appreciate anyone elses input on this matter.



The Version of Virtual Dub I mentioned above can be found here:

http://es.geocities.com/dextstuff/ Also I hope this all is not old news, I know I am not up to speed yet on a lot of things involving AMV's
but, I hope I am not that far behind. Also Virtual Dub will not detect the VOB files unless you change its settings to "all files" instead of "all usable types" when opening a video file.

[klinky]

DVD MPEG2 streams cannot be edited by themselves. You need DVD2AVI to make seeking smoother(I believe DVD MPEG2 streams do not contain enough keyframes to make seeking worthwhile).

This basically does the same the thing that DVD2AVI does, 'cept on the fly when you first import it.

However VirtualDub is a RGB app, MPEG2 is a YUV video stream.

You'll get colorspace conversions if you apply any of the filters you want to it and then export(you could use fast recompress to get it out of there with out color space conversions).

DVD2AVI allows for YUV export, MPEG2DEC and AVISynth allow for filters to be applied while still in the same colorspace.

Of course once you get it all into Premiere, Premiere will have it converted to RGB ANYWAYS. So :\ it really doesn't matter a whole lot. The thing you don't want to do tho. Is take it into virtual dub, apply a bunch of filters to it then export it to HuffYUV in YUV mode. Basically it'd go:
MPEG2 > Vdub >HuffYUV >Premiere > XviD
YUV----> RGB--> YUV----> RGB-----> YUV


If you like this version of virtualdub and it's helpful to you, then you can certainly use it. Just make sure you export in a RGB codec before you import to Premiere. However it in no way will make your source footage look better or edit faster then AVISynth would.


~klinky

[CArnesen]

I really don't know how long this version has been out

I believe that this version came out about a day ago... So fresh it's still moooo'ing!

--Chris ^^

[AbsoluteDestiny]

It has just come out and I really wouldn't recommend it - it has a limited amonut of uses.

For starters it doesn't honor RFF/TFF tags and it doesn't do correct chroma upsampling so it's useless for interlaced mpeg2 streams.

DVD2AVI is more accurate and probably faster (I havent tested the speeds though) so it's really not much more of a hassle to make the d2v file and an avisynth script. If you want to IVTC you'll want to use avisynth anyway.

[Jason 00]

Thanks for the input! I dont think I could ask for two more knowledgeable
people to get it from. I guess I need to start practicing editing directly in Premiere instead of importing all the clips cut by virtual dub. However you don't want to cut and export clips gathered from the avisynth files. So what do I do just let them stack up on the time line until I am ready to use them. Well on with the A&E Guide. Yes I am a new to anything above Wonka and Beowulf's beginner tutorials. So forgive me if that is a stupid question about Premiere.

[klinky]

You can cut up AVISynth files in vDub fine. Just make sure you configure huffYUV to output compressed RGB data instead of YUV.



Make sure RGB compression method is set to Predict gradient.


I would suggest you also investigate teh MJPEG > AVS switcheroo method mentioned in the guides.


~klinky

[Jason 00]

Thanks Klinky for the extra info. You Da Bomb! 8)

I am aware that I can edit AVISynth within Virtual Dub. However what I meant in my second post was that, if I were attempting to edit the AVISynth file in the MJPEG codec to later export in Huffyuv within Premiere. I dont want to cut clips and then attempt to export them, because they would remain under the MJPEG codec also I would have to name it something. Then Premiere would want to look for that file instead of my AVISynth file or the original DVD2AVI files. So if I import my AVISynth files into Premiere and edit them with the razor tool I guess I just stack them up on the time line until I am ready to use them ,so that I can keep everything on track for the file switch at the end. I don't know maybe I am totally lost here. Perhaps I am still thinking along the lines of editing within Virtual Dub and importing all of my clips into Premiere maintaining the same video codec and aspect ratio through out the entire thing. I don't want to have one codec setup in Virtual Dub and another setup in Premiere. (I know that is bad) I guess it is time to read through the Premiere manual once again. Sorry for responding so late to the last post, work called this morning and stated that they needed me to come in today. D@M them!

[klinky]

Well with the MJPEG switch, you CANNOT cut or alter the AVS file once it's in virtualdub. It has to remain the same. The only thing you're doing in VirtualDub is converting the AVS to a ugly/fast MJPEG file. Then you can take that into Premiere, have it up with whatever tools you want to in Premiere(razor tool ).

Once finished, you close Premiere. Rename the MJPEG file to something else. Relaunch Premiere, try opening your project. Premiere will say it can't find the MJPEG file and then ask you to find it. Instead of pointing it to the renamed MJPEG file, you point it to the original AVS file you used to make the MJPEG file. Since the AVS file and MJPEG file are basically clones of each other(same frame coun, frame rate & resolution) this works fine.


Hopefully that's what you're asking.

~klinky

[Jason 00]

This formula for editing sounds like it will be somewhat slower and alot more planning intensive. I normally will start on a video when I have a good idea of what I want for the beginning and the first half of the middle. Then continue to plan out the second half of the middle and the end as I see the video take shape. With Virtual Dub I just needed to keep gathering clips and import them into Premiere, where I could keep them nice and organized within the "Bin". Importing the AVISynth file into Premiere and editing the clips directly on the time line, it would seem you would need to have 90% of your video planned out in advance. I mean I will normally end up creating 80 to 100 clips for a given 3:00 to 4:00 min video keeping them in a folder on my secondary hard drive. But, this is not an option when editing the whole AVISynth file in Premiere. So I guess you just keep cutting and dropping the clips you want to use down to Video 1B while you continue to edit the AVISynth file on Video 1A. OK:) OK:) I'm sorry that I turned this thread into such a Q and A session but, when I can recieve replies from people who have a better understanding of the material, I cant help but take advantage of that. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

[klinky]

Heh,

Well you can still cut up clips in Premiere with the Razor Tool, also you can have up to 99 video tracks on the timline. I do prefer VDub's interface for cutting up clips over using Premiere's. Also the fact that each scene is a individual clip in the Bin window is nice.

With MJPEG/AVS method, you do first have to convert your AVS file to MJPEG which takes atleast a couple hours, since you must convert all the "vob files" over to MJPEG instead of just what you need. However once you do this, seeking in Premiere is extremely quick.

You can always just make clips in VirtualDub if you so Prefer. However once I add IVTC/Aspect Ratio resizing/cropping to the AVS file, it starts to get slow and chunky, even in Vdub. So :\ MJPEG is a lot quicker and I can just let the AVS file convert overnight.

Which ever one is most convient to you is fine :\


~klinky