Hi all, I picked up a Spanish DVD of a very rare film, Wilder's Buddy, Buddy, which is the only known release. However it seems to be an old LD or VHS era master so it's scope widescreen, nonanamorphic, interlaced and in PAL with very low resolution. It looks almost like an old LD capture attempt with low end gear.
I was wondering if there's an easy way to get it to NTSC without speedup and make that anamorphic. It still won't look pretty but this the only version outside the 1981 MGM vhs/beta/CED.

(2023-02-10, 09:48 PM)captainsolo Wrote: interlaced and in PAL with very low resolution.

Well that sounds like it could of come from a NTSC source which means it might screwed up. Most PAL discs I've seen from NTSC conversion have broken fields.

What‘s the sequence of interlace frames/fields?

(2023-02-10, 10:22 PM)PDB Wrote:

(2023-02-10, 09:48 PM)captainsolo Wrote: interlaced and in PAL with very low resolution.

Well that sounds like it could of come from a NTSC source which means it might screwed up. Most PAL discs I've seen from NTSC conversion have broken fields.

What the sequence of interlace frames/fields?

Yeah, need to know more about the source. It is on PTP though and there's a 23.976fps encode so it sounds like it's doable.

I'd never heard of this movie before which is surprising since it's got two huge names and a big director. Crazy it's been almost abandoned on home video. Looks like it was released on a really early VHS as well as CED (no laserdisc) and the Spanish DVD and that's it.

that would be the same as 4.62 GB PAL DVD on rutracker?

I didn’t realize it was floating around online somewhere. Yeah it’s a single layer pal Spanish dvd.
How do I check the interlacing type? I know that can determine a method for pal conversion. Eventually I’d like to also try doing this for the better Network DVDs of The Saint series to have the much better masters without speedup.

This film was buried on release and given horrible unfair reviews. Wilder didn’t want to do it but was pressured to by the studio. It wasn’t meant to be his last film but essentially Hollywood put him out to pasture and he was stuck there. If I can find a good and inexpensive vhs copy I want to check the audio and if it’s better than this Spanish disc I might try to sync it.

(2023-02-11, 03:05 AM)captainsolo Wrote: How do I check the interlacing type?

Mediainfo is what I’d use. Definitely recommend QTGMC for the actual deinterlacing.

Use avisynth to break the video into its individual fields and you will soon see if there's a pulldown pattern or any field blending.

Here's what I got from MediaInfo. I will definitely look info avisynth. Ultimately though this is still a really crummy looking image and pitiful that this is the best version that exists currently.

General
Unique ID : 186328771480195366859466623117152175064 (0x8C2D9DB56AD91DDF82228F1B0E2343D8)
Complete name : C:\Users\Spencer\Desktop\Buddy, Buddy (Spanish PAL DVD).mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 4.22 GiB
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 6 586 kb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2023-02-10 19:10:56
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.16.5 win(x64-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.16.5 (1.3.10/1.5.2) win(x64-release)

Video
ID : 1
ID in the original source medium : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings : BVOP
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=12
Format settings, picture structure : Frame
Codec ID : V_MPEG2
Codec ID/Info : MPEG 1 or 2 Video
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 6 196 kb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Bottom Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.598
Time code of first frame : 00:00:00:00
Time code source : Group of pictures header
GOP, Open/Closed : Closed
Stream size : 3.97 GiB (94%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : DVD-Video


Audio #2
ID : 3
ID in the original source medium : 189 (0xBD)129 (0x81)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name : Dolby Digital
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1 h 31 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 126 MiB (3%)
Title : Stereo
Language : English
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : DVD-Video

captainsolo, there's a restoration/conversion to anamorphic NTSC done around 2011, with some saturation boost, looks fairly decent, considering the source.

(2023-02-13, 12:29 AM)Plissken1138 Wrote: there's a restoration/conversion to anamorphic NTSC done around 2011, with some saturation boost, looks fairly decent, considering the source.

restoration? what's the source? the same 25fps PAL dvd?