How to use VirtualDub

[crissrudd4554]

I decided to start a new thread for this rather than the VHS thread. Anyways everyone knows the story. I've been doing endless trial and error with VHS captures blah blah blah and the one program that just about everyone has agreed I should use, even on other sites, is VDub. I had mentioned before I had tried VDub and there was two aspects of it I didnt like it which I'll detail below. But this time I decided to be a fair man and give VDub another shot but figured I'd seek tips and assistance.

Anyways the two main reasons I passed on VDub was the framing looks slightly off and it has that dreaded interlaced effect that I hate.



For comparison here's the same shot again from the same tape and capture device only this time captured through Roxio Creator NXT 6.



Note there's somewhat more image on the right and the combing effect is absent?? But again I wanna be fair considering how many times VDub has been recommended. Someone on another site said I'm supposed to remove that effect afterwards and not to have it done off the cuff. I find this a little redundant when there are capture programs that will capture without that effect but again I wanna be fair. So that's why I seek help again. What are the suggested methods for getting that right?? My editing program of choice these days is Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 5.0. Also what about the framing?? Is the framing more accurate on VDub??

[deleted user]

I don't know about the extra area on the right side, but interlacing is recorded because that's how the image comes from the VHS. I suggest you inform yourself about what interlacing is. It's not an effect, it's two images "interlaced" in one.

A software that records the image as in the second picture has simply done the deinterlacing for you. The downside is that you no longer have the option to do the deinterlacing yourself, for example choosing the deinterlacing algorithm in the process. Also, many softwares I have used back in the days would simply drop one of the fields, resulting in 25 (or 30 in NTSC) frames per second. But an interlaced image actually consists of two images so a properly deinterlaced source would have 50 (or 60 in NTSC) images per second.

Edit: I notice the VDUB image has a resolution of 640x480. This is strange, because that's definitely not what you're getting from your VHS.

[crissrudd4554]

No I know what interlacing is. Effect was the wrong term. But if a program deinterlaces anyways how is that a downside?? I never see it like that when watching VHS’ as is so naturally it shouldn’t be present in a capture right?? I’m not being smug or anything or dismissing your points. I’ve been basically relying on trial and error the last few years so there’s still aspects to all this even I don’t understand. In the past I’d asked for suggestions with this many of which I dismissed for whatever reason. This time I wanna actually properly try out what has been suggested to me but there’s still aspects to this I do need assistance with. As far as 640x480 that was the setting it was on. I was really only testing the program for this discussion so I didn’t really look into the additional settings if there are any.

[deleted user]

I never see it like that when watching VHS’ as is so naturally it shouldn’t be present in a capture right??

I mean, your capture is not necessarily your final delivery product. It's just the raw data. As said, the main danger with direct interlacing is that the deinterlacing algorithm is poor and that you may lose half the framerate. If on the other hand that is handled properly, sure, go with that.

With that said, many DVDs and Blu Rays (mainly documentaries and such) come with interlacing. A proper player will deinterlace on the fly anyway. For example MPC-HC does this. VLC has a deinterlacer too, though you have to usually activate it by hand.

I guess it comes down to what you need and what your desired end result is.

[crissrudd4554]

So I guess it’s still trial and error basically?? Well I’ll see what I can do. I’m always keeping my options open. There’s still devices I have that I used which don’t work with VDub (WinTV HVR 850 comes to mind) which is partly why I stuck with the Roxie program because every device I’ve tested more or less works on that program. However for the past year every capture Ive done on that program the exported video skips frames so I really don’t wanna use it anymore. If I use something like Pinnacle it’ll only allow me to use a Dazzle and nothing else.

[crissrudd4554]

So I was able to customly change the ratio to 720x480 and the extra image is now there but now the image is size is no longer proper 4:3. Suggestions??

[deleted user]

Google pixel aspect ratio. Pre-HD era digital formats often don't have square pixels. Normally this is simply embedded in the metadata and any player you use will automatically paly it back in the correct pixel aspect ratio.

This is why for example PAL DVDs are encoded as 720x576, but can be either 4:3 or 16:9 depending on the Pixel aspect ratio (PAR).