OMG

[lierdumoa]

OMGWTFBBQ

IT IS LIKE MY BIRTHDAY ALL OVER AGAIN!



So permetaform hears tell of some program called avi-synth. Basic principle -- instead of making clips, you write a text file with a few lines of simple programming script saying, in effect "so and so video file, frames 800 through 1040". You give the text file an avi-synth file extension, and with the avi-synth codec, Premiere will open the text file and think it is in fact reading a clip made up of the frames you described.

You can do this with any video file, including DVD's. Basically, if you don't have to make clips, that means you aren't losing any image quality from your original source. If you're source is a DVD, that means you're vidding directly from your DVD source.

So permetaform doesn't have space on her computer for this stuff at the moment. We decided today to get together on my computer and figure all this trash out. It's pretty techno-complicated.



I'm downloading the software. I suddenly see that I'm being asked to install the huffyuv codec.

Wait.

That's lossless compression. Doesn't lossless compression, like, cost money? So we go back to the guy who wrote this big intimidating avi-synth help guide on animemusicvideos.org -- absolut3destiny. If you think you're vids are high quality, go look at his. You will cry bitter tears of gaul. So anyway, permetaform asks him -- did...did...did I just download a lossless codec for free?

No, he replies. You actually downloaded two lossless codecs.

o_0



I can resize without quality loss. o_0

I can deinterlace better than VirtualDub. o_0

I have lossless compression. o_0

FOR FREE.



I've spent the last few hours grinning so hard my face hurts. I only wish I had known about this before I started my vid. This means eventually I'm going to have to remaster the entire thing. Boooooo. On the other hand, now I know I can make it better quality than it is, and I know how. Yaaaaaaay!!!!!



Help website is here. Not for the faint of heart. You're not hardcore unless you live hardcore. I'm quoting School of Rock. I need to lay off the crack.

Comments

[evenstarjuliet.livejournal.com]

On a completely unrelated note...

I saw your sister today when I was getting my hair cut, heh.

[permetaform]

*SOOOOO* RIGHT THERE WITH YOU!!

[permetaform]

ps. are we meeting tomorrow?

[tanacawyr.livejournal.com]

Okay, so ... this is sounding like it's just too good to be true, really.

I normally rip from DVD using cladDVD, then take the VOB files and open them in DVD2AVI, then massage that a bit with VFAPIconv. This makes a "fake" AVI that I can open in VDub. I've been pulling clips from that, saving without a codec anyhow.

Do you mean that, from this, I don't have to cut clips from my "fake" AVI ever again? I just make these avisynth things that delineate the clips within the "fake" AVI and import those into Premiere? So I'm working with 720x480 from the getgo? WITHOUT having to waste my disk space on the clips themselves?

Or am I getting it completely wrong and this will enable me to sidestep everything beyond cladDVD entirely?

[absolutedestiny.livejournal.com]

Instead of the process that you currently do, you can do this:

After ripping the dvd, open the vobs in DGIndex (which is like a newer version of dvd2avi) and save a project file (a d2v file).

You can then open this d2v file via avisynth (using the associated plugin called dgdecode.dll that comes with the installer I made). Once you have an avisynth script for it you can load that into premiere and edit with it.

It's not as fast as editing with clips but you aren't losing any quality and on a decent machine the slowdown will be pretty minimal.

Editing with avisynth isn't without its caveats but once you get to know those it becomes second nature.

And yes, no more clips. All of my live action vids so far have been done with only a folder full of vobs, a d2v project file, a single avisynth script and a wav file. That's all.

[lierdumoa.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah! She called me and mentioned that.

Dude, congratulations on the Oxford exchange thing. That rocks so hard.

[lierdumoa.livejournal.com]

Yep.

[boniblithe.livejournal.com]

Can I move in with you? I need to learn this. *drools*

[lierdumoa.livejournal.com]

Probably not, but catch us on IM sometime and we will share the love.

It's like Christmas. And my birthday. WRAPPED INTO ONE.

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

I've been looking it over and it looks like it's all PC/Premiere-based; any idea if there is anything like this for Macs/FCP?

[absolutedestiny.livejournal.com]

Not at the moment, I'm afraid.

I've never used a Mac for video editing but I'm pretty certain that the only confortable way of editing on the mac right now is to do clip making. That's what I've been told, at least.

[kitkatbyte.livejournal.com]

*goes to site*

*GASP*

OH MY GOD COOL! THANK YOU!

[permetaform]

is tomorrow, meet at 2? (just woke up, wanna tweak my timeline some more)

[evenstarjuliet.livejournal.com]

Nooo that's their rival! lol, it's Cambridge. And I still have to apply but I'm pretty confident that I can make it happen. And thanks, I'm super excited.

[entropic.livejournal.com]

OMFG. No loss in quality until I encode the vid? I think I love you. *hands over rights to firstborn child*

[absolutedestiny.livejournal.com]

Yup no loss.

Remember though, it does come with a price.

You can't use too many avisynth scripts - they trip over each other's feet with memory usage and cause crashes. (keep it to <10)

For this reason you have to search through entire dvds instead of pulling from clips. Sometimes clips can really help you decide what to put in your video so there are advantages to clip making.

Also, if when trying this method you find it too cumbersome then use the way you are used to. Quality isn't everything, after all :)

[lierdumoa.livejournal.com]

Oh, whoops. Misremembered. And I'm sure you'll make it happen, with your record.

[lierdumoa.livejournal.com]

When I vid, I typically come up with an idea, write up a rough storyboard for it, then go through my source and make clips of only the scenes I think I'm going to use. I've already decided the bulk of what's going into my video before I start clipping. The avisynth method doesn't seem so much of a departure from my usual clipping style, except that that I'm lining a group of clips end to end in an single .avs rather than exporting them each individually.

Or am I missing something important?

[absolutedestiny.livejournal.com]

Well, because you dont need to have any other files except the vobs, a d2v project and an avs file I suppose what you could do is make a script of the entire thing and just jot down the timecode when the scenes you want can be found for easy reference.

You might as well keep access to all the footage on the vobs as you dont have any space concerns anynmore,