Velocity Remapping/Retiming by Motion Estimation: Alternative Tools

What tools are available for this?  What are their relative merits / costs (in all senses)?

  • First I tried Boris RED but encountered issues.
  • Next I investigated AviSynth, discovering two approaches:
    • MSU’s Frame-Rate Convertor (FRC)
    • MVTools2-based scripts; the latter was the more complex but for me it worked best.
  • Next I looked at MotionPerfect, which I purchased years ago from Dynapel back in Standard Definition days.
    • Nowadays sold by Gooder Video
      • They sell version 4.3.1
      • I have version 4.3.0
      • I updated it to 4.3.1
        • That shows a different icon/logo to the Dynapel version of that same product.
        • It works the same as far as I can see.
  • Another day(s):
    • Boris RED (4 & 5) via NLEs
      • Adobe
      • Avid
      • VegasAfter Effect
    • Kronos ??
    • Twixtor ??.
      • Some people claim this is the fastest motion-estimation-based method.
    • Avid ???
      • e.g. locate the (years-old) Avid velocity / warp envelope demo featuring a surfer ???

Recap & Research:

  • My own experiences:
    • Boris RED
      • Version 4.3.3
        • Works (at least for pseudo-slomo, which is all I tried so far) but with an issue: some frames (originals) are slightly brighter than others (derived?), resulting in an overall flickering effect.
      • Version 5.0.6
        • Unusable due to “incorrect frame-order” issue.
        • Inconvenient since appears not to export correctly to anything other than Uncompressed.
    • MotionPerfect
      • I bought and used this several years ago…
  • http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=788751
    • There are two tools called Optical Flow:
      • One is an Apple product (do they mean as part of Apple Compressor?)
      • The other is in Boris Continuum Complete (BCC), which is available both as a separately-purchasable plugin and also included as part of Boris RED).
    • <<  Twixtor Pro and AE provide even more control over the quality of the retimed footage by using masks, etc.>>
    • <>
    • << johnmeyer’s AviSynth methods>>
    • <>
  • AviSynth
    • http://wn.com/Avisynth__Slow_motion
      • YouTube-like site with videos showing (what look to me like) identical results for AviSynth and Twixtor.
      • Movie: [Avisynth Slow Motion]
        • Can frameserve from Vegas to (DebugMode0 Frameserver to AviSynth to another Vegas to Target.
        • Several SloMo AviSynth scripts are available on the Doom9 forum.
          • e.g. using the AviSynth plugin [MVTools2]
    • MSU Frame Rate Convertor (AviSynth plugin)
      • This looks the simplest.
        • But for me at least it ran incredibly sluggishly
          • Then again, it is by default in “slow” mode…
      • Outperforms even Twixtor, at least according to http://www.compression.ru/video/frame_rate_conversion/index_en_msu.html
      • To use the plugin:
        • Copy MSU_FRC.dll file to “plugins” directory in AviSynth install folder or use the function LoadPlugin directly from the script.
        • Script:
          • [[
          • AviSynth script example: AviSource(“video.avi”)
          • ConvertToYV12().MSU_FRC(4, “slow”)The input video must be in YV12 colorspace.
          • ]]
        • To convert a video into YV12 colorspace use ConvertToYV12.
        • The width and the height of the input video must be multiples of 16.
          • Sadly, 1080 does not meet this requirement.
          • The nearest next one up is 1088.
        • To resize a video use Crop and/or AddBorders.
        • Parameters:
          • 1: Interpolation factor: Any positive number
          • 2 Preset
            • fast -> higher speed, lower quality
            • medium -> medium speed, medium quality
            • slow -> lower speed, better quality
            • (slow preset is used by default)
    • MVTools2
      • For me, this worked at a more bearable rate.
        • Script:
          • [[
          • AvsPlgDir = “C:\Program Files (x86)\AviSynth 2.5\plugins”
            loadplugin(AvsPlgDir + “\MVTools\mvtools2.dll”)
            source = AVISource(“I:\_Media\_Projects\2011-12-09 (NG) Wembley FA MOU SOGB\040 Renders\EndPan 001.avi”).KillAudio().assumetff()
            final=ApplyInterlacedFilter(source, “SloMo”).assumefps(100.00, false)
            return final
          • function ApplyInterlacedFilter(clip v1, string filter)
            {
            v2 = separatefields(v1)
            selecteven(v2)
            even=Eval(filter)
            selectodd(v2)
            odd=eval(filter)
            interleave(even,odd)
            return weave()
            }
          • function SloMo(clip thisclip)
            {
            super = MSuper(thisclip, pel=2)
            backward_vectors = MAnalyse(super,blksize=8, overlap=2, isb=true, search=3)
            forward_vectors = MAnalyse(super,blksize=8, overlap=2, isb=false, search=3)
            MFlowFps(thisclip, super,backward_vectors, forward_vectors, num=60000, den=1001, ml=100)
            }
          • ]]
    • xMotionPerfect
      • Originally from Dynapel, I purchased it (in 2007) from Gooder Video
      • Its system requirements only go up as far as XP bit I found runs OK on Windows 7.
      • I found it easiest as well as best to exit the initially-offered Wizard and instead use manual config.
        • But I saw no setting for interlaced/progressive
        • And can it handle HD?
      • I tested it on a HD 1920x1080p50 file encoded in GoPro-Cineform Neo.
      • Its framerate is irregular (as I’ve seen in the other tools, presumably dependent on image and motion complexity in each frame), but (in high quality mode) it averages about 3 seconds per frame.
    • Adobe After Effects

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 17:44 and is filed under Adobe, After Effects, AviSynth, Boris, MotionPerfect, retiming, Twixtor, velocity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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