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Help with conversion settings from avi to mp4...

Specific to Premiere Elements version 2019

Help with conversion settings from avi to mp4...

Postby kruses83 » Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:15 pm

Hello Mr. Grisetti!

I'm wondering if you can help me a bit to decide what settings I should use when converting my avi formatted files to mp4 for sharing. I noticed you seem to have expertise using "Adobe Premiere Elements 2019".

Background:
I had a professional convert my VHS tapes into DV AVI files. He captured everything in uncompressed firewire. During this process, a Time Base Corrector (TBC) was used to correct any synchronization issues (get a more stabilized image) or video tearing. I suppose these files represent the uncompressed 'raw' all information that is obtained from the VHS tape. I plan to keep these 'raw' files and will not modify them. Any further enhancements I plan to do will be done on copies of these DV AVI files.

My question to you is what do you recommend I use as general settings for converting my avi formatted files to mp4(compressed?) formatted files?

The original DV AVI files seem to lack sharpness (why is this?). Doing the "Smart Fix" setting doesn't seem to correct this issue in the resultant mp4 files. I actually have to apply an "Effects - Sharpen - Amount of 50" to have the result seem sharp enough looking. Applying "Auto Color" and "Lighting Auto Fix" also seem to help enhance the video in other ways as well.

Also are there other effects like deinterlacing, denoising that I can (should?) apply? And if so, how are these done?

I'm not looking for perfect results. Just something that I can generally apply for sharing purposes.

Thanks in advance!

Here is an example 15 second avi clip: https://drive.google.***/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing (replace "***" with "com")

Thanks!

Cheers,
Dett Kruse
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Re: Help with conversion settings from avi to mp4...

Postby Steve Grisetti » Wed Mar 30, 2022 7:26 am

Hello, Dett. Open your DV-AVI in the free download MediaInfo. In MediaInfo, set View to Text and then copy the complete text of this report and paste it to this forum. With this information we'll better be able to see if there are issues with the file.

That said, as I said in my note to you, the DV-AVI was the best format for editing standard definition video. There are certainly ways to convert it to a more efficient format (an MP4, for instance) but that won't make it a sharper video or give it richer color.

VHS was a pretty poor format. Its resolution was less than 20% of today's HDTV and most VHS camcorders and recorders did not record high-quality images. You may be able to sharpen and enrich it a little, but most likely the company that digitized it has already done some of that.

I'm not able to use the link you posted to look at the video to see exactly what issues you're dealing with, but if it's merely resolution and poor color reproduction, there may not be a lot you can do.
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Re: Help with conversion settings from avi to mp4...

Postby kruses83 » Wed Mar 30, 2022 10:00 pm

Thanks Steve.
Here is the report from MediaInfo.

General
Complete name : C:\Users\kruse\Documents\1998-04-12 Easter Bunny hunt.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
Commercial name : DVCPRO
File size : 57.9 MiB
Duration : 16 s 16 ms
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 30.3 Mb/s
Writing library : VirtualDub build 35491/release

Video
ID : 0
Format : DV
Commercial name : DVCPRO
Codec ID : dvsd
Codec ID/Hint : Sony
Duration : 16 s 16 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 24.4 Mb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Original frame rate : 29.970 (29970/1000) FPS
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:1:1
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Bottom Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 2.357
Time code of first frame : 04:28:11;11
Time code source : Subcode time code
Stream size : 54.9 MiB (95%)

Audio
ID : 1
Format : PCM
Format settings : Little / Signed
Codec ID : 1
Duration : 16 s 16 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 536 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 2.93 MiB (5%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 34 ms (1.03 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 500 ms
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Re: Help with conversion settings from avi to mp4...

Postby Steve Grisetti » Thu Mar 31, 2022 6:58 am

The specs are good, although that DVCPRO may be an issue.

Might be worth trying the conversion to MP4 using these instructions. The results might well look better in Premiere Elements.

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Re: Help with conversion settings from avi to mp4...

Postby kruses83 » Thu Mar 31, 2022 12:08 pm

Hi Steve! Thanks!

Not sure what you mean by "The results might well look better in Premiere Elements."? Also, what do you mean by "DVCPRO may be an issue"?

I followed your instructions using Handbrake which resulted in a file of size 6,068 KB. The original avi was 59,286 KB and the "Smart Fix" Adobe version was 18,189 KB.
(Note: not sure if it matters that my handbrake had an option of "passthru common metadata" checked whereas yours didn't)

I have also attached screen captures of the 3 different versions. Left the right, are: avi, "Smart Fix" Adobe; handbrake
2022-03-31 12_53_29-1998-04-12 Easter Bunny Hunt New.mp4 - VLC media player.png


Here are the mediainfo results of the new file created with handbrake:
General
Complete name : C:\Users\kruse\Documents\1998-04-12 Easter Bunny Hunt New.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42 (mp42/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 5.92 MiB
Duration : 16 s 0 ms
Overall bit rate : 3 106 kb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2022-03-31 16:47:04
Tagged date : UTC 2022-03-31 16:47:04
Writing application : HandBrake 1.5.1 2022011000

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L4
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 16 s 0 ms
Bit rate : 2 935 kb/s
Width : 714 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 30.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.285
Stream size : 5.60 MiB (94%)
Writing library : x264 core 164 r3065 ae03d92
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=15 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=300 / keyint_min=30 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=30 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=22.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=20000 / vbv_bufsize=25000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 2022-03-31 16:47:04
Tagged date : UTC 2022-03-31 16:47:04
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.601
Codec configuration box : avcC

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 16 s 0 ms
Source duration : 16 s 21 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 160 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 313 KiB (5%)
Source stream size : 314 KiB (5%)
Title : Stereo
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1
Encoded date : UTC 2022-03-31 16:47:04
Tagged date : UTC 2022-03-31 16:47:04
mdhd_Duration : 16000
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Re: Help with conversion settings from avi to mp4...

Postby Steve Grisetti » Thu Mar 31, 2022 12:25 pm

Looks good to me. Do you have any concerns?
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Re: Help with conversion settings from avi to mp4...

Postby kruses83 » Thu Mar 31, 2022 10:22 pm

Hi Steve!

deinterlace.png

Wow! Upon closer look, it does look good! It did a good job of deinterlacing (decomb? smoothing the edges?).

Did you actually mean to say "The results might well look better than using Premiere Elements."?

Why is the size of the new file so much smaller than the other two? I would have thought less data(information) would look worse?

I do like this Handbrake tool! (I think I may have wasted my money buying "Adobe Premier Elements 2019"). It seems that I can use Handbrake to do a lot of effects I was asking you about such as an shapening, denoise, color enhancements/corrections etc. Although I think I might just use the default settings as described in your video and maybe a little bit of some of sharpening (Unsharp? LapSharp? with some Preset Tune etc. What would you recommend as safe enough sharpen values where I'm not destroying the content?

I'm beginning to understand all this a little better.

Originally when I went to the professional with all my boxes of VHS tapes(family vacations etc), I told him I really wasn't looking to convert everything (ie. there is a lot footage no one is going to care to look at again). The plan (so I could save some money) we came up with was a 2-step approach:
Step 1. Convert from the VHS tapes to DV-AVI format files using TBC etc. This would allow me to have the 'raw' digital content. I needed to get that footage off the VHS tapes sooner than later as the quality of the content was continuing to deteriorate the longer it sat around on those tapes. I would then view those avi files and trim/cut only the parts that I wanted to keep using an avi cutting tool (Virtualdub).
Step 2. (optional) The professional would convert my 'keeper' avi file parts to mp4 files. That conversion would involve things like deinterlacing, denoise etc. He gave me a sample 1 hour mp4 conversion of one of my avi files. I pasted the Mediainfo information below from that mp4 file. It appears he is using a different paid tool similar to Handbrake. I found his sample mp4 file was also not sharp like the original avi. But as you already mentioned to me, VHS was a pretty poor format. I'm beginning to think I can basically do Step 2 on my own using Handbrake. Is there any settings below from his sample mp4 file that you think I need to consider? Again, I'm not looking for any perfection. I just want decent 'good enough' quality mp4s. The only thing that I really want to do is sharpen them up a little as they look a little dull.

Again, Thanks so much for your help!

General
Complete name : C:\Users\kruse\Documents\Easter.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42 (mp42/isom/avc1)
File size : 2.53 GiB
Duration : 1 h 3 min
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 5 752 kb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2021-06-29 20:08:11
Tagged date : UTC 2021-06-29 20:08:11
Writing application : TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works 7 Version 7.0.12.14

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3
Format settings : CABAC / 6 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames : 6 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1 h 3 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 5 500 kb/s
Maximum bit rate : 8 200 kb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.531
Stream size : 2.42 GiB (96%)
Writing library : x264 core 155
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=6 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=1 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / slices=1 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / minigop=0 / stitchable=1 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=abr / mbtree=1 / bitrate=5500 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=3 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=8200 / vbv_bufsize=8200 / nal_hrd=vbr / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 2021-06-29 20:08:11
Tagged date : UTC 2021-06-29 20:08:11
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics : BT.601
Matrix coefficients : BT.601
Codec configuration box : avcC

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 1 h 3 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 114 MiB (4%)
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1
Encoded date : UTC 2021-06-29 20:08:11
Tagged date : UTC 2021-06-29 20:08:11
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Re: Help with conversion settings from avi to mp4...

Postby kruses83 » Fri Apr 01, 2022 9:49 pm

Hi Steve!

I spent some time navigating your site today. Very impressive! I also viewed some of your videos on Youtube regarding "Adobe Premier Elements 2019". You really know your stuff! I wasn't actually aware of a lot of its capabilities. The only thing I don't understand about the Adobe Elements product model is that the company seems to create whole new versions of this package every year (with a whole new UI) instead of allowing users to purchase version updates to an existing product. Maybe there is something that I'm missing.

I will sign up for a couple of months on muvipix to learn some more of the basics.

Thanks!
Dett
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Re: Help with conversion settings from avi to mp4...

Postby Peru » Sat Apr 02, 2022 10:17 am

kruses83 wrote:the company seems to create whole new versions of this package every year (with a whole new UI) instead of allowing users to purchase version updates to an existing product. Maybe there is something that I'm missing.

Dett

:meet:
I'm not Steve, but yes, that is how Premiere Elements is.
Historically, Premiere Elements updates are rare.
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Re: Help with conversion settings from avi to mp4...

Postby Steve Grisetti » Sun Apr 03, 2022 7:30 am

Great news all around, kruses. Glad to have you aboard! And thank you for helping support our site!
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