(1) Lossless Editing
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(Recommended Method)

"...I can never Lose!"

Lossless Editing



The purpose of Lossless Editing goes back to the Objectives of this whole guide: to get our footage into a format that is Editing Friendly: with Faster Seeking Times in the timeline; Full-Quality; Frame-Accurate; and Reliable. Sure it may take up some extra time and disc space...

...but it makes editing sooooooooo much easier!

Anyway, at this point you should already have a basic AviSynth Script for your footage (with any modifications you think are necessary). And now, we are simply going to read the output of our script with VirtualDub, and turn it into usable footage. (Included in the AMVapp, from the Requirements)





VIDEO 1/2: Installing VirtualDub & UTvideo



[AMV Tutorial 9/10 - "Installing VirtualDub & UTvideo"] - 2:29


VIDEO 2/2: Making Lossless Files with VirtualDub



[AMV Tutorial 10/10 - "Converting to Editing-Friendly Footage using VirtualDub"] - 6:11


Instructions



Open your script with VirtualDub (Drag-and-Drop)

1. Video > Compression > Ut Video Codec YUV420 > ok
2. Video > Fast recompress ; Audio > No audio
3. Mark off the Start and End points of the segment you want
4. File > Save as avi... (or F7)
5. If you want to save multiple clips in a row without waiting for each clip to render:

- File > Queue as Batch Operation > Save as Avi... (or Ctrl+Shift+F7)
- Then once you are ready: File > Job Control > Start

6. Wait for all clips to render, then close vdub


Note 1: You can save the whole video by not marking off Start/End-points
Note 2: Lossless files tend to be several gigabytes in size (BIG: ~20-80GB),
so if you don't have enough disc space, make shorter clips, or resize to a smaller resolution.
Note 3: Other Lossless Codecs include Lagarith and HuffYUV,
However, Ut Video is usually preferred for it's fast decoding speed.




At this point, you should be well-equipped with the ability to convert your footage to Editing-Friendly Footage that is Fast, Frame-Accurate, and Reliable. There are still some important steps to follow --so you're not done yet-- but most of the major skills necessary to easily make a high quality AMV have been covered by now ^__^


TIPS:
  • Save a short test clip to ensure you have enough disc space to save your footage
  • External Hards Drives are great for extra disc space
  • If you don't have enough space, make clips instead, or scale down to a smaller resolution using:
    spline36resize(width, height)


« BACK (DONE: Method 1:
Lossless Editing)
NEXT: Method 2:
Lossy Editing »

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Typos/Errors? Questions/Comments? Suggestions/Tips? Useful Links? etc...
Feel free to Post a Comment below. Your Feedback is valuable.
Note: Most comments will be retired & removed upon review by AMVGuide.
(Depending on the nature of the comment. Useful Links generally stay.)

RTW47 said...

hello Chris,
================================================
VIDEO 1/2:notes
================================================
[#1] from version 10.2.1 single installer is available for both x86 and x64 windows;
(it should install both versions (x86 & x64) on 64-bit OS)
[#2] if version 10.2.0 or older is installed, uninstall that version before installing new.
================================================
VIDEO 2/2:notes
================================================
[#3] file/save as wav) will not going to work; (we havn't loaded audio stream, additionally audio is disabled);
[-] often people like having audio too, in order for mentioned command to work, audio must be loaded. (later audio can be disabled just for video stream);
[-] alternative is demuxing audio stream and then treating it separately;
[-] however it maybe means covering unnecessary or (and) "complicated" info/steps in this guide;
[#4] don't forget to select "fast recompress" mode in virtual dub. (or adjust settings in video/video color depth);
[-] full processing mode will internally convert colorspace to RGB24 for VDub filtering system, even if you don't use any filters, and then back to YUV;
[-] this slows down the process due to converting between colorspaces(YUV->RGB->YUV)/this probably change colormatrix too;
[-] it is not a lossless operation thus risk of introducing artifacts and colour changes;
*so we are filtering with AviSynth.
*to avoid reader's confusion, I recommend folowing your own instructions below;(;
[#5] to make video smaller you may want to optimise UtVideo for "compression ratio";
(also you can let UtVideo save it's settings in the registry, so everytime you use codec from codec client, (eg:.VDub, your NLE...etc)) you don't need to reconfigure settings. Just enable the first option "save configuration globally by codec itself") You can find/change the settings any time by selecting Start -> All Programs -> UT Video Codec Suite -> Global Configuration.
(or search for utv_cfg.exe inside install dir);
================================================
addition for section III EDITING
================================================
[#6] option1: working with RGB from start to end; this gives control of how to convert colorspaces, what matrix to use...or
[#7] option2:(simple) update UtVideo to version 13.0.0 or 13.0.0 import/export using YUV420 BT.709 (ULH0) VCM for HD or YUV420 BT.601 (ULY0) VCM for SD.
this allows internal conversion of colormatrix using correct coefficients. (#developer changed codec names, yes it's more convenient to use FourCC code)
[#8] for your particular situaltion (SD footage) *I think* everything is ~corect~ exept note [#4], +you may want to specify colormatrix before encoding. IIRC, AviSynth will use Rec.601 for YV12 footage by default.
[#9] most NLE's have an option called "match media settings" (sony vegas, adobe premiere...);
now this prevents many problems for beginners (unless ofc, one uses different sources, that have different fps for example);
[#10] I personally use mediainfo software (in some cases it can show incorect values). Also, AviSynth have internal function called info()
================================================
[#11] some notes applies globally.
================================================
PS:.I apologise for my previous comment in section III: Editing Methods.
(I think it sounded a bit rude, maybe I was in a bad mood :S ,-hope that* comment goes to "pension" soon :V). And thanks for taking my older advices into consideration...however after some time I changed my mind, I think for people reading this guide, things like frame interpolation should not be encouraged);
(many reasons) +there are more important things to write about, at least for now...
PSS:. new nickname?...-now guide looks very official^^"
================================================

AMVGuide said...

Hello RTW47,
Thanks for pointing out the extra info. I'm not sure how much of it I'll actually include in the guide, so for now I'll just leave your comment in case people need it.

Also, I'm glad you like the new guide layout. I think I'll probably keep it this way; I just haven't decided what to put in the top right corner of the site ^__^

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