@Dexcon Can you show me where the 'match project settings' option is in the event's right-click properties menu?

@Jack S  ... Here tis ...

@Dexcon Yes, I thought that was what it was. However, I'm not getting the same kind of result as @Musicvid. In fact, if I disable the effect in the chain, I don't see any difference at all. I must be doing something wrong.

My source is captured from VHS and is 1278x716 at 20fps. Could it be that it wasn't captured at native resolution? I appreciate any help.

Upscale enabled

Upscale disabled

@Jack S  ... In using Upscale the other day, I found that the Sharp setting provided a much better result than the Sharp V2 setting. But the original video was 720p.

BTW, the aircraft looks like it could be a Boeing 767 - please feel free to file that bit of info away into the useless information folder 😃.

I did a lot of testing with the Sharp models, and found them both to be too much for my needs. With my in-house shows, which are natively interlaced, the Sharp model re-introduced combing artifacts, which were unacceptable.

Instead, I've chosen to add a super light Unsharp Mask to the Media, befor the Upscale fx, like this. I found the results to be very close to using Topaz, which takes many hours longer; however, I've been told I can't share those tests here bc they use a short movie clip.

@Musicvid, @Dexcon Thanks for your efforts guys but I'm not getting anywhere with the upscale. There's no difference between it being enabled or disabled. I've tried it as a Media FX as in @Musicvid's image as well as an event FX. Frankly I'm getting better results by just using the Unsharp Mask FX.
I must be doing something wrong because @Musicvid's initial image comparison is so good.

Jack, first set your project properties to your exact output dimensions at 1.0 PAR. I know this is a huge departure from the way we were taught by SF and Sony. Also uncheck

Then add the Upscale fx at the Media level with the exact upscale factor you determined. On my system if I move the timeline cursor around after doing this last step but before rendering, it messes things up, so make adding the effect the last thing you do..

@Musicvid Thanks for your advice. It's late now so I'll give it another go tomorrow.

👍

@Musicvid A few questions if you wouldn't mind.
set your project properties to your exact output dimensions
Do you mean by this my delivery dimensions, in my case 1920x1080?
add the Upscale fx at the Media level with the exact upscale factor you determined
By upscale factor, do you mean by this the ratio of 1920/1278 (1278 being my source)?

Do you see an immediate improvement in the preview window, or do you have to render to see the improvement?

I'm sorry to be a nuisance about this. The video is from a friend and I'd like to improve the quality for her if at all possible. I appreciate your help.

Jack, assuming for the sake of argument your 1278x716 source PAR is 1.0 start like this.

(which it probably isn't, it's probably more like .78, or NTSC DV 4:3)

• I wish your source height was 720, of which 1080 is a common multiple. You want a 1.5 scale factor, which is the way you will keep it uncomplicated. 1080/720=1.5 Scale Factor
• Multiply both source dimensions by the scale factor. 716x1.5=1074 --- 1278x1.0PAR(?)x1.5=1917
• Assuming a modulus of 2, your output image dimensions are 1916x1074, which is the closest you will get to 1920x1080 without doing a lot of fiddly math that I'm not about to bother with.
• -> Checkpoint: Your output image will be 1916x1074 at 1.0 PAR, which are also your Project properties. Your scale factor is 1.5, which is also your Upscale setting. Always determine your Scale Factor from the source Height, not the Width, bc width is affected by PAR.
• -> You can easily set your render template to fill a 1920x1080 output format if you wish, or you can leave a black border, your choice. The closest standard 4:3 DAR is 1440x1080 at 1.0 PAR.
• As I suggested, try a very light unsharp mask before the upscale media filter first. The Sharp model is just too coarse for me, and takes a heckuva lot longer to render.
• I do not Preview the timeline before rendering, for the reason stated above.

Post back with ? It will go a lot quicker once you've got a project under your belt.

I'll give you my best guess for project properties assuming 4:3 source DAR, not 16:9, and a scale factor of 1.5

@Musicvid Thanks for all that info. But, it looks as if the capture device I used (to be honest, my son recommended the one I bought) doesn't conform to any standard. I ran the file through MediaInfo and this is what I got.

General
Complete name                    : E:\Video Testing\Murials Video\Murial's Video part.mp4
Format                           : MPEG-4
Format profile                   : Base Media
Codec ID                         : isom
File size                        : 12.0 MiB
Duration                         : 16s 450ms
Overall bit rate                 : 6 121 Kbps
Writing application              : Lavf57.71.100

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 4 frames
Codec ID                         : avc1
Codec ID/Info                    : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                         : 16s 450ms
Bit rate                         : 5 950 Kbps
Width                            : 1 278 pixels
Height                           : 716 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 16:9
Frame rate mode                  : Variable
Frame rate                       : 22.371 fps
Minimum frame rate               : 16.667 fps
Maximum frame rate               : 25.000 fps
Color space                      : YUV
Chroma subsampling               : 4:2:0
Bit depth                        : 8 bits
Scan type                        : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.291
Stream size                      : 11.7 MiB (97%)
Color primaries                  : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177
Transfer characteristics         : BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix coefficients              : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177

Audio
ID                               : 2
Format                           : AAC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                   : LC
Codec ID                         : 40
Duration                         : 16s 449ms
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 161 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 2 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L R
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode                 : Lossy
Stream size                      : 323 KiB (3%)
 

The frame rate mode is most worrying. I should have posted this earlier, sorry.
I might just have to settle for what I've got. Thanks for your efforts, and the technical info you provided will come in handy in the future.

Jack, I just rescued a broadcast capture recording that was at least as "nonconforming" as this. I think I know how to iron out the wrinkles in Handbrake, but of course it would add another encoding step, if you plan to upscale the result in Vegas. Handbrake has a couple of production presets that are as close to lossless as it gets. If you have a not-too-long capture clip to share I could show you how to make it more "politically correct". I have seen footage from those 720p capture setups before.

Thanks @Musicvid. I've extracted a small section of the video using Avidemux, which has a copy function which doesn't re-encode. Please find it at the link below.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w96o9jutcqir2ow/Murial%27s%20Video%20part.mp4?dl=0

Regards

Interesting. I'll see what I can do this week. I'll also give it a go in Topaz if time permits.

@Musicvid Great. Cheers, there's no rush. Thanks again.

@Jack S I never was able to get a decent upscaled version for you, because the strange frame rate just makes it all look jumpy. It is even worse in Topaz.

Here's my best guess:

1. I stabilized your original in Vegas and made an AVI intermediate.
2. I rendered in Vegas 19 at 978x716 and 1.0 PAR, which is close to the native PAL DV 4:3. I turned off "Maintain Aspect" in the Event switches. I used an ultra light unsharp mask at the Media level.
3.  
4. I also did a render of the stabilized intermediate in Handbrake, but to me the Vegas try looks a little better.
5. 

Welcome.