VirtualDub: From Scratch?

wcoxe1 wrote on 10/22/2004, 10:01 AM
OK, OK!

I see SO much about VirtualDub that I can't help but wondering how I ever missed out on it in the first place. Since I don't have it and don't understand it, I may ask inappropriate things, below. That is probably the reason I don't have or use it in the first place.

Just shy, I guess. SO. . .

Can you tell me the EXACT procedure for:
1) Acquiring,
2) Installing it for use with Vegas 5.0b,
3) Installing Filters withing Vegas, if that is what is going on,
4) Things I need to do to get it to work correctly,
5) Things to avoid.

I would MUCH appreciate the details on this obviously fine set of tools.

WNC

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 10/22/2004, 10:11 AM
I am working on a guide for Deshaker, a VirtualDub plug-in (which will be posted over at VASST sometime in the next few weeks). I just happen to have the following description handy:

Downloading the Program

In order to use VirtualDub, you need to download and “install” it. Here’s the link:

VirtualDub download

To save AVI files from VirtualDub, I recommend you use some sort of codec. Unfortunately, the excellent DV AVI codec in Vegas cannot be accessed by any other program. However, you have three good options:

1. Download and install the free Panasonic codec from this site:

Panasonic DV Codec

2. Purchase and install the MainConcept DV codec from here:

MainConcept DV Codec

3. Download and install the free Huffyuv codec from this site:

Huffyuv Codec

This last codec is not a DV codec, but is a lossless codec that also preserves a broader colorspace than DV. Vegas can read AVI files encoded by Huffyuv.

If you choose not to install a codec, you can save the file as an uncompressed AVI file. Be warned however, that uncompressed video takes 90 GB per hour, compared to 13 GB per hour for DV video.

Installation

VirtualDub does not include an installation program. You just open the zip file and copy all the files to some folder on your disk. I chose to copy them to the c:\program files\video folder. Make sure you tell your unzip program to include folders in the unzip operation. Why? Some of the files need to be in their own folder, and this information is included in the zip file. In Winzip, you tell it to “Use Folder Names.” If you get an error message telling you that “readme.txt” already exists, then you definitely forget to tell your unzip program to create the folders contained in the zip.

Once you have copied the VirtualDub files, open the zip files for any VirtualDub plug-ins you have downloaded, and copy the “vdf” files to the “plugins” folder created by the VirtualDub install.

Running VirtualDub

VirtualDub is a very simple video editor, but its main reason for being popular is that it provides a simple way to let people use an amazing array of “filters” that alter video, frame-by-frame. While some VirtualDub filters are duplicated in Vegas, many are not, primarily because Vegas does not let fX plug-ins “see” previous and future frames. Thus, a large number of important effects and restoration processes that require comparisons between the current video frame and one or more other frames, simply cannot be done in Vegas, at least not in any version up through 5.0b.

To run VirtualDub, double-click on the virtualdub.exe file in the folder you created during installation. If you are going to use this program frequently, right-click on virtualdub.exe, select “Create Shortcut,” and then drag that shortcut to your desktop.

Next, click on File -> Open Video File to open the AVI file you wish to work on.

The next step is to load your filters. This is the same as clicking on the fX button for a Vegas event and then loading the fX. To load a VirtualDub filter, click on Video -> Filters. In the Filters dialog, click on the Add button. Look for the plug-in you want to load, click on it, and then click on OK. You should now see plug-in's dialog.

Before you save the results, you need to choose the codec you want to use to save the resulting, stabilized video. Click on Video -> Compression, and choose the output codec you want. If you decided not install a video codec, you can skip this step and the video will be save as uncompressed video, which will consume 90 GB per hour of video.

(If you have used VirtualDub for some other project, make sure “Full Processing Mode” is selected in the Video menu.)

Save the results, using the “Save As AVI” option in the File menu.
johnmeyer wrote on 10/22/2004, 10:53 AM
That a neat filter. The very definition of psychedelic. Groovy. A way to colorize B&W movies the way Ted Turner would have done it, had he been on acid.
Laurence wrote on 10/22/2004, 1:00 PM
One thing you can do in VirtualDub that is next to impossible to do well any other way is to crop and resize interlaced video. There are options on the deinterlace filter to split the interlaced frames into two side by side images which can be resized, then recombined and cropped into a new interlaced frame that is still interlaced properly on even and odd lines. Aspect ratios conversion between 4:3 and 16:9 done this way look about as good as the fake "stretch mode" anamorphic settings on Sony cameras. I would absolutely LOVE to be able to do this with Vegas directly! So far I can't, even with Wax.
erratic wrote on 10/23/2004, 5:24 AM
Vegas can crop and resize interlaced video without ruining it. Converting interlaced 4:3 to 16:9 or vice versa is very simple with Vegas. This 4:3 to 16:9 method (with cropping) has been posted before in this forum:


AFAIK Vegas splits the fields, resizes them, and then weaves them back together.

By the way, I think Avisynth can do a better job than VirtualDub or Vegas, because there are some excellent smart bobbers for Avisynth. This is really quite complex stuff but this thread in Doom9's forum explains it.
Laurence wrote on 10/23/2004, 7:11 AM
I just started doing this with Ultimate S last night. I can't image Avisynth does it any better. Ultimate S does it perfectly! It makes sense though that Vegas can do this natively, after all, Ultimate S is just a scripting plugin!
Laurence wrote on 10/23/2004, 7:21 AM
The method you posted works perfectly! I can't believe I could do this all along! I checked a render in Virtual Dub using an "unfold fields" filter and the result was two perfect fields. You have no idea how much time I've spent on this! I feel like Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz" when she realized she could have gone home any time along the way!