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My name is Corey Chambers and this is the first time I have attempted to submit a time for verification so I wanted to make sure I did everything correctly. Please let me know what else I need to do.

Quality Test – The Adventures of Lolo 2 (NES)

Type of quality test:        Final Encode
OS:                                Windows 8.1, 64-bit.
Capture hardware:          EZCAP.TV 116 EzGAMER SD Gameplay
Capture software:            OBS
Capture video resolution:  720 x 480, 29.97 fps.
Game/Console:                The Adventures of Lolo 2, NES.  NTSC.
Encode Quality:                Yua









Thread title:  
Can you show a screenshot of the yua window with the settings you used? (or even provide a snippet of the raw file with the recording setup you have) The encoded video is only half the frame rate and it looks like some interlacing artifacts.  Hopefully, that's only a wrong setting in yua and not the recording itself.
yeah, need you to post the original file. thanks.

Quote from ktwo:
Can you show a screenshot of the yua window with the settings you used? (or even provide a snippet of the raw file with the recording setup you have) The encoded video is only half the frame rate and it looks like some interlacing artifacts.  Hopefully, that's only a wrong setting in yua and not the recording itself.

can actually see the settings they used if you have something that can display mp4 comments. e.g. mp4box:
Code:
Nathans-iMac:Desktop njahnke$ mp4box -info yua_HQ.mp4 2>&1 | grep Comment
	Comment: yua8 d1 f1 3d interlaced tff 4:3 HQ

best bet right now is the original was deinterlaced dropping half the frames.
Attached I included a 10 second sample of the original file that I used with the Yua program. Basically what I do is capture the game using OBS and the Ezcap 116. Then I take this raw file and put it into Windows Movie Maker for editing, edit the start and finish and then produce a new video file using “1080 for high resolution display”. The original file that I put into Yua was the product of Windows Movie Maker. This is the process I use for my videos before I upload them to my Youtube account. The frame rate of the capture device is 29.97, are you observing that the files produced with Yua is even less than 29.97? If the Capture video resolution: 720 x 480, 29.97 fps is not sufficient enough then that would be good to know. The Yua settings that I used matched the example in the Metriod Prime screenshot on the webpage showing the settings for Yua. Attached below is a screen shot of those settings. Let me know if you need anything else. Thanks for taking the time to examine my settings.



I don't know what windows movie maker has done, but this doesn't look good. You've lost half of the frames. Do you have the original before windows movie maker had its ways with the recording?

If you're wondering about the frame rate, here's a crash course. The NES outputs ~60 frames per second. When you record, it will often result in ~30 fps video (depending on the capture device, but it's at least the case for you). This is because every frame in the recording contains two frames (to reduce the file size). This is called interlacing and it gives a blurry effect to the video. When you encode the footage (with for example yua), the two frames are split up (deinterlaced) so your new video will be back to ~60 fps and hence accurately reflect the NES output. It's obviously possible to go much more into details about this, but I think this is the most relevant thing for now.
Here is a raw clip of about 9 seconds using my setup. OBS is set to record 60fps. I also include the screen shot of the OBS settings.





can someone who knows obs help with the settings? seems like something is off ...
Not a walrus
From my experience running the tech stations at GDQ, Retro deinterlacing gives a better result than Yadif for NES footage, especially when flickering starts. Plus you're using Yadif instead of Yadif2x, which might be causing some frame drops. Also, why 1080x720 (was this meant to be 1280x720?) instead of 640x480? If you're ONLY capturing NES footage, then even 320x240 should be sufficient (though 640x480 will give a better source file for Yua).
If I understand it correctly, the run has already been recorded and done. So the question is maybe more if this quality is acceptable or not. From what I can see, the original is not good (not properly interlaced), which means that it's not acceptable. nate and UraniumAnchor, do you agree? Either way, congrats on a very good run. I'm guessing this time will be hard to beat.
I have beaten the run, I am now under 25 min, aiming for about 24:30 now. I wanted to configure my system correctly to make sure that future runs would be submit-able. I have adjusted the dimensions and fps in OBS but can't manage to get YUA to work with any of those raw files directly from OBS. The only way it has worked is the video from Windows Movie Maker as originally submitted at the top of this thread. Without knowing how to get YUA to not freeze during the first step I will not be able to proceed further. It is not that big of a deal if I can't get this to work for SDA, my Youtube account is fine for me, but just in case I was a couple settings away I might as well make it submit-able to SDA, since, my time will be over 5 min faster than what is on SDA now.  Any further suggestions?
I also tried the Retro deinterlacing as well as Yadif2x, but same issue with raw file directly from OBS. Not even my original settings are working with YUA. I tried the file from Windows Movie Maker again and that worked again. Not sure why though. Thanks for all your help so far. Hopefully there is a solution here because I am using common hardware/software to produce these direct feed videos.
HELLO!
There is common hardware and software that is just terrible and mangles videos beyond repair, unfortunately.
Can you upload a raw sample of when you tried recording with UraniumAnchor's suggestion? If that produces an acceptable quality, I'm sure we can also find a way to encode it properly. (for info, I have also issues getting yua to work sometimes, but there are other ways)
The Dork Knight himself.
http://www.thethrillness.com/2014/03/capturing-and-encoding-video-for-sda.html

Try going through that tutorial to setup your recordings with AmarecTv and see if videos produced with that will work with Yua.
Ok, let's take another shot at this:

Quality Test – The Adventures of Lolo 2 (NES)

Type of quality test:          Source File AND Final Encode
OS:                                    Windows 8.1, 64-bit.
Capture hardware:            EZCAP.TV 116 EzGAMER SD Gameplay
Capture software:              Amarectv through OBS
Capture video resolution:  720 x 480, 29.97 fps.
Game/Console:                  The Adventures of Lolo 2, NES.  NTSC.
Encode Quality:                Yua

Since my initial attempt to use Amarectv did not yield both video and audio I tried to record it with OBS via the Amarectv live function. I did not actually stream live with OBS only used the Start Recording function. For some reason when I attempted to record with Amarectv alone the preview would show me both audio and video, but depending on what settings I used it would either yield me a .avi file that included only audio, or a .avi file that included only video. So I set up OBS to record AmaRec Video Capture. Therefore, OBS took what Amarectv was feeding it and it created a .mp4 file with it. I used this .mp4 file produced with OBS (the Source File) with the Yua program. In Yua I changed the Dimensions to D4 because the program said that this was the settings for retro games such as the NES. There were five options, and I clicked the “No Change” option on the far top right.

Attached I include the following:

* Source File
* Yua Output (Final Encode)
* Yua IQ
* Yua LQ
* Yua Settings while processing Image
* OBS Video Settings Image
* OBS Encoding Settings Image
* OBS Video Capture Device Settings Image

Obviously my actual run will not have the Amarectv Live stats at the start of the recording. I do not know how to stop these stats from appearing for the first 15 seconds of the recording but I do know how to edit.















Edit history:
Crow!: 2015-10-10 07:27:28 pm
Crow!: 2015-10-10 07:27:20 pm
Crow!: 2015-10-10 07:10:53 pm
Crow!: 2015-10-10 07:06:47 pm
Crow!: 2015-10-10 07:05:55 pm
What's that gemma?
To tell OBS to record in full quality, go to Settings >> Advanced >> Custom x264 Encoder Settings, check that box, and enter "crf=0" into the text box there.  With a set bit rate (even one as high as 2400kbps), the encoder will have to drop some image quality, which makes the image blur or stretch, which is disastrous when Yua tries to deinterlace.  Be aware that this will make your recordings HUGE compared to what you might be used to from using 2400kbps.

Also, for the frame rate, 29.97fps is not correct for NES; the NES (and SNES) run faster than the NTSC standard.  If your capture card can be set to record at 30.0494fps, that may slightly improve the results, but if not, don't worry too much.  OBS's recordings won't actually retain the fractional fps anyway.

I am a bit confused as to why the "Source File" is at 60fps, though.  If OBS is recording the interlaced image, it should be recording at 30fps, so that Yua can later de-interlace it and double the framerate to 60fps.


EDIT: whoa, that's weird.  Your medium quality output looks fine, but the IQ is a total mess, and that happens to me, too, when I try to encode the source file with Yua.  I have no idea why that is.
Ok, so for quality verification would SDA like me to resubmit a test with the following adjustments?

1) Encoder Settings change
2) Have OBS record at 30pfs

The max pfs for the capture card is 29.97, I will not be able to get better than that with the Ezcap.

Knowing what will be acceptable will help greatly to get my future run on SDA. I will be running the game all weekend and if I get a great time and get my highest goal I just won't be able to submit it here without knowing how to do this. I will run the game this evening with the above adjustments and hoping that it will be acceptable. No other suggestions with all the other settings, or any reason why I can't get amarectv to record both my sound and video?
The Dork Knight himself.
If you're going to use OBS for recording the run and not streaming, here's how you should set it up.

1. go to Settings >> Advanced >> Custom x264 Encoder Settings, check that box, and enter "crf=0" into the text box (using Crow's suggestion here)
2. Set OBS video resolution to 720x480, framerate to 30
3. Add in the capture card, and set Deinterlacing to none

The biggest issue with using OBS to do this kind of recording is it can only record whole number framerates, and since NTSC is 29.97 (or in the case of the NES, 30.0494) you'll probably get some dropped frames. Try recording some footage this way, without using AmarecTv in the middle, and see what results you get.

If that doesn't work, install the Lagarith codec and set AmarecTv to record using that. If you get good video, the next step would be to figure out how to get the audio.
Ok, so last night after the changes (prior to honorableJay's suggestions) I did a run of 24:20.07 on this title. After putting it through Yua I got 60fps and 320x240 (at least this is what the properties said), which is half of the 640x480 I used. I assume that Yua "compressed" the file to a smaller resolution? Attached is the yua files for the same settings. Is this good for verification or no? The MQ for the actual run does not upload here. The source file is too large for upload as well.

HonorableJay, this run uses you first suggestion already. As for the framerate in OBS it is set to 30 fps, but in the capture settings it is 29.9703. The deinterlacing in OBS is also set to none. I would certainly like to know how to get AmarecTv to work with both video and audio. Is there a program like Virtualdub that can help me deinterlace my videos for youtube, and allow me to do frame by frame analysis? Virtualdub doesn't like .mp4, and Yua lowers my resolution.





What's that gemma?
That video looks much better to me.  What does everyone else think?

As for doing frame-by-frame analysis, you could try using VLC.  Googling "VLC frame by frame playback" gave several useful-looking results.

The resolution reduction is normal.  Think of it this way: the NES is outputting a 240p, which is super weird and essentially every capture card thinks is 480i.  The point of deinterlacing (in this case) is to return the video back to its intended 240p version, which means the final image should be 240 pixels tall - that's what retro/scandoubling does, it makes the appropriate half of the signal twice as tall for each frame, so the new image has an effective height of 240 pixels.  On the other hand, if you were recording from a Wii or a PS2, which really does use 480i, then the point of deinterlacing is completely different, and the Blur or Yadif deinterlacers would make more sense.
Thanks, Crow! I just got a 24:13 last night, so that 23:xx is coming very soon. Unless I am told otherwise I will continue with the setting adjustments here suggested and hopefully all is well when I go to submit. Thanks everyone.
Edit history:
UraniumAnchor: 2015-10-15 01:56:50 am
UraniumAnchor: 2015-10-15 01:55:14 am
UraniumAnchor: 2015-10-15 01:54:42 am
Not a walrus
The method that HonorableJay suggested unfortunately does not work correctly because they bleed the color information across the fields. You can see this in certain freeze frames when Lolo is walking sideways, he's got little blue "spikes" poking out of his sides due to the color bleeding. It's not as obvious in this game because stuff generally moves fairly slowly, but it's still sub-optimal.

If you want to use OBS to capture interlaced footage you need to deinterlace it in OBS like I mentioned above (specifically Retro/scandoubling for NES). The problem is that standard H264 encoding encodes color information across 2x2 blocks of pixels, which causes the interlaced fields' color to bleed into each other when captured this way.

Unless there's a way to make OBS capture in 4:2:2 instead of 4:2:0, then the best option is to use Retro.
What's that gemma?
Adding high422 to the custom encoder settings might make OBS's recording use 4:2:2. high444 is also an option that x264 supports for using 4:4:4.  I don't know enough about color space to know how to test whether OBS is actually using those settings when told to, however.

Unfortunately, I've found OBS's Retro/scandoubling option to be a complete failure at streaming / recording SNES games via EZCap, introducing both bobbing and stuttering for no apparent reason.  I'd assume that NES has the same problem, but it would be worth checking.

The sensible solution is probably just to tell Amarec to record directly, rather than messing with OBS.  Is there a reason you're not doing that to begin with?  HonorableJay linked a guide by TheThrillness about how to get that set up if you just weren't able to figure it out.  (Bonus points if you can apply the correct 30.0494 frame rate while you're fishing around in there).
Edit history:
UraniumAnchor: 2015-10-15 07:16:06 pm
Not a walrus
We've been using Retro at GDQs for NES/SNES footage, but we're also not using an EZCap, so that might have something to do with it.

I've used retro deinterlacing with: Avermedia C027, Dazzle DVC100, and Micomsoft sc-512n1-l/dvi and it gives the best results of the options available. Yadif2x looks good until 30hz effects start, then it starts screwing up pretty hard, especially if it's flickering.

DKG, if you can try it with retro deinterlacing and post a test, I should be able to let you know if it looks better.
Crow! Yeah I went through the whole setup process with great detail. For some reason I can only get either just audio or video with Amarec.

UraniumAnchor. Yeah, this weekend I will do the retro deinterlacing through OBS alone with my present settings and then post it here for you.