CSP Slowmotion Video Processor V0.3

Cyber Skunk Productions Slow Motion Commandline Processor

CSP_SLOMO V.0.3

This tool is used to achieve some kind of slow motion video from realtime
video material. The key features are:

-Splitting the 2 interlaced fields into two pseudo-progressive frames
-Add crossfaded tween frames between existig video frames
-Deinterlace

Introduction
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Todays MiniDV Cameras make it almost impossible to record something other
than in PAL interlaced or NTSC interlaced mode, that is 25 or 30 frames per second.

The frames are recorded in a socalled interlaced mode. This means the odd lines of a frame 
are recorded 1/50 second eralier than the even lines. When replayed on a TV, they will
also be played interlaced. This gives a virtual framerate of 50 or 60 Hz, although using
only every other line of the frame.

Some commercial video editor claim to be able to do time-stretch, but they do not split
the interlaced fields first, the result is a jittering mess.

To be able to add tween frames we first need to split these interlaced fields into
individual progressive frames. This will reduce the vertical resolution because the 
missing lines are simply filled with copies of their neighbours. In the same time it 
already slows down the motion by a factor of 2.

Adding tween frames simply means we are crossfading frames. Splitting the fields and 
adding eg. 1 tween frame will give a motion speed that is 4 times slower than the 
original, but it's still very smoothly animated.

This tool is not very fast. Although Version .03 is faster than Version .02, it still 
takes some time to process. Users should also note when you make a movie 4 times slower, 
it also takes 4 times longer to export it. We recommend to use small Movie files only. 
Of course, usually people show short sequences of slowmotion only anyway.

The Tool still has some serious problems with some codecs. Normally the App will detect
problems with codecs and aborts regularily. But when the codec is VP6 then the App will
crash when it ends. We are still trying to find a solution for this problem. Meanwhile
make sure not to use the VP6 codec with this tool.

We recommend to use the lossless Video Codec "HuffYuf" (tested version: 2.1.1) that can be
downloaded for free from www.free-codecs.com.

When resampling videos it is a NONO to use lossy codecs anyway, so byside uncompressed
Avi "HuffYuf" is one of the best choices.


Installation
************
Simply unzip the Zipfile in a folder of your choice.

How to use it
*************
This tool is a commandline driven exe without a graphics user interface. A batch file 
(.bat) is used to control it. See also "example.bat" that is part of this zip file.
So you need to run the .bat file, not the exe. Running the exe without parameters will
only display some help info.

Command Line Parameters:
/i input file
/o output file
/t number of blended tween frames
/s start frame
/e end frame
/d deinterlace mode
/f BFF / TFF switch for fields splitting (0=BFF, 1=TFF) with /d2
/h help

Example:
csp_slomo03.exe /i input.avi /o export.avi /t1 /s1 /e10000 /d2 /f0

Note:

File Names/Paths may not contain Spaces.
First possible start frame is 1.
End Frame may be eg. 100000 if you don't know the max frame
Deinterlace Mode:
  0: No action
  1: Deinterlace
  2: Make 2 progressive Frames out of 2 interlaced Fields
  (this will double the number of frames)

Mode 1 and 2 cannot be combined other than running the tool twice, first with Mode 2,
second with mode 1 (makes only sense to smooth the splitted progressive frames)

The /f switch is used for Top-Field-First (TFF) material. Most Material is BFF
(Bottom-Field-First) so you may use /f0 as a default setting and only alter it 
when the Motion jitters extremly.

Rendering may be aborted at any time by pressing the ESC key.
The Output Movie will be saved up to this point.

Only DirectShow compatible Movies are supported. Certain Codecs may not work
as Source Material. Codec VP6 may crash seriously.
We recommend to use the lossless HUFFYUF codec, or Indeo5, MPEG4, not DV-Avi.
The max Size of a Frame may not be bigger than the desktop resolution minus 30 Pixels,
so if your desktop is big enough, this tool also supports high definition formats.
Audio will not be exported and is completely ignored.
64 MB Vram, DirectX7 and a 3D Graphics Card is required.


Legal stuff
***********

CSP is not resposible for any damage or loss that may result in the use of this tool.

This tool is freeware and may be distributet for free only.

Copyright by Dieter Marfurt 2005/2006. Visit www.melog.ch/dropper/ and 
www.melog.ch/csp_slomo/

This Tool was coded using the Blitz3D Win32 compiler (www.blitzbasic.com)