DVD2Daphne

[paigeoliver]

When using the DVD2Daphne utility can you make the video completely uncompressed? I already have the Dragon's Lair mpegs, but would love to have them full quality (like what a DVD looks like, instead of what a decent mpeg looks like).

[Hoagie_one]

I believe that DVD quality is just a very high quality mpeg-2 encoding

[paigeoliver]

Well, that much I knew, but I figured the Dragon's Lair DVD had higher quality video than the mpegs available at mamefans.

[DAmnb]

Did they do any remastering on the DVD editions of Dragons Lair and Space Ace or is the video quality the same as the LD version?

[JoyMonkey]

I'm sure it's possible. Have a look at some guides on http://www.VCDHelp.com and http://www.Doom9.net for exact details...

You need to rip the VOB files from the DVD to your hard drive (use DVD-Decrypter or SmartRipper for this).

Then you'll need to use DVD2AVI and TMPGEnc to convert the VOBs to MPEG video files and Ogg Vorbis audio files (TMPGEnc will probably give you a regular old WAV audio file out of the VOB files, you'll need to convert them to Oggs using BeSweet). All this can be very tricky if you're new to video encoding, but it's well worth knowing.

Follow Daphne's guide to creating a Frame File here:
http://166.70.135.167/disc2mpeg.php
You can probably use the same Frame Files as you're old Dragon's Lair MPGs if the video content is the same.

JoyM.

[Frostillicus]

Fundamentally speaking, though, you can't really add to what isn't there in the first place.  Just putting the same low-res(laserdisc) original files from the DVD into a higher resolution format won't make them look any better, but the same.

That said, unless Digital Leisure used some super high quality print that Don Bluth was sitting on...I doubt we'll ever have anything better than the laserdisc footage.  Which is fine with me - it's a cartoon.

[Jakobud]

Uncompressed??  You know that would be something crazy like 30 gigs of data right?  

Dont' worry about the quality of the MPEGs they will be very good. Just go buy the DVD's and use DVD2Daphne.  I guarantee you will not complain.

[MrSaLTy]

DVD's are compressed.... they are mpg-2 files.  Uncompressing them would not make them better quality, just bigger.  That being said..... it all depends on the original source.  I can't say if the video quality would be better from your DVD, you would have to make that judgment call.  As of yesturday, the newest version of DVD2daph is available and it has support for every DL and SA DVD that has been released to date.

Read this post on the daphne discussion board.

https://www.daphne-emu.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1244

The creator of this utility says that the 20th anniversary box set is by far the best to use and has better video quality then the other sets.  I think that some people will still tell you that video captured and processed from the original laserdiscs will still be the best quality, but that is open to debate.  The 20th anniversary box set does contain some prototype footage that is only available on that set though.

[Frostillicus]

The 20th anniversary box set does contain some prototype footage that is only available on that set though.

Or the DL repro laserdisc

[Lilwolf]

btw, there are more then one compression routines.

Some are lossy... some lossless..

mpg, mpg2 (and most image / sound files) are lossy.  Why?  They can drop the size down by a HUGE margin.  And most people cant see them.

There are lossless algorithms (like zip, rar) which will always get the exact same item.

But some interesting ones.  

lossless video alg?  Yup, there are some out there.  they only store the changes from one frame to the next.  So screens that don't move that much (background...especially in cartoons with common colors).  This is a HUGE help in video for many screens.  And can be better then ZIP files since the compression goes between screens logically.

So what is mpg's and most video?  

combination.  They do the changes, then add a lossly attributes to them (only if they change by so much).  Then they compress them.   (or whatever the order and scheme)...

But it is Lossy...  And your stuck using it.

The dvd2dalphne.  Run it again.  I got different results when I did it on a faster computer (really).  One missed some sound at parts...

Also, for best looks.  Remember the resolution of the screen your playing it on.  Stretching the screen will make it look worse then most lossy algorythms.

[Frostillicus]

Also, a common rule in any video editing is to have a large, defragged fast harddrive to work with.  Too much skipping back and forth can cause video to lose sync with audio.

[JoyMonkey]

I just picked up the Dragon's Lair DVD and took a look;
the quality of the video on the disc doesn't look great
on a regular PC monitor.

Watching it on a TV isn't as bad, but I'm thinking this is
as good as the original laserdiscs quality, and any poor
quality is just down to how they transfered it to laserdisc
back in 1983. Though the DVD cover does say it's been
"completely remastered for DVD". I don't see how they
would have gotten any material to do any cleanup on
the video.

I may be wrong, I haven't seen the original in about 15
years, nor have I seen the mpg's available from mamefans
(I haven't had any luck downloading anything from that
site).

I might see if I can rip the video from the DVD and use
it with daphne without re-compressing/converting it,
I'm sure it'll take a while to figure out though.


Incidentally, one of my tutors back in college (I studied
3D modelling and character animation) worked with Don
Bluth on Dragon't Lair and he said the guy was a complete
freak.