Help converting 60Hz gameplay videos to 30Hz for youtube.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Okay, so a lot of VCS games use sprite flicker to increase the number of sprites and colors permitted onscreen. I'm trying to record a Donkey Kong VCS homebrew bug (game crashes or resets if Mario gets hit in the backside by fireball while wielding the hammer)

 

Problem:

 

I attempt to capture a video from Stella using Bandicam. The VCS game is using sprite flicker to produce multicolor sprites or multiple playfield objects. Human persistence of vision causes the images to blend together. I need to convert the captured video to 30Hz so that it displays correctly.

 

If I capture at 30Hz, every other frame gets deleted. Half of the objects onscreen disappear. This not only makes the game play video look like ass, but some objects are rendered invisible.

 

If I capture at 60Hz, the video plays back correctly, however when I upload to Youtube, when the server converts it to 30Hz, every other frame gets deleted. Half of the objects onscreen disappear. This not only makes the game play video look like ass, but some objects are rendered invisible.

 

The Interpolate filter under video settings does nothing apparently. I need something that outputs a 30Hz video with persistence of vision preserved. simply deleting the extra frames is not an viable option.

 

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In the past, I have attempted (and failed) to capture directly from the VCS. The results were not pretty, however real hardware capture will result in an interlaced (480i) picture. It is possible (but I don't know how) to change the interlace flag to progressive, and get a 480p 29.97Hz video feed with venitian blinds. This results in a similar aesthetic to HDTV viewing. Not ideal, but better than deleting half the data. Eitehr way, there are many comb and deinterlace filters to deal with these issues in post processing.

 

= = = = =

 

Trying to figure out a freeware solution to this problem. Please no links to trial software. Needs to be a permanent fix.

[+Random Terrain]

I pressed Alt + P in Stella to enable the phosphor effect, then recorded this at 25 frames a second on purpose with Bandicam so YouTube couldn't screw it up:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ5phkEZqsY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ5phkEZqsY

 

You might want to try it and see if it helps.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Something else screwy just happened. I was monkeying around with video settings in Stella and all my options got grayed out. I uninstalled and reinstalled the latest version and even deleted the configuration folder but I can't adjust my video settings anymore. All grayed out...

 

Call me old fashioned but I love using the S-video filter with 50% scanlines.

 

^^EDIT: Nevermind; got it working again; I must be an idiot...

Edited October 29, 2013 by stardust4ever

[Andromeda Stardust]

I pressed Alt + P in Stella to enable the phosphor effect, then recorded this at 25 frames a second on purpose with Bandicam so YouTube couldn't screw it up:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ5phkEZqsY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ5phkEZqsY

 

You might want to try it and see if it helps.

Would 24fps be a better choice? NTSC 2:3 golden pulldown ratio.

[+Random Terrain]

Would 24fps be a better choice? NTSC 2:3 golden pulldown ratio.

 

I don't know. You could try it. I just chose the next one down from 30 so it would basically look the same at YouTube as it did on my computer.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Got it; thanks RT!

 

Settings used: 30Hz video capture; Alt+P to enable Phosphor effect.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

^^EDIT: Nevermind; got it working again; I must be an idiot...

Me too. How did you fix the problem?

[Andromeda Stardust]

Me too. How did you fix the problem?

Honestly, I have no idea, but the text in the box had changed from gray to red and when I clicked on it all my options came back.

[Video]

The problem with evenly cutting the resolution is many games have more than just one a and b sprite, and if those pass over the same scan line, the flicker that's used to compensate for the system not actually being able to display all of them at once will cause one of the sprites to be constantly invisible.

 

That first video is a good example, it only shows three ghosts for quiet a while after starting.

 

If you can combine every other frame, it would look unrealistic to the systems capabilities, but it should preserve everything on screen. (kind of like making a progressive image from an interpolated one, I guess) But I don't know of any software that does a good job of this. (not that I know of a lot of software that does a good job regardless, I typically go old school analog for video editing)

[+Random Terrain]

That first video is a good example, it only shows three ghosts for quiet a while after starting.

 

That's because one was on top of the other. You wouldn't see all 4 on a real Atari 2600 on a real TV in this case. They stop following the same path at around 20 seconds into the video.

[fiddlepaddle]

An easy solution (probably; I have not tested this), is to use a camera to video record output from a real CRT. Might even be able to make FPS adjustments on the camera.

[Andromeda Stardust]

An easy solution (probably; I have not tested this), is to use a camera to video record output from a real CRT. Might even be able to make FPS adjustments on the camera.

Honestly, an LCD panels yield a far better picture when capturing with an external video camera. CRT picture tubes output strobing light which tend to wreak havok on the calibration sensor. This creates a picture that is overexposed, with bright colors often appearing almost whited out onscreen. If the Atari had a properly formatted NTSC signal with composite output, I would just connect my USB capture device. It works flawlessly with NES although it's got the same interlace issues because it processes 240p like 480i, with the same venetian blinds that occur with HD panels, although flickering is less severe than with Atari homebrews.

[NightSprinter]

I apologize for how horrid the vertical stripes are (despite the solid EM2860 chipset, the KWorld USB DVD Maker 2 is not a great capture device since it hates my Genesis s-video mod), but I've used some frame blending in VirtualDub for this capture. http://youtu.be/pa7WCzLYUlc

[Andromeda Stardust]

I apologize for how horrid the vertical stripes are (despite the solid EM2860 chipset, the KWorld USB DVD Maker 2 is not a great capture device since it hates my Genesis s-video mod), but I've used some frame blending in VirtualDub for this capture. http://youtu.be/pa7WCzLYUlc

Hey, at least yours is in color. I attempted capturing from my Atari using a VCR as demodulator, and all I got was a putrid grayscale picture with fine vertical bars. That's another reason why I don't plan on modding my Atari, since the NTSC signal is malformed at the source, a cleaner signal via composite mod won't help if your capture device rejects it.