How to Use ntscQT+

Illustrated, step-by-step guide. Written by RGM This page is here since

Prerequirements


1. Resizing Video to Adequate

First, you need to resize your video. The most adequate resolution for ntscQT+ is 760x486 (following decodes from the ld-decode project).
For achieving that, you'll need to check if

  • Your video is 59.94fps or is interlaced at 29.97fps

So, let's go to FFMPEG to use this command (IMPORTANT).

ffmpeg -i "originalvid.mkv" -vf "scale=758:480:flags=spline,'(fps=59.94 or bwdif)',scale=iw-14:ih:flags=spline,pad=iw+14:ih:6:0,pad=760:486:0:3,setsar=1" -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 16 -c:a flac -compression_level 8 -pix_fmt yuv422p10 "inputprepared.mkv" -y

Before you use this command, let's adjust to the video's properties.

  • About your input and output
    • Change "originalvid.mkv" to your input video file
    • Change "inputprepared.mkv" to your prepared output video file
  • About '(fps=59.94 or bwdif)', replace it based on this logic:
    • If your video hasn't 59.94fps, use fps=59.94
    • If your video is interlaced, use bwdif
    • If your video has 59.94fps and isn't interlaced, remove this.
  • About borders: scale=iw-14:ih:flags=spline,pad=iw+14:ih:6:0
    • Replace 14 on scale and pad with the number you want to reduce to reduce/increase the border size
    • Replace 6 on pad to move the picture to reduce/increase the border size

Ok, so now it's prepared to be used.

Big Buck Bunny, after prepare command


2. Oh yeah, let's go!

Now, open ntscQT+ (ex.: if you followed the instructions from the GitHub README, use python ntscQT.py).

ntscQT+ main window

Now, let's see the layout!
In the left, we have the settings to change your filter.

ntscQT+ preset value layout

If you can click the notepad icon button at the bottom left, you can open and export your own settings in JSON.

ntscQT+ export preset dialog

On the main window, in the bottom right, we have the render settings.

ntscQT+ render settings

  • Render height - Change the output's video height
  • Seed - just change to be random
  • x2 Output by nearest-neighbour - Export the video at 2x (with nearest-neighbour)
  • Pro mode - Activate/deactivate the pro mode of the settings, with more options.
  • ON/OFF - Activate/deactivate the filter
  • Compare mode - Activate/deactivate compare mode, for comparison with the original video
  • Lossless .mkv export - Export the video as a lossless FFV1 Matroska video file
  • Open file (video or image) - Open your input file
  • Open image URL - Open an image from the Internet (via URL)
  • Render video as - Render your output video
  • Save image - Save an image shot of your output
  • Pause Render - Pause your rendering
  • Stop Render - Stop your rendering

So, click Open file (video or image) and open your input prepared file.
You can configure the filter in the way you want.

ntscQT+ with Big Buck Bunny

If you're finished, press Render video as (video) or Save image (image) and choose your output path to start rendering.
After render is finished, you can close the app.

If you are using the image mode, you can stop here and close.
If you are using video though, you can continue with the next step.

Big Buck Bunny - from ntscQT+ render

3. Now let's share with the web, but first...

Before you share with the web, you will adapt your output video to finish the process.

Open your terminal and call FFMPEG again with this command:
(changing "ntscqtoutput.mkv" with your ntscQT+ output video file, and "finished.mkv/.mp4" to your output finished file, with the indicated extension)

x264 (interlaced) and FLAC - MKV

ffmpeg -i "ntscqtoutput.mkv" -vf "format=yuv422p10le,crop=iw:480:0:3,scale=720:ih:flags=spline,setfield=tff,setdar=4/3" -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 16 -c:a flac -compression_level 8 -shortest -flags +ildct+ilme "finished.mkv" -y

x264 (progressive) and FLAC - MKV

ffmpeg -i "ntscqtoutput.mkv" -vf "format=yuv422p10le,bwdif,crop=iw:480:0:3,scale=720:ih:flags=spline,setdar=4/3" -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 16 -c:a flac -compression_level 8 -shortest "finished.mkv" -y

This last was made for YouTube uploading:
x264 (resized to 1080p for YouTube) and AAC - MP4

ffmpeg -i "ntscqtoutput.mkv" -vf "format=yuv422p10le,bwdif,crop=iw:480:0:3,scale=720:ih:flags=spline,format=yuv420p,scale=1440:1080,colormatrix=bt601:bt709" -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 16 -c:a aac -b:a 320k -compression_level 8 -shortest "finished.mp4" -y

EXTRA:

  • You can add -i "audio.flac" -map 0:v -map 1:a before -vf to add external audio (changing "audio.flac" with your audio file).

Done! With your finished file, you can share with the next.

Conclusion

Now, you know about how you use properly ntscQT+!

To finish this, here is some things:

  • If you found an error, report to us at our GitHub's issue tracker.
  • If you want to have your finished work at our showcase, contact RGM at Twitter or Mastodon.
  • We have our source code at GitHub, where you can help with the project. The source code is here.

So yeah, thanks a lot for reading.
:blue_heart: :thumbsup:

Big Buck Bunny is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 by the Blender Institute.

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Pub: 22 Mar 2023 15:29 UTC
Views: 1350