Author Topic: [FF7PC-98/Steam] FMV Restoration (Discontinued, use Steam FMVs)  (Read 310319 times)

DLPB_

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IN ORDER TO USE THIS MOD, YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR REGISTRY SETTINGS TO POINT TO A MOVIE FOLDER.

USE THIS PROGRAM AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ADMIN RIGHTS:  http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=12305.msg170841#msg170841



Final Fantasy VII FMV Update

Status:  Complete.



Credits:

Video Editing and manager:
DLPB

PSX FMV Extraction/Decoder tool jPSXdec:
M-35

Special thanks to Mirrors: 
t9999clint, indrema, pyrozen


Main Files

Released.  Place all parts in the same place and run FMVRes.exe, found in Part 0.  Click on the hyperlinks below.


Part 0
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Torrent
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/6043367/Final_Fantasy_VII_Remastered_FMVs__FIXED_
http://www.mediafire.com/?25vbb3thcenh8a2 (use for individual files)

Mirror 1
Part 0
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Mirror 2:
All Files

Other files

Make sure they are named "ending2.avi" and "jenova_e.avi" before you place them into the Movie folder.

jenova_e.avi Italian
jenova_e.avi Russian
jenova_e.avi Spanish

ending2.avi Italian
ending2.avi Russian
ending2.avi Spanish
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Total FMV: 103 (97 in PSX version)
Total Complete: 103 (+1, the Squaresoft logo)
Release Date:  11th December 2010
Original Size: 849 MB
New Size: 1090MB (28% larger)



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now that I have finished the menu mod and will not be as busy, I think it is time to finally tackle the FMV's and update them using the PSX counterparts.  The outcome will not be "great" but it will be better than what we currently have.  We will be polishing a turd.  This project will be completed and pretty soon.

I am now in the process of re-encoding all the FMV's using the PSX counterparts.  The new method requires that I extract all frames into Photoshop and use genuine fractals on them (by batch).   The results are much better than any other method I have tried before and as far as I know, I am the only one to actually try this kind of thing.

1.  Copy FMV from Playstation disc
2.  Use http://kenai.com/projects/jpsxdec/pages/Home PSX FMV converter tool (at highest settings), to get the FMV into uncompressed video
3.  Place video into virtualdub and extract all frames to PNG
4.  Run batch encoder in Photoshop with Genuine Fractals to enlarge the  frames to 1280*896 and place back to PNG
5.  Place PNG's back into Virtualdub and export to a lossless video with Lagarith
6. Lagarith Video goes into Sony Vegas where a Detail Enhancer by NewBlue is applied.
7.  Original sound (from PSX Video) is placed with the video.
8.  Video is exported into H.264 with AAC at high settings and average bitrate of 2000-3000KB/s, depending on scene.  For low action scenes 2000 average with 4000 maximum, and for high action, 3000 with a maximum 4000.  I may well have gone a bit over the top using 2000 and 3000, s this is animation at 15fps.  It may look almost as good with 1500-2000 average.


It isn't TOO daunting a task, nothing could possibly be as mind numbing as the nightmare I just finished.

Some of the following have also had a translation fix.  These are marked in Red.


SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON!





Disc 1 (Total: 31, Complete: 31) Size: 319MB

bike.avi - Escape from Shin-Ra Building on bike. [Midgal corrected to Midgar]
biskdead.avi - Dyne and Barrett have their arms shot off  :-P
boogdemo.avi -  View of Space in Bugenhagen's observatory.
boogstar.avi - Explanation of the Lifestream and The Planet.
brgnvl.avi - Bridge snaps at Mt. Nibl.
earithdd.avi - Aerith is killed.
fallpl.avi - Avalanche escape from falling tower in District 7.
funeral.avi - Aerith is Buried.
gold1.avi - Skyline to the Goldsaucer
gold7_2.avi - Goldsaucer Gondola (Aerith with Cloud)
hiwind0.avi - First view of the Airship Highwind
jairofal.avi - Tiny Bronco falls to the ocean.
jairofly.avi - Tiny Bronco lifts off.
jenova_e.avi - Sephiroth confronts Jenova at Niblheim.
junon.avi - View of Junon
mainplr.avi - Last Train From Midgar comes around the main pillar
mk8.avi - Avalanche blast their way out in District 8
mkup.avi - View of Mako Reactor 1
monitor.avi - CCTV in the Shin-Ra building

mtnvl2.avi - View of Nibl mountains and Mako Reactor
mtnvl.avi - View of Mt. Nibl Mako Reactor

nivlsfs.avi - Sephiroth walks through flames at Niblheim
northmk.avi - Mako Reactor 1 explodes
nvlmk.avi - Pod at Nibl Mako Reactor opens
ontrain.avi - Cloud jumps on train in District 8
opening.avi - Introduction to Final Fantasy VII and Midgar [Midgul corrected to Midgar]
plrexp.avi - District 7 pillar is destroyed
rcktfail.avi - The Rocket  fails take off
setogake.avi - View of petrified Seto
smk.avi - Platform is destroyed at Mako Reactor 5
southmk.avi - Cloud falls from damaged platform at Mako Reactor 5


Disc 2 (Total: 42, Complete: 42) Size: 390MB 

biglight.avi - Weapons are released from the Great Crater
c_scene1.avi - Sephiroth and his cocoon break free at the Great Crater
c_scene2.avi - Sephiroth and his cocoon make their appearance.
c_scene3.avi - Cloud gives Sephiroth the Black Materia

canon.avi - Mako cannon at Midgar fires.
canonh1p.avi - Fire from the cannon and Diamond Weapon intersect
canonh3f.avi - Rufus is killed (and yes he was).
canonht0.avi - Diamond Weapon retaliates.
canonht1.avi - Diamond Weapon is blown away.
canonht2.avi - Sephiroth's barrier is destroyed.
canonon.avi - The Cannon at Junon has been moved to Midgar.
dumcrush.avi - Cloud and Tifa are thrown into the Lifestream at Midhir.
feelwin0.avi - Diamond Weapon walks.
feelwin1.avi - Diamond Weapon leaves.
fship2.avi - Highwind view [PC only.  Updated.]
gelnica.avi - The airship Guernica
greatpit.avi - First view of the Great Crater
hwindfly.avi - Tifa falls off the cannon at Junon
hwindjet.avi - The Highwind has a new propulsion system
junsea.avi - View of ocean around Junon
meteofix.avi - Meteor in space, after rocket mission
loslake1.avi - Music key activates device at the Forgotten Capital
lslmv.avi - Water for screen at Forgotten Capital cascades
meteosky.avi - First view of Meteor
nrcrl.avi - Train crashes into North Corel
nrcrl_b.avi - Train does not crash into North Corel

parashot.avi - Party parachute into Midgar
phoenix.avi - Condor egg hatches
rckethit0.avi - Escape pod from rocket deploys
rckethit1.avi - Escape pod enters The Planet's atmosphere
rcketoff.avi - The Rocket in Rocket Town takes off into space
weapon0.avi - Junon's guns at the ready for Sapphire Weapon
weapon1.avi - Junon's main gun fires into the ocean at Sapphire Weapon
weapon2.avi - Junon in all out assault against Sapphire Weapon 1
weapon3.avi -  Junon in all out assault against Sapphire Weapon 2 [My fave!]
weapon4.avi - Sapphire Weapon emerges from Ocean
weapon5.avi -  Sapphire Weapon fires at Junon but has its head blown off

wh2e2.avi - Water Screen at the Forgotten Capital shows Aerith and White Materia
white2.avi - Water Screen, animation loop [Only in PC game.  Updated from Playstation game using fraps and pSX.]
zmind01.avi  -Midhir flashback, into Niblheim
zmind02.avi - Midhir flashback, starry night
zmind03.avi - Midhir flashback, into Tifa's room



Disc 3 (Total: 8, Complete: 8) Size: 289MB

ending1.avi - Cloud meets Sephiroth inside The Planet
ending2.avi - Sephiroth is killed (and yes he was)
ending3.avi - 500 years later
last4_2.avi - Inside the planet, background animation loop 1 [Only in PC game.  Updated.]
last4_3.avi - Inside the planet, background animation loop 2 [Only in PC game.  Updated.]
last4_4.avi - Inside the Planet, After Jenova Synthesis battle
lastflor.avi - Before battle with Rebirth Sephiroth
lastmap.avi - Sephiroth with Holy, background animation loop [Only in PC game.  Updated.]


Not Disc specific: (Total: 22, Complete: 22) Size: 91.6MB

boogdown.avi - Platform back down from Bugenhagen's main observatory.
boogup.avi - Platform up to Bugenhagen's main observatory.
car_1209.avi - Spec of a Shin-Ra car.  [Makou corrected to Mako]
d_ropego.avi - Ropeway station carriage leaves for the  Goldsaucer
d_ropein.avi - Ropeway station carriage returns from the Goldsaucer.
Explode.avi - FFVII logo at credit screen. [Appears only in PC version.   Updated anyway. ]
fcar.avi - Duplicate of Car_1209 [Makou corrected to Mako]
gold2.avi - Goldsaucer Gondola 1 (Speed Square roller-coaster)
gold3.avi - Goldsaucer Gondola 2 (Chocobo)
gold4.avi - Goldsaucer Gondola 3 (The Invincible Dio)
gold5.avi - Goldsaucer Gondola 4 (Ghost Hotel)
gold6.avi - Goldsaucer Gondola 5 (Event Square)
gold7.avi - Goldsaucer Gondola 6 (Fireworks and Goldsaucer view)
junair_d.avi - Platform in Junon down to the troops and locker-room
junair_u.avi - Platform in Junon back up to the airport area

junelego.avi - Lift down to Lower Junon 1
junelein.avi - Lift to Upper Junon 2
junin_go.avi - Lift to Upper Junon 1
junin_in.avi - Lift down to Lower Junon 2
mtcrl.avi - Falling down in-between the train tracks in Corel
u_ropego.avi - Ropeway carriage leaves the Goldsaucer
u_ropein.avi - Ropeway carriage arrives at the Goldsaucer

« Last Edit: 2014-07-19 18:18:59 by Covarr »

Timber

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #1 on: 2010-11-05 02:52:27 »
Awesome, I still have some of the videos from when I think you guys were testing it, and they really do look much better.

drfeelgud88

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #2 on: 2010-11-05 04:54:49 »
I'll definitely will be keeping an eye on this. Hope it can be done. :)

DLPB_

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #3 on: 2010-11-05 04:57:05 »
I'll definitely will be keeping an eye on this. Hope it can be done. :)

It can be done :P and is being.  I have started testing now.  Yes these tools are helping...  looking good now.  It also looks as if the output will be around the same size as the originals.

Edit
Oh this is looking VERY good now!  :)

Alright, compare this one to the original PC:

Niblheim Sephiroth - Enhanced
« Last Edit: 2010-11-05 05:47:34 by DLPB »

willis936

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #4 on: 2010-11-05 06:46:18 »
I can't believe my eyes.  Simply incredible!

DLPB_

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #5 on: 2010-11-05 06:53:04 »
Fast moving video with lots of different details fare worse, like the opening movie, but it is an improvement :)  :mrgreen:  That released video is the final quality but do not use it in game as it will not work properly.  Wait until the full release date.

I thought that I would need to do a lot more testing but tbh this is already as good as I can do it.
« Last Edit: 2010-11-05 06:58:48 by DLPB »

willis936

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #6 on: 2010-11-05 09:29:35 »
I went back and did a side by side comparison and I'm just astonished that you found a way to polish this terd so well.  Honestly I was convinced that loss of quality was a one way road but this is some spectacular work.  Taking out the artifacts and effects of low res lossy compression in video.  I know it has been tried many times with little decent results but perhaps after this you could take a look at the field backgrounds.  ;)

DLPB_

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #7 on: 2010-11-05 09:38:20 »
well, I used the PSX videos which are 1 step ahead of the PC ones.  Then did a slight bit of enhancement.  The PC vids were encoded from the PSX ones with a crap codec. 

willis936

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #8 on: 2010-11-05 13:24:01 »
Clearly.  I always thought there was some debate over the actual difference in quality between the PSX FMVs and the PC FMVs but I'm fairly convinced now.  I bet this trick doesn't work with field backgrounds since they're probably still downsized to the ridiculously low resolution on both platforms.

sl1982

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #9 on: 2010-11-05 13:57:26 »
Field backgrounds are the same

Hellbringer616

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #10 on: 2010-11-05 14:28:57 »
I was working on a project like this. However! I just couldn't get my head around the video editing part. That and when i ripped them from the PSX they seemed... Wrong i guess. The FPS seemed off.

Although, The PSX versions are VASTLY superior then the PC ones

DLPB_

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #11 on: 2010-11-05 18:02:58 »
Clearly.  I always thought there was some debate over the actual difference in quality between the PSX FMVs and the PC FMVs but I'm fairly convinced now. 

Anyone debating that is an idiot.

And here is the working Opening.avi  (I haven't tested it yet, but should be perfect)

https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B1JH_wU1qqN4ZTg0YTkzYTMtNTUwZC00NDJjLTkyM2YtMDcwNTMzMzMzY2Vj&export=download&hl=en
« Last Edit: 2010-11-05 21:35:52 by DLPB »

sithlord48

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #12 on: 2010-11-05 21:41:19 »
please do NOT use the  H.264 OR the AAC codecs..

they are both properitary... stick to the free codecs xvid will do just fine, it can even use the same matricies as the h.264 codec and can result in better compression when done correctly w/ no noticable loss (and the psx source is only gonna make it work better). Ogg its a fine audio codec  the AAC codec will just bloat the file size.  ffmpeg is also more likely to have issues w/ H.264 or aac then any open codec, since they don't have source code for them.

just my 2cents....

DLPB_

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #13 on: 2010-11-05 22:02:23 »
h.264 is without doubt better than divx and all the others.  It has been chosen because it is pretty much the best and was chosen for Blu Ray.  It is also the easiest to use inside vegas.

Whilst it is a private codec, that is something I am willing to overlook.  I don't forsee any issues and I don't think there is any law against decoding a h264 file.  Aali's driver plays them fine.

As for bloating file size, file size is dependent on the bitrate, not the codec.
« Last Edit: 2010-11-05 22:04:11 by DLPB »

pyrozen

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #14 on: 2010-11-05 23:37:50 »
just viewed the video you posted, and all i can say is great work! The results are very promising, thoug the large filesize is somewhat limiting on the size of the final package. If one video is around 50MB, and a conservative average for the size of all movies is 25MB, that 47x25=11.75GB....unless my math is way off, which is as likely as the sun rising tomarrow.

Kudistos Megistos

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #15 on: 2010-11-06 00:51:53 »
just viewed the video you posted, and all i can say is great work! The results are very promising, thoug the large filesize is somewhat limiting on the size of the final package. If one video is around 50MB, and a conservative average for the size of all movies is 25MB, that 47x25=11.75GB....unless my math is way off, which is as likely as the sun rising tomarrow.

The Opening movie is so much longer than the average that a conservative estimate is really more like a couple of MB for most movies. Bear in mind that a lot of them are shorter than 10 seconds.

InuRa

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #16 on: 2010-11-06 02:40:00 »
Definitely worth the effort. Looks much smoother than the old one after all that. Nice job there.

I'd still be up for an "original size" and 2x reconversion too.  :wink:

DLPB_

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #17 on: 2010-11-06 03:47:01 »
just viewed the video you posted, and all i can say is great work! The results are very promising, thoug the large filesize is somewhat limiting on the size of the final package. If one video is around 50MB, and a conservative average for the size of all movies is 25MB, that 47x25=11.75GB....unless my math is way off, which is as likely as the sun rising tomarrow.

The Opening movie is a major exception.  For example, the Sephiroth one with flames is around same size as original.  FMV with large amount of movement and difference between frames will be larger in size.  I cannot be sure yet but so far I think 30% larger is a reasonable estimate overall.  I will keep updating that estimate.

I am doing more tests with ff7/aalis driver/vegas output due to a few faults creeping in.  Like opening.avi with a pause half way through. 
« Last Edit: 2010-11-06 04:16:40 by DLPB »

Timber

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #18 on: 2010-11-06 04:48:59 »
I am doing more tests with ff7/aalis driver/vegas output due to a few faults creeping in.  Like opening.avi with a pause half way through.

FYI, I just tested your opening.avi in my FF7, and the sound is quite distorted.

DLPB_

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #19 on: 2010-11-06 05:49:56 »
yup, I am on it :P  hopefully won't be aalis driver to blame....

willis936

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #20 on: 2010-11-06 07:21:34 »
Now I could be wrong here but that sounds like a codec problem.  Are you sure the plugin that's beige used for playing that video supports that codec.  There are lots of reasons a codec might not be working right and I doubt aali's current driver supports most codecs out of the box.

DLPB_

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #21 on: 2010-11-06 08:33:15 »
Well latest test I did it seemed to be OK again...  I think it is an audio setting or 2 that the decoder does not like...

edit

The issue is solved.  Will upload new opening soon.
« Last Edit: 2010-11-06 08:58:44 by DLPB »

DLPB_

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #22 on: 2010-11-07 08:46:58 »
Well I have been looking about with new tests and that's when I went back to Genuine Fractals.  The results are even better when I use it, but that means exporting every frame in every movie.   The quality difference is such that I can't really ignore the possibility that I may have to encode these files by extracting every single frame and then applying vegas encoder later.  Not to mention that there is a Super Resolution plugin somewhere which could possibly also increase quality.

The issue is that a video editor enlarges the video from 320*224 with a simple algorithm...  It does not try to keep the information whereas fractals does. 

The following is the sephiroth video with flames again, this time after fractals + enhancement.  It is the best I think is possible tbh.  The process is as follows:

1.  Use PsxJ to decode the movie from the PSX game
2.  Extract every frame with virtualdub to PNG/BMP
3.  Use Genuine Fractals on every frame
4. Use virtualdub to place files back into a video file (at 15 fps) with lossless encoder lagarith
5.  Place new video file into Sony Vegas and add a detail enhancer filter I have to it.
6.  Place original audio to the video
7.  Output vegas file with h.264+AAC encoder.

As you can see this is a sh*t load of messing about.  Not to mention harddrive and CPU resources.

An example of resulting quality is below:


https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1JH_wU1qqN4ODQ3MDc3M2ItZGUxMC00ODhiLWIyZmQtNGM2YzhlYjgyNjdl&sort=name&layout=list&num=50


Well, looks like fractals option is by far the best of all.   Better than any other method. Sadly it is also the hardest of all.

-----------edit

This is the FIRST video to be replaced with new method.  And the beginning of this project:

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1JH_wU1qqN4OWNlYzQ0YzMtZTFiMy00OWUzLWEyNDItMjVkZDc1OWMzNjcz&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

Go to junon and test the airfield elevator out (Upwards) and then try downwards and see the difference.  At 800*600 window mode, these fmvs are now better than the prerendered backgrounds.
« Last Edit: 2010-11-07 16:31:48 by DLPB »

willis936

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #23 on: 2010-11-07 14:15:31 »
In case anyone doesn't believe him here's a comparison of frames near 5 seconds:
1st update:  http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o236/willis936/update.png
latest update:  http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o236/willis936/quality.png

Kinda quick an dirty.  Not native resolution, just to show what it'll look like in game.

Oh, and here's the original for lols:  http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o236/willis936/original.png
« Last Edit: 2010-11-07 16:05:28 by willis936 »

Marc

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Re: [WIP] Final Fantasy VII FMV Update
« Reply #24 on: 2010-11-07 17:05:11 »
Wow

The difference in quality is staggering.

I have a hexacore CPU which is not doing much ATM.  If you're interested, send me a PM and a detailed method on how to properly extract from PsxJ, use virtual dub to extract to PNG, apply the fractals and repackage the movie and I'll do that for the files you want me to do.

By detailed method I mostly mean which software version, which settings, etc to keep consistency and get the best possible results.

I'll let the vegas part up to you though as I don't have the software and don't plan to buy it.