Technical Question on Ryuki and Ryukendo playback

[DarthBoolean]

Hi, new to the forum, so I'm sorry if this has been discussed before but I searched every term I could think of that seemed relevant and came up with nothing.

I've been watching the Tv-Nihon releases of Ryuki and Ryukendo and they both seem to be suffering from what I've heard described as the "Soap Opera Effect". Now, I'm not a video expert, and I hate to sound whiny, but its starting to really get on my nerves. My question is, does anyone know if this is a result of Ryuki and Ryukendo being shot on video rather than film? Or is it some weird result of the encoding? And, does anyone know a good way to fix it? I primarily use MPC-HC and occasionally VLC but I'm not educated enough on the technical side of video to know if any of the menu options in those players can compensate for this.

Thank you again for your time, and any help or opinions would be appreciated

 

[JFC]

You're being very vague here. You need to give a better/more detailed explanation/description of what you are having a problem with. Just saying the releases "suffer" from "the Soap Opera Effect" doesn't really tell us anything and does not really give us a firm/definitive idea of what specifically you're talking about. What is this "Soap Opera Effect" and how/why do you find it to be a problem? Without a better idea of what you're specifically finding issue with, no one will be able to give you any help/advice on this.

 

[PsychoGokaiger]

I know what you mean, and it's because RyuKenDo etc are shows that are shot in 30 frames per second (29.97fps). Same with soap operas, because of this it looks weird to some people.

Where as shows with 24 fps (23.976fps) have the framerate that films usually have, which looks more cinematic and pleasing to most people.

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

I think he means it's probably playing at too high a frame rate, that's commonly refereed to as the soap opera effect.

 

[DarthBoolean]

Oops, sorry. Like I said, I'm not too good with the technical aspects, the soap opera effect term was a result of 2 days of googling trying to solve it myself. Completely slipped my mind that its not a common term. The best way I could think to explain it is that it looks like Ryuki and Ryukendo were filmed on a home camcorder whenever I play them. The name comes from the tendency of soap operas to use video rather than film when shooting, so it has more frames per second being displayed. This is technically a smoother image but a lot of people (myself included) dont like it as much. The best example I can give other than telling you all to turn on an episode of "All my children " is the new hobbit movie which was also shot at a higher frame rate, so if you noticed that it looked a little bit off as well, then you might have some idea of what in the heck I'm trying to say.


If I'm still not making any sense please let me know, I'm having trouble describing through text what I'm experiencing, and I'm doing my best to sound more articulate than "My TV show looks weird".

 

[PsychoGokaiger]

You are making sense, but unfortunately that's just the framerate of the show. There's no fix or anything. If it's really a dealbreaker for you, luckily a lot of the these shows are made in 24fps.

 

[DarthBoolean]

Alright, thank you PsychoGokaiger I suspected as much, but I thought I'd ask. Ryuki threw me, because I've also watched DekaRanger and its shot at 24, and I figured since Toei was behind both shows and they were both from around the same timeframe that there was a chance that it was just from the encoding.

 

[PsychoGokaiger]

Yeah, it does seem random. Shows back from the 80s even like Kamen Rider Black and Maskman were 24 fps and looked great, not sure why they dabbled in 30fps for some shows like with Kuuga, Agito, Megaranger, Timeranger, etc.

 

[DarthBoolean]

Hmm, I dont know, maybe they thought it would look nicer. I've found some cinematographers forum that has some choices for converting but its looks like I'd have to go through and redo each one. Maybe I'll just learn to deal, and even then I'm not in that big a rush, I've got Go-Busters and W to finish before I get to either show. Thanks for the help though

 

[Scissors]

Diffrent methods of filming can add diffrent kinds of atmospheres to a movie or a show.
Ryukendo was never meant to be anything near perfect or epic. It was a half-parody that relied on old suits and props, as well as very simple effects.
It reminded me a lot of one of the many local hero shows I used to watch when I was in Japan.
It totally looked like some nerds thought it could be fun to dress up and record an action scene in their backyard, but I think there is a certain charm to that.