frame_interpolate

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Description

Generates smooth slow-motion or higher-FPS video by creating intermediate frames using motion-compensated interpolation.

Purpose

frame_interpolate creates additional frames between existing frames to produce:

• ultra-smooth slow motion,
• high-FPS versions of footage,
• stabilized motion flow for VR, gaming, or cinematic sequences,
• visually enhanced motion for archival or restoration tasks.

It supports multiple interpolation engines (RIFE, DAIN, FFmpeg Minterpolate), allowing both high-quality deep-learning interpolation and traditional optical-flow methods.

How It Works

1. Engine Selection
   Choose interpolation backend:
   • rife (AI-based, fast, high quality)
   • dain (AI-based, depth-aware interpolation)
   • ffmpeg (classical minterpolate optical flow)
2. Interpolation Strategy
   • fps: Defines the exact output frame rate.
   • multiplier: Doubles, triples, or otherwise multiplies the existing frame count.
3. Optical Flow Configuration (FFmpeg engine)
   • mi_mode, me_mode, mc_mode configure interpolation, motion estimation, and motion compensation logic.
   • vsbmc enables virtual scene-based motion compensation.
   • scd toggles scene-change detection to prevent warping across hard cuts.
4. AI Engine Configuration
   • rife_bin and dain_bin specify executable paths or binaries for AI interpolation engines.
5. Encoding Output is encoded using CRF + preset settings, with optional audio copying.

Program Template

videobeaux -P frame_interpolate \
  -i input.mp4 \
  -o output.mp4 \
  --outfile VALUE \
  --engine VALUE \
  --fps VALUE \
  --multiplier VALUE \
  --mi_mode VALUE \
  --me_mode VALUE \
  --mc_mode VALUE \
  --vsbmc VALUE \
  --scd VALUE \
  --x264_preset VALUE \
  --crf VALUE \
  --copy_audio VALUE \
  --rife_bin VALUE \
  --dain_bin VALUE

Arguments

• outfile — Output filename for the interpolated result.
• engine — Interpolation engine (rife, dain, ffmpeg).
• fps — Target frames per second for output video.
• multiplier — Multiplies frame count (e.g., 2×, 4×, 8×).
• mi_mode — Minterpolate mode (FFmpeg engine).
• me_mode — Motion estimation algorithm.
• mc_mode — Motion compensation method.
• vsbmc — Enables scene-based motion compensation.
• scd — Scene-change detection toggle.
• x264_preset — Encoder preset for libx264.
• crf — Constant Rate Factor controlling video quality.
• copy_audio — Copies original audio without re-encoding.
• rife_bin — Path to RIFE binary for AI interpolation.
• dain_bin — Path to DAIN binary for AI interpolation.

Real World Example

videobeaux -P frame_interpolate \
  -i myvideo.mp4 \
  -o frame_interpolate_styled.mp4 \
  --outfile EXAMPLE \
  --engine EXAMPLE \
  --fps EXAMPLE \
  --multiplier EXAMPLE \
  --mi_mode EXAMPLE \
  --me_mode EXAMPLE \
  --mc_mode EXAMPLE \
  --vsbmc EXAMPLE \
  --scd EXAMPLE \
  --x264_preset EXAMPLE \
  --crf EXAMPLE \
  --copy_audio EXAMPLE \
  --rife_bin EXAMPLE \
  --dain_bin EXAMPLE

Technical Notes

• AI engines (RIFE/DAIN) generally produce the smoothest and least artifact-prone interpolation.
• FFmpeg’s minterpolate can introduce warping around fast motion or scene cuts—use scd=true to reduce artifacts.
• High multiplier values (4×, 8×) should be paired with AI engines for best results.
• GPU acceleration may be required for realtime or high-resolution AI interpolation.
• Audio is not stretched—slow-motion audio must be handled separately if desired.

Recommended Usage

• Slow-motion cinematic sequences.
• High-FPS playback for sports, action, and dance footage.
• Animation smoothing for stylized or experimental outputs.
• Restoring archival footage to modern frame rates (e.g., 12fps → 24fps).
• Motion interpolation for VR or interactive displays.

Quality Tips

• Prefer RIFE for general-purpose high-quality interpolation.
• Use DAIN when accuracy around depth edges is important.
• Avoid interpolating across scene cuts; enable scd.
• Start with CRF 16–20; lower values for grading-quality output.
• Test different multipliers—sometimes 2× looks more natural than 4×.