Cleaning scratches and blemishes in old cine film

Question

Cleaning scratches and blemishes in old cine film

I have had lot of precious old cine film transferred to DVD for importing and editing in Final Cut Express. I am looking for a tool or plug in which will enable me to clean up the film to reduce the inevitable scratches that have resulted from 40 years passing through the film gate.
I don't want to have to deal with each farme individually - any ideas welcome

20" 2Ghz Intel Core Duo, Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Posted on Apr 17, 2009 8:28 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 17, 2009 10:21 AM in response to Robert Smith Ladywell

Usually techniques for removing dust and scratches from photos involve introducing a certain amount of blur.

On an already poor quality image such as a transferred cine film, any further blurring etc. would probably be most unwelcome.

It may be better if you can come to terms with the fact that old film has got these problems and learn to accept it.

There are no doubt techniques that would work but they will be prohibitively expensive in terms of both money and time. There is no quick and easy fix.

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Answer 2

MartinR

Level 7

24,606 points

Apr 17, 2009 2:10 PM in response to Robert Smith Ladywell

You could try some of the Too Much Too Soon free plugins from Mattias Sandström. Check out Scratch Removal, Smart Noise Reduction, and Hair Removal. It may still be more work than you want to do, but it may help.

Also, if your budget allows, you may want to consider Adobe After Effects with Film Fix

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