getting rid of image noise - is there a "smart blur" filter?

Question

getting rid of image noise - is there a "smart blur" filter?

I have some old VHS video footage that I would like to convert to dvd. The footage has quite a lot of image noise. Is there a filter that smoothes/blurs low-detail areas while retaining sharp edges? (sort of like "smart blur" in Photoshop?)

Thanks for suggestions

Martin

PowerMac G5 2x2 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Dec 20, 2005 3:13 AM

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Answer 1

James M.

Level 4

1,977 points

Dec 20, 2005 3:22 AM in response to Martin E. G. Anhalt

Mmm... not really... The problem lies within the source - VHS, and there's very little you can do to make VHS look any better than VHS...

You can try tweeking the contrast, or use colour correction, or even use a 1 - 2 point gaussian blur, these could diffuse the noise and make it less obvious.

the only other alternative is to go to a top-end post production house and see if they can clean it for you... but now we're talking money.

not much help i'm affraid

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Answer 2

Jim Cookman

Level 7

23,435 points

Dec 20, 2005 7:02 AM in response to James M.

The best smart blur in FCP is you the editor. You might also want to go out and rent a timebase corrector for your transfers. Might help some.

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Answer 3

Dec 20, 2005 7:32 AM in response to Martin E. G. Anhalt

I've found that on 99% of VHS tapes I attempt to restore, one of the best things to do is use the desaturate filter. VHS seems to always come in oversaturated, creating noise in the colors. I pull some of the color out, and it makes the noise a lot more tolerable, more like watching a VHS tape and not crappy off air reception.

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Answer 4

Dec 20, 2005 8:35 AM in response to thrillcat editorial

Thanks to everybody for the suggestions.

I tried stylize/anti-alias (mimimal value), which actually improved the picture, but I lost edge sharpness.

Might have thought of desaturating myself, since the original footage is black and white anyway... :-)=)
I'll try it. There are some color artifacts, but the noise is also in the luminance.

PowerMac G5 2x2 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

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Answer 5

Dec 20, 2005 8:40 AM in response to Jim Cookman

With "smart blur" I mean the photoshop filter which applies a kind of gaussian blur to smooth/low-detail areas without affecting sharp edges, so the image looses noise without getting blurry. You can adjust blur radius and edge threshold.

PowerMac G5 2x2 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

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Answer 6

Steve-G-

Level 4

1,650 points

Dec 20, 2005 8:50 AM in response to Martin E. G. Anhalt

Check out the "noise reduction" plug-in here.

http://www.mattias.nu/plugins/

+S

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Answer 7

Dec 20, 2005 9:22 AM in response to Martin E. G. Anhalt

Search is your friend:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1067315&#1067315

Patrick

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Answer 8

Dec 20, 2005 9:29 AM in response to Martin E. G. Anhalt

You can also export an image sequence from FCP and create a droplet action to do the smart blur in PhotoShop, then select your image sequence files and drop them into the PS droplet, then reassemble... Might take a while, but you'd get the exact PS processing...

Patrick

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Answer 9

avidvid

Level 2

250 points

Dec 21, 2005 9:54 AM in response to Martin E. G. Anhalt

Go into Image Control in the effects tab of fcp, double click on levels and then play with the gamma controls. I've had a lot of success using this filter when working with vhs material. Good Luck!

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