Video Noise Reduction at DVinfo.net

Dan Keaton · September 20th, 2005, 06:49 AM

What are the recommended techniques for removing video noise.

I have some footage that I wish to salvage. This was recorded by another person using an XL1s with a very high gain setting resulting in a very marginal picture and a lot of video noise.

I am intersted in various techniques that others have used.

Thank you for your assistance.

Edward Troxel · September 20th, 2005, 07:31 AM

You might want to look at the "Dynamic Noise Reduction" plugin found here: http://mikecrash.wz.cz/

Glenn Chan · September 21st, 2005, 07:29 PM

If you don't mind drastically change the look of your footage, try diffusion effects.

i.e.
duplicate video onto itself, or nest it on top of itself.
to the top layer (or track), apply gaussian blur and set blending mode to hard light or overlay.

2- Dynamic noise reduction is also a good way to reduce noise. Watch out for motion artifacts... it looks like a trailing effect.

Spatial noise reduction (smart smoother kind of does this) also can reduce noise. Downside is loss of low/subtle detail.

A combination would also work I think... I've been experimenting with Noise Ninja (Photoshop plug-in, using Photoshop batch actions), Mike's deinterlace filter for its motion map (to use as a mask), and his dynamic NR plugin.

3- In AE6.5, the latest version, it has grain surgery which is very good and similar to what I describe above.

Dan Keaton · September 21st, 2005, 07:50 PM

Dear Glenn and Edward,

Thank you for the suggestions.

I have been using Mike Crash's Dynamic Noise Reduction, testing various settings. The problem I have is that I have some very noisy video due to the cameraman's error.

Glenn, I will try your suggestions. Thanks for your help.

Scott Brickert · May 16th, 2007, 05:47 PM

This is an old thread, but not an old topic.

Just tried Neat Video as a plug-in for 7.0e to see what effect it might have on removing low light camera gain noise. I liked the results so much I bought the plug-in, through away five burned DVD's and rerendered the files using the plug-in. And that was on clips already heavily massaged with Gaussian Blur and Mike Crash's Smart Smoother.

The company's been around awhile, having started in the still image business with Neat Image. The plug-in operates like Sound Forge's Noise Reduction--find a quiet segment where only the noise exists, sample the noise, remove the noise. In this case, whether automatically or manually, find an area of the shot that lacks detail, allowing only the grain print to be sampled, then remove that grain from the clip.

Rendering is pretty time consuming, but it dramatically improved the footage. It's a faily deep tool, with plenty of controls for fine tuning, and a solid manual.

If you're wrestling with low light footage or other similar uniform video noise, check it out.

Marcus Marchesseault · May 16th, 2007, 09:20 PM

Thanks a bunch for that information, Scott. I've had a hunch that something like this was possible and would be a huge benefit to everyone. With HDV carrying the price of reduced low-light performance, this sort of plugin could be a huge benefit. I actually bought the V1 assuming something like this would be possible. Other than the noise itself, I like the fact that the V1 retains nice color in low light unlike CCD cameras I've owned. If I can use 1/30 shutter at 30P and 15db of gain then fix it with noise reduction, the V1 could turn into a great event video camera. If their example videos and your review are a true indication of it's effectiveness, somebody like Sony should throw a few million dollars at these guys and buy the technology.

I have a dual-core machine and with noise reduction, image stabilization, chromakey, and digital filters like blur - I already need a quadcore!

September 20th, 2005, 06:49 AM	#1
Dan Keaton Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Augusta Georgia Posts: 5,421	Video Noise Reduction What are the recommended techniques for removing video noise. I have some footage that I wish to salvage. This was recorded by another person using an XL1s with a very high gain setting resulting in a very marginal picture and a lot of video noise. I am intersted in various techniques that others have used. Thank you for your assistance. __________________ Dan Keaton Augusta Georgia

September 20th, 2005, 07:31 AM	#2
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	You might want to look at the "Dynamic Noise Reduction" plugin found here: http://mikecrash.wz.cz/ __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

September 21st, 2005, 07:50 PM	#4
Dan Keaton Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Augusta Georgia Posts: 5,421	Dear Glenn and Edward, Thank you for the suggestions. I have been using Mike Crash's Dynamic Noise Reduction, testing various settings. The problem I have is that I have some very noisy video due to the cameraman's error. Glenn, I will try your suggestions. Thanks for your help. __________________ Dan Keaton Augusta Georgia

May 16th, 2007, 05:47 PM	#5
Scott Brickert Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Crested Butte, CO Posts: 576	grain reduction plugin--Neat Video This is an old thread, but not an old topic. Just tried Neat Video as a plug-in for 7.0e to see what effect it might have on removing low light camera gain noise. I liked the results so much I bought the plug-in, through away five burned DVD's and rerendered the files using the plug-in. And that was on clips already heavily massaged with Gaussian Blur and Mike Crash's Smart Smoother. The company's been around awhile, having started in the still image business with Neat Image. The plug-in operates like Sound Forge's Noise Reduction--find a quiet segment where only the noise exists, sample the noise, remove the noise. In this case, whether automatically or manually, find an area of the shot that lacks detail, allowing only the grain print to be sampled, then remove that grain from the clip. Rendering is pretty time consuming, but it dramatically improved the footage. It's a faily deep tool, with plenty of controls for fine tuning, and a solid manual. If you're wrestling with low light footage or other similar uniform video noise, check it out. __________________ Scott Shot-By-Scott

September 21st, 2005, 07:29 PM	#3
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	If you don't mind drastically change the look of your footage, try diffusion effects. i.e. duplicate video onto itself, or nest it on top of itself. to the top layer (or track), apply gaussian blur and set blending mode to hard light or overlay. 2- Dynamic noise reduction is also a good way to reduce noise. Watch out for motion artifacts... it looks like a trailing effect. Spatial noise reduction (smart smoother kind of does this) also can reduce noise. Downside is loss of low/subtle detail. A combination would also work I think... I've been experimenting with Noise Ninja (Photoshop plug-in, using Photoshop batch actions), Mike's deinterlace filter for its motion map (to use as a mask), and his dynamic NR plugin. 3- In AE6.5, the latest version, it has grain surgery which is very good and similar to what I describe above.

May 16th, 2007, 09:20 PM	#6
Marcus Marchesseault Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,961	Thanks a bunch for that information, Scott. I've had a hunch that something like this was possible and would be a huge benefit to everyone. With HDV carrying the price of reduced low-light performance, this sort of plugin could be a huge benefit. I actually bought the V1 assuming something like this would be possible. Other than the noise itself, I like the fact that the V1 retains nice color in low light unlike CCD cameras I've owned. If I can use 1/30 shutter at 30P and 15db of gain then fix it with noise reduction, the V1 could turn into a great event video camera. If their example videos and your review are a true indication of it's effectiveness, somebody like Sony should throw a few million dollars at these guys and buy the technology. I have a dual-core machine and with noise reduction, image stabilization, chromakey, and digital filters like blur - I already need a quadcore!