Vegas 8 video track FX gurus, WWYD?

[sdsumike619]

This video was originally a 160x120 mov file that was uploaded to Youtube. I downloaded it from Youtube and need to make it look as nice as possible.. Using Sony Vegas 8 - how would you improve the quality of this video, i.e. what track FX would you use?) It's grainy, dark, etc..

[poisondeathray]

Do you still have access to the original mov ? I would start with that, because if this screenshot is representative it has clipped highlights and shadows. It's sometimes possible to recover those details (e.g. in the shirt), and tone down the bright backlighting if you have the original recorded video. By the time youtube is done with it you can forget about it

Other than that, you can denoise it a bit, and remove the chroma noise (not necessarily with vegas, it doesn't have any good chroma noise filters , or denoising filters that I know of)

[sdsumike619]

I do have the original mov file; it's small so I attached it to this message if you want to take a look at it to see if it's any better.

[poisondeathray]

The 160x120 mov was the original ? What video was used in that screenshot in the 1st post ?

What is your end goal ? To re-upload it to youtube ? or other target ?

Besides chroma noise filtering, mild noise filtering and shome sharpening , upscaling , there is not much you can do with low resolution video

[sdsumike619]

I was told that that mov was the original that he uploaded to Youtube. The screenshot came from me downloading the 480p version of the Youtube video, converting it, and opening it in Vegas. My end goal is to edit it (add trailers, etc) and upload it to Youtube again for him...

[poisondeathray]

I think there must be a mistake/misunderstanding somewhere. That 160x120 mov is very unlikely to be the original source of whatever was uploaded to youtube - the 1st screenshot looks too crisp for an upscaled 160x120 mov source . Do you have the youtube link ?

[sdsumike619]

Yeah, here is the link to the YT video: http://tinyurl.com/2vpedfm You'll notice that there's a 360p and 480p version available, which I agree is weird...I did ask him and he said that was the video he uploaded to YT..

[aedipuss]

Yeah, here is the link to the YT video: http://tinyurl.com/2vpedfm You'll notice that there's a 360p and 480p version available, which I agree is weird...I did ask him and he said that was the video he uploaded to YT..

i'd call b.s. on that. youtube can't and doesn't ever make vids look better than the source..... someone has pulled your leg, or is senile.

[sdsumike619]

Well he isn't any kind of video pro, and I asked him for the original. He said this is what his mac iMovie made and that's what he put on YT. I'm just going to work with the YT video and make it look as best I can with the suggestions above...

[poisondeathray]

ok - well assuming all you have to go on is the YT video, the biggest issue with respect to the levels is the scaling is set to PC levels , so blacks are crushed and white are blown out . In vegas you would correct it by using one of the presets to scale it back to TV levels , or you could use avisynth .

Vegas sucks for noise reduction. You have several types here, chroma noise (that's the color noise) , compression artifacts , and grain. You could use something like neat video (which has a plugin for vegas) or use avisynth filters

Note , the more you try to brighten up the dark shadow areas, the more noise will be revealed, and the stronger noise reduction setting you will have to use. Noise reduction comes at a price - it blurs details (and the quality of the YT video isn't that great to begin with)