Restoring VHS (Tracking and Scan Lines) Random Pulses

[Deter]

What is the biggest hurdle to over come getting VHS to digital?

Wanted to post a video example of a very common problem in older VHS tapes.

To me it is basically:

(Tracking and Scan Lines) Random Pulses in the picture which doesn't leave a stable or good frame.

This normally happens at the start of tapes, but it can be through the entire video.

The was played back using a Panasonic AG1980.


For the most part, have not figure out a cure to this.

#1 Is it possible to fix using hardware?
#2 Is it possible to fix using software?

Note: This video is not terrible however it shows the issue at hand.

Test.mpg

[themaster1]

What hardware and software do you use. I've seen plenty of softwares which don't give good results.
Does it affect retail tapes ?

[poisondeathray]

Yes you can "fix" it (or at least improve it considerably) , but it's easier with specialized software $. It just depends on how much effort you want to put into it.

It's always worth it to see if you can get a better capture from hardware first. After you've exhausted those options then you can look into software methods

[Deter]

Please explain how this can be fixed.

The Test video, is just an example.

[poisondeathray]

What you refer to as "random pulses" can be fixed by stabilization (if we're talking about the same thing - x,y translation offset of the frame). Stabilization can be done for free with avisynth (e.g. depan, depanstabilize) or other software

Restoration software make things easier, and is more suited for dealing with tracking lines like those in your video, because they use intelligent cloning & partial frame replacement (e.g. nuke, after effects, mokey, or dedicated restoration software e.g. davinci revival, pfclean, diamant) . You can motion track parts of frames to replace parts of others. There are tools used for special effects shots like wire removal and rig removal - these can be used on rolling tracking lines as well. There is still some manual work using these methods, but a lot less than if you used something like photoshop.

"Completely out of whack" frames (either positional or full of artifacts), that cannot be fixed by "standard" methods is to replace offending frames with dupes, nearby blends, or interpolated frames.

[Deter]

It has been about 1 year since I posted this thread, kind of wanted to bring it back, cause it is important.

Uploaded that test video, so maybe somebody could runs some filters on it and re-upload the video to show some of the different results.

As a test sample, the video has enough problems, to see some of the results of what the community can do, would help.

Kind of brain storming here, trying to come up with different methods to help fix or blend some of these errors.

A lot of these forums are VHS related, I feel the hardest thing to get in a full recording is a picture that doesn't have tape errors. In a perfect world, you would love to have what was recorded, playing back the same way, with out tape interference or deviations. But that doesn't even happen on store purchased recordings, a damaged frame here, or whatever.

My latest attempt to fix some of these problems, is to tighten the VHS tape itself, or transplant the tape to a tighter shell case, it has kind of helped, but it doesn't fully fix the problem.

When you get a video tear that rips and runs right down the picture, it really wrecks the video. Yea it may be possible to repaint all those frames, but it is harder than it looks and takes a hell of a lot of time.

Avisynth has been a good help, but only have a few scripts that I use.

[themaster1]

where is the video sample?

[manono]

That Test.mpg in the first post is actually a link. It fooled me too.

[themaster1]

I can fix that easily with pfclean but that would require lot of space assuming it's a movie.
it's the kind of defect that require the hand and the brain of the man for a perfect result if you ask me

[misermidas]

Turning on the TBC of your VCR should have fixed the instability trouble ,but y suppose you already tried that...
With a good digitalizing device a TBC is not needed .With my hardware I got some instability troubles that were caused by the TBC of my VCR.
So try also without TBC.
I could not find your the pictures video but such troubles frequently occur when copies were made from VHS to VHS.
The use of low cost cassettes can also be a cause or the use of a damaged or dirty VCR for recording or playing.
Does your VCR play other cassettes well ?
I do not know what can be done with software restoration.

[sanlyn]

Make additional captures of each of a few of the affected videos. If you have the same disturbances in the same frames of each of the same respective tapes, the tapes are damaged. If the same tape reveals similar disturbances in different places with every capture of the same tape, it's your player's tracking.

I can fix that easily with pfclean but that would require lot of space assuming it's a movie.

Extra space? If you have an average $20,000 USD for the product, you undoubtedly have space as well. Tell you what: pick up two copies of pfclean -- one for the OP, one for me .

[Deter]

#1 The problem is not the TBC, nor it is dirty VCR heads, these are the source copies of the VHS tapes. They are not dubs.

#2 This is not an issue that is single to me, or my bad tapes, however these kind of problems will happen on everyone's VHS tapes, it is almost impossible to go through an entire recording with a stable picture. You are going to get the random pulses which cause the signal to break off, streak or alter the picture.

#3 Doing extra takes of the video sometimes with fix the problems, however it is kind of a pain to go through a video / match up and than replace the frames, but it can improve the overall results.

(Note sometimes changing the tracking will help but with just cause another problem during that segment.)

#4 Generally a slight picture tear or rip in a video will last around 2 to 4 frames. Sometimes it can be 1 frame. It can be longer.

#5 The human brain will act as filter if you don't train yourself to see these defects. We are talking 4 frames out of 29.97 per second, it is easy to miss. (The same with duplicate frames)

#6 I don't see the actual frame, but can see the results or the damage by the change in the picture.

***for example a duplicate frame, you can see the jitter or flux in the picture going backwards, that
is how you spot it, but if you blink you can miss it.

#7 If a section of the tape is damaged, like the sample video, it is a lot easier to pick up, because the damage to the video happens more on a regular basis.

#8 My tapes, your tapes, the tapes that people send me, Betamax, VHS, VHS-C, Betacam, you get the same problems.

#9 I just watched the 1978 World Series on Classic sports, spotted many of these errors in the video. The 1981 Super Bowl issued by NFL films, pretty much the same thing. Any old recording on tape, you are going to get some kind of picture errors.

#10 How much does pfclean cost? Will it run in windows? or is it linux based.

Last off, I have a very hard time writing, I miss words, spell things wrong and my grammer is terrible, but I can spot a single frame that is off in a video.

I think this comes from, doing graphics for video games; testing were I had to make sure the details were spot on. I had to train myself to spot the problems. The people who I would worked with would not see the problems. It is weird. You have to train your eye. Old films, that kind of thing, you filter and try not to notice everything wrong in the picture, however the damage is still in the video. The goal is not perfect copies but to get the video to a level were it is acceptable.

In my collection of recordings, I have restored and fixed many professional TV recordings, the problem again is not me, but film/video tape in general.

[jagabo]

#3 Doing extra takes of the video sometimes with fix the problems, however it is kind of a pain to go through a video / match up and than replace the frames, but it can improve the overall results.

With infrequent playback errors you don't have to do it by hand. You can use a median filter.
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/340963-Best-quality-and-speed-video-denoisers-2011?...=1#post2122313

You can use motion interpolated frames to replace a few bad frames here and there (you have to specify which frames to replace).

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/343296-Transfer-of-real-bad-tape-to-pc-and-restore?...=1#post2139402

[themaster1]

#10 How much does pfclean cost? Will it run in windows? or is it linux based.

Cost a lot of money

Here is my try:
- color correction made in vdub/avisynth
- defects cleansing in pfclean

Note:
The result could be better because i haven't used a deflicker filter or noise reduction (neat), the idea was the keep as much details as possible here.


video comparison (x264/mkv):
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ehduaw

script avisynth (color correction):
http://www.sendspace.com/file/uyuilb

[Deter]

Please keep in mind, I don't need this video restored. It is just an example, have the entire collection on DVD.

The color does look better, but I don't really know if it is important. I don't know what video this was, if I did I could upload what the DVD copy looks like.

The restore work on the streak is good enough, cause you are more than likely never going to be able to detect it in the video. The only thing I would do, is blur the line in to the video. The top part is just a tad off color for the rest of the picture, and you may or may not be able to pick it up. I would think this would work.

When I am doing this kind of work on a video, would test it, and if it works, just move on.....

I couldn't get the files to download from that site, it said I needed to download some kind of software. I am just really careful, cause of the spyware crap, don't like using 3rd party software and websites that have 800 ads on them. I don't trust them....

Can u just upload the video to this site, just make it windows media if the file is too big....

1# You have to find the error
2# You than had to clean it out of the frame (Just wondering how long it took)

With basically using no extra software, this is old school, the way I do this work....

1st I would look at the frame before or after, see if we had any kind of movement in the video.

(If the video had no movement, I just may just pull the frame out of the video, or take a frame in front or back and bend it, playing it at half speed.) Or may just try to fix the frame.

If I needed the frame in the video I would pull it out.

Maybe take the next frame, or the frame before.

For this I would cut the top part of the frame and paste it in to the damaged frame.

I could also pull the line out of the picture, but many times it doesn't look right nor does it blend in to the other frames.

If I pulled the frame out of the video, to keep the video in sync, I would wait to a section were there is no sound, and shift the entire video a frame back at that point.

If the video has close up voice talking, it is harder to pull the frame, or blend it.
(Every case is different, so the methods are always changing to fit the problem)

If the entire segment is totally wrecked, I may just cut it out of the video, than re-blend. Sometimes I just leave it.

This median thing is pretty interesting, never tried it.

Would need the same starting frame and the segments to match frames? Is that true?

Don't do this a lot, but sometimes I will match up two different takes to the frame, and go through the video, watching it, and if I see a damaged frame, would check the other frame, if the other frame looked good, I would just replace it.

If both frames were bad, may just fix it.....

Just looking for better / quicker methods to fix some of these problems, at the end of the day, it is not really worth the time and effort to do all this, at least the way that I am doing it.

[themaster1]

Try this link Deter: http://www.mediafire.com/?dvswedrrq4qevre

[Deter]

Ok thanks...

How long did it take to restore that clip, it had a lot of damaged frames in it.
Looking at the damage and than the fixes, to be honest, with the damage to the video, I think it is beyond acceptable, and would work.

The reason why I bring this up 1 year later, I am working on a recording, the last 15 minutes is completely destroyed. This is going back 20+ years, I ran out of space on the tape, and just recorded the rest on a random betamax tape that came with the machine back in 1985.

Decided the only way to fix this recording was to go through it by frame. I have gotten through most of it, and ran the despot script over some of the damaged areas. It actually helped pull some of the tracking problems out of the video.

A lot of it I am doing by hand, I think there are 10 frames that were broadcast errors, I don't think they can be fixed.

There are a few sections in the video, which I can not fix, they are not long, but they are rolling tracking tears that streak the video. I also have one other video, that the entire video is mint and the last 30 seconds the picture just tears. These are both old betamax tapes. Would it be possible to email you the mpeg2 files of just the damaged areas. I don't know how long this would take you, and I don't want you to spend hours on a few 5 second clips, or the last problem is about 30 seconds.

Because this is such a complex project. The end results I think are going to be pretty amazing. I am doing a lot of frame painting. Going to do an online video documentary about the restore project and I would give you credit in the video, under whatever title or website or business address you want to put in the video for advertising.
　
　

[themaster1]

It took me around 30min for the cleaning part only so you can imagine for 15 min of severely damaged footage
Send the 15min mpeg i'll give you my opinion if that's fixable or not (upload to http://depositfiles.com/ for large files)

[Deter]

Sorry if you mis-understood, I have done most of the work on the 15 minutes, there is just specific sections in the video, like 5 to 7 second, clips that need to be fixed.

All I would do when they are fixed is paste them back in to the video.

[Deter]

In this next post, I am going to show three frames. This is only a small problem but you can clearly see it in the video.

What happens is the video rip & tears around the bunker by the green, you can see this in the area that is circled. (I know it is hard to see, had to reduce the size of the picture to put 6 frames in it)

Put the video on your 46' TV and you can clearly see it......

Because this camera angle is not moving, it is kind of an easy fix. We find a good frame, and than cut out the entire bunker area. The key to doing this correct is to break down the pixel to the smallest level, than in the same spot, in the damaged frame, replace that segment.

(If you are not good at matching up the segment or you are off by just a pixel, you can usually see it in the video, than you just have to go back and re-do it)

Sounds easy enough, I don't use photoshop never liked it, use corel paint shop pro...

Now taking a film frame and replacing it with a .bmp file, this is VHS or Betamax so you really can't tell the difference, unless you save to something that is really lossy and you get a color shift.

If you have a lot of these problems is were the work gets to be too much, but something simple, takes only a few minutes to fix.

(The hardest part is finding the flaws in the video, this one is only three frames)

This is my method, what I do is load the video up on my laptop, which has a pretty nice screen.

Take the Demo Video and plug the hard drive in to the TV, than watch it, than when I find an error, just go to the PC, find the frame and try to fix it. It is a PAIN to do, however before I was just cutting the video and being done with it. This way I can find all the damaged frames. It really depends how important the recording is. This picture below is from the 94 Masters, with a pretty good picture, it is not like you can go an watch the full coverage again, it is kind of rare.

94 Masters on Betamax tape recorded in 1994

[themaster1]

I'd need a video sample to tell you

[sanlyn]

In this next post, I am going to show three frames. This is only a small problem but you can clearly see it in the video.

What happens is the video rip & tears around the bunker by the green, you can see this in the area that is circled. (I know it is hard to see, had to reduce the size of the picture to put 6 frames in it)

Put the video on your 46' TV and you can clearly see it......

Because this camera angle is not moving, it is kind of an easy fix. We find a good frame, and than cut out the entire bunker area. The key to doing this correct is to break down the pixel to the smallest level, than in the same spot, in the damaged frame, replace that segment.

What do you do if there's motion?

(If you are not good at matching up the segment or you are off by just a pixel, you can usually see it in the video, than you just have to go back and re-do it)

Sounds easy enough, I don't use photoshop never liked it, use corel paint shop pro...

This is much easier in Photoshop. I don't know what you mean by judging the position of the area you want. Every image had x,y coordinates that you can use to determine pixel positions.

Now taking a film frame and replacing it with a .bmp file, this is VHS or Betamax so you really can't tell the difference, unless you save to something that is really lossy and you get a color shift.

Definitely.

If you have a lot of these problems is were the work gets to be too much, but something simple, takes only a few minutes to fix.
(The hardest part is finding the flaws in the video, this one is only three frames)

This is my method, what I do is load the video up on my laptop, which has a pretty nice screen.

Take the Demo Video and plug the hard drive in to the TV, than watch it, than when I find an error, just go to the PC, find the frame and try to fix it. . . .It is a PAIN to do. . .

I'd agree, it's indeed a pain, and the hard way of doing it. I don't know why you have such a problem seeing flaws on anything except your 46" TV. If your basic PC monitor is a laptop screen, you need to plug your laptop's video output into a calibrated PC monitor so you can more easily what's happening.

There are easier ways to do all this. Here is the method I use to replace spots and other damage in Avisynth. This is a method I often use after I've run a script or two to fix as much as possible before trying to clear the "remnants". In fact, this whole thread contains many tips and tricks that don't cost $$$ or as much time and/or trouble that you describe:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/342085-I-think-an-easy-way-to-fix-dots-flickering-%...=1#post2133738

Here is a sample of repairing some bad floating line/spurious responses from frames. Other parts of the thread discuss handling some serious color problems, as well. The "problem" sample is posted here:
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/343296-Transfer-of-real-bad-tape-to-pc-and-restore?...=1#post2139140

A method of repairing it (with sample) is shown here:
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/343296-Transfer-of-real-bad-tape-to-pc-and-restore?...=1#post2139402

[Deter]

Sanlyn,

You can find the errors on the computer. It is just easier to miss some of the flaws in the video. (I use 4 computers to fix videos and 7 external hard drives)

Yea you can use the X,Y plotting, I just don't, I do it by eye, for me it is quicker.....

Sometimes if you are dealing with AVI files and you mess up the interlacing going back to mpeg2, it may look ok on the computer, but on the TV, it is completely wrecked. You can also see if you messed up the macro blocking or if the macro blocking is bad in the video.

Because of the refresh rates on the TV, that is were the final product is going, for me it is the best way to scrub the videos...

With an HDMI cable it is a pretty clear picture.

Also remastered the sound on these videos, with a really good sound system (Definitive Technology Speakers), a good amp and fiber running the sound, you get a better idea of what needs to be done. I have worked on a lot with CD's, remastering bootlegs. We are going back 10 years, they would sound great on the PC, than when I played the CD on the stereo, it sounded terrible or in the car. Than you would have to go back and make adjustments. You couldn't hear those problems on the computer.

Now I can use that TV and as a computer monitor, however again, it is than like using the computer. (Actually have a computer hooked up to the TV at all times)


It is not hard to plug in a hard drive to the PC (basically your own DVR of sorts) have a laptop on the side, when you see the errors you pause the video. Than you go in to the PC and fix the problems.

Yea you can use scripts, however, I don't know what the problem is until it is found. Going to read through those threads and try some of those methods out. Those scripts look kind of long and not really sure what the coding actually does, so it may take a while.

Let say you are using neatvideo, which a lot of people around here use, to clean up some of the noise. On the PC, it may look ok, but than when you watch the final copy, you pulled out way too much noise, and the picture looks fake. That is kind of why you need to test the video on the TV.

It may seem silly, you still need to watch the video you are working on. That is kind of the biggest pain of it all, if it is a 3 to 5 hour video.

[Deter]

This short clip is why you can't always trust the X,Y Plotting. This picture rip, has movement in it. Again it is something that most people would let slide. It is only like 2 frames....

I don't know how to fix this in software, and maybe there is an script that would fix this problem, it doesn't take that long to repaint these two frames. Creating this video and typing this message took longer. The repairs are acceptable, it gets rid of the flicker from the tear. Yea it could be better but whatever.

The 1st segment is the video fixed, 2nd segment is the damage, 3rd segment is the damage slowed down to 1/4 speed.

This is just the project that I am working on, tomorrow it can be something else.

Edit: Just watched this video a few times, a saw a few things that could have helped blend the pictures a tad better. You don't always get things correct the 1st time. Now I go back and re-work those frames to try to get it to blend better. If I don't think it is going to be a big deal, will just leave it as is. Just feel that my blending has a slight skip in it, just want to smooth it out, so you can't tell that the video was damaged, right now you can.

[poisondeathray]

This short clip is why you can't always trust the X,Y Plotting. This picture rip, has movement in it. Again it is something that most people would let slide. It is only like 2 frames....

I don't know how to fix this in software, and maybe there is an script that would fix this problem, it doesn't take that long to repaint these two frames. Creating this video and typing this message took longer. The repairs are acceptable, it gets rid of the flicker from the tear. Yea it could be better but whatever.

The 1st segment is the video fixed, 2nd segment is the damage, 3rd segment is the damage slowed down to 1/4 speed.

This is just the project that I am working on, tomorrow it can be something else.

Edit: Just watched this video a few times, a saw a few things that could have helped blend the pictures a tad better. You don't always get things correct the 1st time. Now I go back and re-work those frames to try to get it to blend better. If I don't think it is going to be a big deal, will just leave it as is. Just feel that my blending has a slight skip in it, just want to smooth it out, so you can't tell that the video was damaged, right now you can.

The reason why it doesn't match is you're working in frames, not fields - you've deinterlaced the repair frames

For interlaced video, you should work in grouped odd/even fields, then re-weave the fields - that way you preserve the interlacing



This is a rather tiny "blip", and you're right it's easy to paint 2 fields - but can you imagine many defects on multiple fields?

That's what some of the suggestions above address - workflow tips to speed up repairs. You can often combine the techniques for even faster & better results

On large repairs, or very damaged frames, interpolating fields or frames can save you many hours of painting

Motion tracking can save you many hours as well , instead of manually going frame by frame

[Deter]

The only to really learn what you guys are saying is to do a test on the sample.

Please explain what scripts you are using, and how you are able to remove these tears from the video. Than not alter the other good frames in the video.

Here is the entire clip, basically the source betamax recording.

I saw two rips in the picture one being the bunker and the other is right at the end of this short video.

[poisondeathray]

The only to really learn what you guys are saying is to do a test on the sample.

Please explain what scripts you are using, and how you are able to remove these tears from the video. Than not alter the other good frames in the video.

Here is the entire clip, basically the source betamax recording.

I saw two rips in the picture one being the bunker and the other is right at the end of this short video.

Well this sample has more problems than just those "rips" or "blips", but lets limit the discussion to those only for now


Limiting repairs:

To not alter other good frames or fields, you can apply filters to sections or individual frames or fields eg. use trim() or applyrange()

To limit repairs to parts of a frame or field, it's easiest in NLE software or compositing software like AE, or dedicated restoration software like the ones mentioned a year ago above

For simple defects like this, you might choose not to use avisynth filters. You could still use them for part of the repair - you might use mvtools for example, to generate new frames or fields, then composite parts of the repaired fields in - this way you only affect a few pixels of the damaged area . You need a basic understanding of masks, mattes, layers. The reason why AE or restoration software makes this job much easier, is that you can animate masks (rotoscoping), with keyframe interpolation, so it's less tedious than going frame by frame. Also they can work with interlaced content, whereas most image editors expect progressive images

Another approach would be the one mentioned earlier - to motion track parts of good sections to replace bad sections. You might not appreciate it on this sample - doing it by hand with 1 or 2 frames/fields might be feasible, imagine 1000's of frames in a typical movie. But by doing it by hand, with x, y coordinates is both tedious and hard to get perfect. Motion tracking will almost always get better results. Also you don't affect scale/rotation/sheer if youare using an image editor like photoshop to do this. e.g. what if a camera zooms in or out? or rotates during the pan? You would need to affect either more than x,y , but z-axis with a 3d tracker, or "fake" it using scale. Doing it by hand, is a last resort.

[sanlyn]

Sanlyn,

You can find the errors on the computer. It is just easier to miss some of the flaws in the video.

I would think the fact is the reverse. Noise is more evident on a computer monitor than on TV.

Yea you can use the X,Y plotting, I just don't, I do it by eye, for me it is quicker.....

You miss the point. The "patched" areas are borrowed from the video itself, not from a BMP. The motion interpolation script uses the original video fields and frames, not a BMP.

Sometimes if you are dealing with AVI files and you mess up the interlacing going back to mpeg2, it may look ok on the computer, but on the TV, it is completely wrecked. You can also see if you messed up the macro blocking or if the macro blocking is bad in the video.

There's a correct way to IVTC and deinterlace, to reinterlace, to separate fields and reweave. And there's an incorrect way.

Because of the refresh rates on the TV, that is were the final product is going, for me it is the best way to scrub the videos...

The script I used did not result in a deinterlaced video. The input was interlaced, and so was the output.

With an HDMI cable it is a pretty clear picture.

That's an odd statement. Pro video shops don't use HDMI. They have good reasons for not doing so.

Also remastered the sound on these videos, with a really good sound system (Definitive Technology Speakers), a good amp and fiber running the sound, you get a better idea of what needs to be done. I have worked on a lot with CD's, remastering bootlegs. We are going back 10 years, they would sound great on the PC, than when I played the CD on the stereo, it sounded terrible or in the car. Than you would have to go back and make adjustments. You couldn't hear those problems on the computer.

You can't hear many problems through loudspeakers. That's why pros use high-end headphones, and that's why I use them to check audio.

Now I can use that TV and as a computer monitor, however again, it is than like using the computer. (Actually have a computer hooked up to the TV at all times)

I'm afraid you're a bit behind current technology. Most TV's cannot be calibrated as precisely as colorimeter or photometer + dedicated software adjustments made on a computer monitor. I have purposely chosen my TV's for their 38 grayscale, gamma, CIE placement, and y-level primary+secondary correction controls, not for their size. My PC monitors are IPS displays calibrated using the method shown here: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/eye_one_display2.htm. My TV's were calibrated using this method: http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10457 . I don't seem to have any problem spotting some extremely subtle noise and color glitches.

It is not hard to plug in a hard drive to the PC (basically your own DVR of sorts) have a laptop on the side, when you see the errors you pause the video. Than you go in to the PC and fix the problems.

Yea you can use scripts, however, I don't know what the problem is until it is found. Going to read through those threads and try some of those methods out. Those scripts look kind of long and not really sure what the coding actually does, so it may take a while.

It usually does, first few times around. You don't just throw any script at any video. They are customized for each problem in each video. Are you saying you've never used scripts or filters of any kind in your work? That's amazing. I'm also getting the idea that you record "problem" tape directly to lossy MPEG ??

Let say you are using neatvideo, which a lot of people around here use, to clean up some of the noise. On the PC, it may look ok, but than when you watch the final copy, you pulled out way too much noise, and the picture looks fake. That is kind of why you need to test the video on the TV.

One should always test video on TV. If it doesn't look good on my PC, it will not look good on a TV. Ultimaterly I play important work thru two PC monitors and 5 TV's as well as 4 to 6 different players, in various homes. NeatVideo is one of my tools, but not the only tool, and it has its place. However, you don't appear to have used NeatVideo properly. Possibly, you didn't learn to make use of NV's advanced controls, such as those shown on page 11 of the official manual in section 5.6.4. It takes practice and patience. Most NV users just want to click a button and have the software read their minds. That's why they destroy their video. Example: have you ever tried turning down the y-channel filter power, or redefining the Cr and Cb noise levels?

It may seem silly, you still need to watch the video you are working on. That is kind of the biggest pain of it all, if it is a 3 to 5 hour video.

Doesn't seem silly to me. I worked on one 3-hour video for 16 months. I have almost half of it memorized, visually and audibly. In French. And I don't even speak French.

You should retain the methods you're using, as long as they work. There must be dozens of ways to fix up any one video problem. If you humbung every idea before you understand it, or just don't want to go through the trouble, you've already answered your own questions.

[themaster1]

[QUOTE=poisondeathray;2142912]

Another approach would be the one mentioned earlier - to motion track parts of good sections to replace bad sections. You might not appreciate it on this sample - doing it by hand with 1 or 2 frames/fields might be feasible, imagine 1000's of frames in a typical movie. But by doing it by hand, with x, y coordinates is both tedious and hard to get perfect. Motion tracking will almost always get better results. Also you don't affect scale/rotation/sheer if youare using an image editor like photoshop to do this. e.g. what if a camera zooms in or out? or rotates during the pan? You would need to affect either more than x,y , but z-axis with a 3d tracker, or "fake" it using scale. Doing it by hand, is a last resort.

I agree with that, the best solution (for long length videos) would be to use avisynth with low-mid settings to get rid of the "invisible" (hard to detect by eye) defects as a 1st step.
The script you've posted here i've tried it the other day it's too strong (kills a lot of fine details) but does the job. So i'm gonna ask you if you can make one with low-mid settings.

[sanlyn]

I spent a good 2 hours yesterday going over that script myself. Learned a lot, as I usually do with poisondeathray, and still working on it. Maybe I'll even learn enough to try some of it on the OP's posted mpg.