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  1. Who doesn't hate those annoying logos that networks love to place over TV shows? If it's a white semi transparent logo, it can be removed from an AVI file. DeLogo doesn't work with MPG, so don't waste your time.

    First step is to install the DeLogo filter for vdub. Next we will open our AVI and find suitable frames to work with.

    You will need 3 frames as shown below. The first is easy, just a pure white frame the same size as the video you are working with. It doesn't have to be from the video, just the EXACT same size, and pure white. The second is a good clean shot of the logo to be removed against a black background. Be sure to save these as BMP with names like frame1 & frame2 so that we can load them as a sequence later in vdub.




    Now we need to create a frame to use for analysis. Use the same black background frame, and use a paint program to color in the logo area with pure red as shown below. Going outside the lines is ok, just making a red box will work, just not as well. Name this something like analysisframe and save as BMP.




    Now we can close out the video, and load the 2 frames in vdub. Just "open video file" and browse to their folder and open the first image. Vdub will automatically load the second in the sequence. Now open the "video" tab and select "filters". Here is where you load the DeLogo plugin, do so and double click it to load.

    Here is the DeLogo screen:



    1. Under "mask properties" you will see a button to load your analyse frame, do so.
    2. Press show preview.
    3. Press sample frame
    4. Use the preview browse window to move one frame forward to frame 2. Press sample frame again.

    Voila, your logo is now gone, and masks created!




    Before doing anything else, save the deblend, alpha, color and repair masks to disk. They can be used again. Also, TURN OFF "alpha to repair" slider! All the way to zero, as it will blur your video, not good.
    Now, while previewing the black background frame, play with the "deblend shift" and "deblend falloff" sliders until the logo area blends in as close to perfect as possible. Make sure you do this now! When done, click "close" and then "Ok".


    Okay, so we took the logo off one frame, let's do the entire video! Please be SURE that you have not edited anything out using vdubs delete selection feature. If you do edit before applying DeLogo it will get frames confused. Go to "file" and select "open video file". Browse to your AVI and open it. Once it opens, you should see that the logo has been removed, but the frames without a logo may look like they have a cookie cutter hole in the logo's shape. To get rid of this we need to scan through the video and make note of where the logo appears and when it disappears for a commerical or whatever.
    If the logo starts at frame 400 and is on the screen until frame 10000 we will note this as 400-10000. Now say it comes back from commerical and the logo re-appears at 13500 and stays there until 22356 when there is another commerical break. Note this as well and keep going until you've covered the whole video.
    Now go to "video" again, choose "filters" click on Delogo (it's already applied) and where it says "on frames" we will type in the frames we want processed. In our example the logo began on frame 400 to 10000. Enter it as 400-1000, then a comma, and the next set. Our example would look like this: 400-10000,13500-22356, etc etc.

    DO NOT play with anything. Don't reload the analyze frame or ANY other of the masks we saved earlier. DO NOT preview the video and press the "sample frame" button, it will screw up your work.

    Ok, now press "close", press "ok" and check out your logoless video. You may now cut out your commericals or whatever and frameserve to your favorite MPEG2 encoder.
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  2. Nice, never really figured out how to use the de-logo. Will give a try soon since just about every friggin cable channel displays logo identifications now.

    Will it work with Avisynth? I dont like vdub.
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  3. Matt D,
    I gave your method a try and it works as well as I've ever been able to do using long range samples from the target video. This is definately a quicker method. However, I still find the results unacceptable with the logos I tested. Anywhere that the logo fades in or out creates distracting artifacts and if the logo is not completely semi-transparent, the results to me are more distracting than the logo itself. But that's not the fault of your methodology, but inherent to the filter. This definately makes the testing process of whether using the DeLogo filter will work or not a lot faster. Thanks

    Norman,
    I have not yet figured out how to use this filter in AviSynth. (But I'm by no means an expert )
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  4. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    A lot of stations also move the logo every time it comes back from commercial. And let's not forget those special promos banners and logos that pop up on screen. Or rotating logos that do something here and there.

    For general use, something like this is useless. Your video has to meet certain conditions that are just not that typical, not anymore at least.

    And when put into motion, you often end up with these blobs that are more irritating than just having left the logo alone.
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    would this work realtime with ffdshow?
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  6. Norman- It should work with avisynth. Haven't tried it myself, but I'm sure someone has.

    Gadgetguy- Some logos just can't be taken off cleanly. It's usually due to their construction, or even crappy source video. Some fault may rest with the plugin, but these two reasons are usually the culprit. Thankfully you understand that like any tool, sometimes DeLogo is useful, sometimes it's not.

    Smurf- Yes, we've gone around on this again and again. If you must have every millisecond of logo off, most channels have you beat. That Spike example only works during the 97% of the show where the logo isn't moving or sparkling gold. I'd rather have 100%, but c'est la vie.

    Put into motion, there are no blobs if you do it right, and the logo is removable. There are some instances of artifacting, but it's only occasional, and off to one corner, which is not the part of the tube most people watch.

    If anyone would like to see a moving example of DeLogo, right click this link and save as. I will leave this up a few days. Be warned, it's 10 megs, and to save space I encoded the video at 1/2 D1, so there is some minor noise. Who can tell me what logo I took off?
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  7. Matt D,

    Great guide! I have gotten pretty good at removing logos with DeLogo, but thought I needed a white background WITH the logo, which is HARD to find so this will make it REAL easy!

    I think you removed the TBS logo btw.
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    Originally Posted by Matt D
    Norman- It should work with avisynth. Haven't tried it myself, but I'm sure someone has.
    Here's the script to use it in avisynth. First, run it in virtualdub to generate the four masks and figure out the best settings. Then you can use the following code in avisynth:

    Code:
    #Delogo.  After all the pictures, the numbers are:
    # Repair-depth:  x*10
    # Repair Power:  x*10
    # interlaced:    1 (true) or 0 (false)
    # Pixel Ratio:   0
    ConvertToRGB()
    LoadVirtualDubPlugin("\path\to\VirtualDub\plugins\delogo.vdf","delogo")
    delogo(0, "", "deblend.bmp", "alpha.bmp", "color.bmp", "repair.bmp", 20, 44, 0, 0)
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  9. Here is a link to some samples of the before and after results of DeLogo using Matt D's method.

    https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=275574&highlight=

    Although a few stubborn people on the forums like to insist that removing logos will look worse that keeping them in, when viewing the captures that the samples posted in the link above are taken from on 52 inch TV, NO one I showed the captures to could tell me where the logo had even been! NO "Blobs" are left using this method, but there is increased noise where the logo was.
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  10. Matt D,
    Who can tell me what logo I took off?
    I can't tell at all on that clip. I'm not familiar with the show and can't guess what network it was on. Nice job.

    Barnabas,
    It wasn't my intention to badmouth the filter, I think it's a good filter. But it does have limitations and it seems that the shows that I want to capture usually have difficult logos to remove, and as such I find it less distracting to leave the logo as is. That is not to say that I think it looks "better", only less distracting. (Or maybe I'm just paranoid and you weren't referring to me as one of the "stubborn" ones.)

    phelix,
    Thanks for the AviSynth script. I've been trying to figure this out without any success and I, for one, appreciate you sharing it.
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  11. Originally Posted by Matt D
    Who can tell me what logo I took off?
    TBS. Nice work.


    Darryl
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  12. Here is a before and after example of using DeLogo on an Alpha-Blended logo. While not perfect, I have not found ANY other VirtualDub filter that removes alpha-blended logos as well as DeLogo does.

    Capture with logo intact



    Capture with logo removed by DeLogo

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  13. Yes, it was the TBS logo. Good eyes IMO!

    Gadgetguy- The clip was a Family Guy parody of the old tv show "Taxi". I'm glad you found the removal pleasing on the eye.

    Barnabus- Good work there! Hopefully more people like us that DO have a use for DeLogo will find this guide useful.
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  14. Here is a good example of just how well DeLogo can work on an Alpha-Blended logo versus LogoAway

    In this example, note the vertical lines. With LogoAway, an ugly "smudge" is left where the logo was, but the same image processed by DeLogo shows NO smudge, and even reveals the details in the area behind the logo, in this case, note vertical folds the curtains, and the vertical lines of the item sitting just to the left of the vase.

    Original frame without any filtering



    Same frame processed with DeLogo



    Same frame processed with LogoAway



    Delogo can truly do a remarkable job of restoring the image behind an Alpha-Blended logo when used correctly.
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  15. I don't believe anyone was able to tell where you captured it from by viewing the clip. I think they recognized the show and knew what channel it was broadcast on. :P
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  16. gadgetguy,

    You can actually just barely see a slight "ghost" of the TBS logo in one scene, but you really have to be looking for it. The filter is not perfect, but still works better than anything else so far.
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  17. Barnabus,
    I see the distortion (by doubling the screen size and going frame by frame) but I cannot make out that it is the TBS logo. I contend that because you already knew it was TBS that you can see the logo, but because I didn't recognize the show and didn't know what station it would have been on, that mine is the more objective view.

    Not that it matters, since we both agree that Matt did a wonderful job of applying the DeLogo filter.
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  18. gadgetguy,

    I have never seen that show and don't watch TBS as a rule, but know the TBS logo, and what to look for.

    And yes, I agree, Matt did a GREAT job.
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  19. Matt

    You say no to using with MPEG but surely with VDubmod etc you could but obviously that would mean re-encoding?

    Also any way to get as good results with a solid white logo?
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  20. VH Veteran jimmalenko's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Methanoid
    You say no to using with MPEG but surely with VDubmod etc you could but obviously that would mean re-encoding?
    That's a great question, and one I've asked myself a couple of times to try to figure out why he said that.


    First off, I'm certain that this filter will require re-encoding even if you use AVI as source. That's why Matt talks about frameserving to an MPEG2 encoder. So the "re-encoding" argument is irrelevant and not the reason.

    Second, virtualdub can import MPEG (and virtualdubmod and virtualdub-mpeg2 can import MPEG2), and from then on you're dealing with decompressed (uncompressed) video frames, just as you are after opening an AVI. For this reason I don't see why you couldn't use an MPEG file as source.


    Unless there's something I'm missing.


    Matt ?
    If in doubt, Google it.
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  21. Well I tried it yesterday and managed to end up with a beautiful cyan logo instead so I clearly did something wrong. Other than that it was looking good.
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  22. The Old One SatStorm's Avatar
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    I use years delogo with mpeg 2 DVB files on virtualdub mpeg 2 with great results
    My method follows the delogo html manual included on the downloaded .zip file

    you load delogo filter, "save frame", you load the frame on photoshop, you paint "red" the logo area, you paint "blue" the rest but you leave an area untouch around the logo, you load the modified picture to delogo (analyze), you hit "sample video" and then adjust the slides
    Results can be from amazing to average
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  23. Member
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    tried this out and i cant seem to get it to work

    just get blobs

    just wondering does the logo's color matter at all because i think thats my problem here.

    thanks.
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  24. You have to use a pure red to color the logo in the one test BMP file. If you look in the setup page you will note a straight 255 value for one of the color parameters, you can use other colors but you must then change the numeric value, and they must match precisely.

    This filter is more of a pain to setup but far superior to DeLogo, anything semi-transparent (alpha-blended) removes almost perfectly.

    Time Tunnel was one of my favorites, even today seems amazingly well done.
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    i did the pure red color and the pure white bmp file too.

    but i still get just blobs

    ill probabley give it one more go b4 i just give up on it.
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    hey, can somebody help me with the settings that'll make the disney channel logo go away? i've been working on it but so far, i get these pixels and stuff after i use the delogo filter.

    AFTER:


    BEFORE:


    it looks ok, but the logo is still really noticable at some times
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  27. It looks to me like the Disney logo is not entirely transparent. Parts of it are too opague to allow alpha removal so it reverts to "blending", which results in the artifacts. As I said, it's a good filter given the right conditions, but it does have it's limitations.
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  28. Nelson37,

    Time Tunnel came out on DVD today!

    ChibiBoi,

    How did you make your masks? Matt's method is usually far better at making good masks than having delogo go thru the whole file.

    Did you make sure to turn off/set Alpha to Repair to zero before you saved your masks?
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    yes, i did. i followed through matt's method and the only thing i'm having troubles with the the artifacts
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  30. ChibiBoi,

    As a rule, reds are the thing that delogo has the most trouble with, as far as leaving a trace of the logo. I have sometimes had to make a couple of different masks for a capture before I can get one that works the best. Depending on the source, it's sometimes better to use a very whiteish grey, rather than a pure white for the white part of the mask, just depends on the source.

    Another thing that can help at times is to run a 2nd instance of delogo. Use the first to get rid of most of the logo, and the 2nd to get rid of what's left. You will have to make a new set of masks to try that.
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