Correcting 'yellowy' colour

[pooksahib]

Hi. I've just started to reencode a DVD using MeGui with the QTGMC and SRestore filters (thanks, manono). Elsewhere on the interweb, I found the same DVD which had been encoded primarily to improve the colour. You can see from the pics what a terrific improvement there is. I asked the guy how he did it and he says "the colors 4 filters in Virtualdub". His English is not good so I'm looking here for some help as I'd like to try this colour correction myself.

Firstly, is there such a thing as 'colors 4'? I've read of 'Color Mill' but in my VirtualDub, video/filters/add only seems to have three filters concerning colour - 'brightness/contrast' 'chroma smoother' and 'HSV adjust'.

If I need 'colors 4' or 'Color Mill' how do I install them? And any tips for changing my yellowy picture to something more natural?

Thank you.

[johnmeyer]

Yes, probably Colormill:

ColorMill Results

Any decent NLE will have similar color correction tools.

[themaster1]

The cmyk filter may be enough (and simpler), see this page toward the end, otherwise RGB-EQ is much better than colormill imo (same page)

[jagabo]

One can do a lot more but this comes close to the second sample image:

ColorYUV(off_u=26, off_v=-4)

A video sample would be better.

[manono]

A video sample would be better.

He left one in an earlier thread about how to deinterlace it:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/378321-Which-filters-to-use-%28I-can-t-decide-%29

If all the guy did in ColorMill was that, you can do similar and better within AviSynth without changing colorspaces. jagabo suggested ColorYUV. Here's what can be done using the SmoothTweak portion of SmoothAdjust:

MPEG2Source("test.d2v")
yadif(Mode=1)#would use QTGMC if doing it for 'real'
SRestore()
SmoothTweak(Brightness=-1,Contrast=0.95,Hue1=20)
Crop(10,0,-12,-4)
LanczosResize(640,480)

The Hue1 setting adds blue and lessens yellow. I'm sure better can be achieved with more tweaking.

[johnmeyer]

This is what I did using the color corrector in my NLE (Sony Vegas). I am not at my main computer which has a calibrated monitor, so this may be a little off.



It looks pretty similar to what others have already posted. I like doing color and gamma correction in my NLE because it is interactive, and also because I have a full suite of tools available. Many videos require several different corrections in order to get the best result.

I purposely chose to NOT change either saturation or contrast as others did. That is strictly personal preference and there is no "right" or "wrong."

[LMotlow]

Color was borked a long time ago and levels were blown away probably sooner. YUV won't work here, the damage is too nonlinear. You need an NLE that can work in layers. Still, don't expect much.

[redwudz]

Lots of VD filters here, including ColorMill. http://www.infognition.com/VirtualDubFilters/

You install VD filters to the VD 'plugins folder'. It's a '.vdf' file.

[pooksahib]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate all the effort. I'm amazed at the results generated by the simple commands used by jagabo and manono - I was expecting many lines of complex instructions.

LMotlow - that's a very nice image, too. What program/filter/setting did you use?

redwudz - thanks for remembering that point!

[LMotlow]

LMotlow - that's a very nice image, too. What program/filter/setting did you use?

Nice, but not very good. I opened the "corrected" RGB image in AfterEffects and played around, then emulated those settings in VirtualDub. but it's really no use. Both the original and the corrected image posted are in bad shape.

AE histograms and waveforms of the original image show that you first have to correct some levels in YUV before you can even hope to do RGB work because there's bad clipping in the original that gets worse in RGB. Especially you'll have to apply an offset to the U channel to see if you can retrieve some dark blue. After the video gets to RGB it's too late for that. From the yellowy original:


An enlargement of the chroma channels shows bright clipping of red and green, and blue gets submerged and crushed all to hell at the low end.


No one can do anything with the RGB images. We'd need an unprocessed short sample of the YUV original to start with.

I noticed your remark about QTGMC. Isn't this movie film-based? It wouldn't be interlaced, it would be telecined.

[pooksahib]

It's from the glorious seventies. Like a previous DVD of mine, manono tells me it was converted to PAL from a film source by way of field-blending hence QTGMC and SRestore. Telecined? Perhaps manono will come back on that one.

Until I do a bit (lot!) of research, I don't know what you mean by phrases such as 'levels in YUV', 'RGB work' and 'apply an offset to the U channel' but I do appreciate your time.

[LMotlow]

It's from the glorious seventies. Like a previous DVD of mine, manono tells me it was converted to PAL from a film source by way of field-blending hence QTGMC and SRestore.

NTSC to PAL with blending, right. Those are fun. Manono's probably right.

Until I do a bit (lot!) of research, I don't know what you mean by phrases such as 'levels in YUV', 'RGB work' and 'apply an offset to the U channel' but I do appreciate your time.

If there was an earlier sample in the other thread, I'll take a look.

[Bernix]

http://files.videohelp.com/u/255952/Yellowish_colored_2_linearized.mkv
I love this thread it is something like a game
Sorry I am new here so I dont know if I posted video correctly

[pooksahib]

Hi Bernix. Nice result. So what's your method, then?

[Bernix]

Hi Bernix. Nice result. So what's your method, then?

Thank you
All is done in virtualdub.
three filters r/g/b 1,1 and rgb equalizer and Picvideo image proccesor (Histo linearize) Maybe the last one alone do same job alone
It is very good to learn working with colours.
Thanks

You can get similar result with MSU MSUOldColorRestoration virtual dub plugin

[LMotlow]

Took a look at the original sample. It's borked. You can do anything you want with it, ColorMill, Final Cut Pro, auto filters that blow contrast to hell, Davinci Lite, etc., etc., it would hardly matter which.

Don't you guys know about basic levels and contrast correction?

[pooksahib]

A bit harsh, no? I've as good as said I know nothing of this subject. The other posters have each made a vast improvement to the original picture so they must know quite a bit...

[johnmeyer]

Took a look at the original sample. It's borked. You can do anything you want with it, ColorMill, Final Cut Pro, auto filters that blow contrast to hell, Davinci Lite, etc., etc., it would hardly matter which.

Don't you guys know about basic levels and contrast correction?

I am confused as to what point you are trying to make. Are you saying that the "original" yellow clip was screwed up by someone doing bad color correction? Or, are you saying that all the attempts posted so far exhibit a lack of knowledge of "basic levels and contract correction?"

Perhaps you were trying to say something altogether different from these two things because the yellow clip looks like pretty standard film fade to me (I deal with old color film all the time), and I'm not aware of any correction workflow that would fully restore the original color.

However, if you do have a workflow to recommend, I'd really like to know about it. I'd love to be able to take a clip like this and make it look really good.

[lordsmurf]

You need an NLE that can work in layers. Still, don't expect much.

Yeah, I'd use FCP or Premiere for this.
VirtualDub and Avisynth will not suffice here. (Color really isn't what those are best at.)

Restoration is about making it better, not making it perfect. Don't forget that.

[LMotlow]

Yeah, you'll need something like ColorFinesse or Premiere Pro. Layers, masking, all that.

Chill, folks. Ever heard of garbage in, garbage out? You can clean up something here and there, make it less yellow, or even replace it with red or green like some did here, whatever. But the source is garbage. You trying to say it's a silk purse? Do what you can, it's all you can do.

I am confused as to what point you are trying to make. Are you saying that the "original" yellow clip was screwed up by someone doing bad color correction? Or, are you saying that all the attempts posted so far exhibit a lack of knowledge of "basic levels and contract correction?"

By many users, yes. What's confusing? From this thread:

don't know what you mean by phrases such as 'levels in YUV', 'RGB work' and 'apply an offset to the U channel'

I don't get doing a cheap blend job from film-based telecined NTSC. Restore the original frames and film speed first, then use pulldown or whatever to make it PAL. I'm not talking about color alone.

I'm not aware of any correction workflow that would fully restore the original color.

That's what I said.

However, if you do have a workflow to recommend, I'd really like to know about it. I'd love to be able to take a clip like this and make it look really good.

I do a lot of that myself, but I don't think the O.P. is ready to go that far. Maybe he is. I posted a basic workflow earlier that might be helpful, but the source I'm looking at is another example IMO of how easy it is to make a flawed video worse.

[lordsmurf]

But the source is garbage. You trying to say it's a silk purse? Do what you can, it's all you can do.

When it's the only footage shot of grandma on film, it matters. You do what you can.
Same for still photos.
For some relatives, we only have 1-2 surviving images or video.

[johnmeyer]

But the source is garbage. You trying to say it's a silk purse? Do what you can, it's all you can do.

When it's the only footage shot of grandma on film, it matters. You do what you can.
Same for still photos.
For some relatives, we only have 1-2 surviving images or video.

+1