HowTo Capture DV, Denoise, Add FilmLook and Convert to DivX
(By Johan Van Barel)

General Comments:
MiniDV we cover here has the format: Video: PAL 720x576x24 25fps Audio: 48kHz 16 Bit Stereo Uncompressed
Do not de-interlace MiniDV until really needed (fi. conversion to DIVX).
If the target is MiniDV, never de-interlace!

Capturing
• Capture Video using Vegas Capture or WinDV or VirtualDub

Denoising DV Footage using VirtualDub
Especially if your footage was filmed in dark conditions, there may be a lot of noise in the shadows. This noise can be effectively eliminated using the Dynamic Noise Reduction MMX filter from Steven Don and Avery Lee.

• Start VirtualDUB
• Open DV file
• Load Video Filters in correct order:
o Dynamic Noise Reduction MMX (by Steven Don and Avery Lee): 31
o Optional: Smart Smoother (by Donald Graft)
o Optional: Shadow Smoother (by Valentim Batista)
• Video Compression:
o Mainconcept DV Codec (by S.R. Grigoriev)
• Audio Compression: None
• Save as AVI file (DV)

Give Video Footage the look of film using DigiEffects 55mm
There are 2 good plugins available for this purpose for Adobe After Effects: Digital Filmtools 55mm and DigiEffects CineLook.

CineLook tries to emulate film celluloid parameters by adding grain and simulating the color balance of different celluloid brands. There are a number of presets named after well know celloloid brands used in film production.

55mm contains a number of filters that can give video the look of film.
I prefer using 55mm. Especially the Diffusion and the Warm/Cool filter are great. Diffusion adds a glow to the highlights of your video image. It’s like the whites are radiating over the darker colors. Warm/Cool changes the perceived color temperature. Also the Fauxfilm filter is interesting. It combines the Diffusion and Warm/Cool filter together with a grain filter.

How to use 55mm in Adobe After Effects:
• Start AE
• Project Settings: 25 fps
• Edit/Templates/Render Settings: select DV
• Edit/Templates/Output Module: select DV/PAL 48kHz
• Composition/New: Pal D1/DV 720x576
• Import File:
• Look at length of imported file.
• Adjust composition length to length of imported file.
• Optional Adjust Brightness and Contrast: +10
• Effect: 55mm Warm/Cool+Diffuse or Fauxfilm
• Warm/Cool= -10
• If no grain is wanted in the Fauxfilm filter, select the lowest value for grain.
• Glow: brightness=100, blur=20
• Composition/Make Movie: Render Settings: DV, Output Module: MS DV Pal 48 kHz
• Select Output File and Render.

Give Video Footage the look of film using Vegas Video
An alternative to using AE and the 55mm Fauxfilm plugin is using Vegas Video builtin Glow.
There is also a free plugin pack called Plugin Pac Adapter by Satish Kumar (www.debugmode.com). This plugin allows you to load your favorite VirtualDub plugins. This avoids using VirtualDub if you are used to Vegas.

How to use the Glow and Color Corrector effects in Vegas Video:
• Open Vegas Video
• New Project: Video PAL DV 720x576 25fps Lowerfield First Aspect Ratio: 1,0926 Audio 48kHz
• Add Effects:
o Color Corrector (2): Select a Warmer Color and Adjust Saturation
o Glow fi: Glow %=0,053, Intensity=1,060, Suppression=0,303
• Render as PAL DV (same as project settings)

Convert DV footage to DIVX using VirtualDub
If your target is MiniDV, never de-interlace.
De-interlacing is only needed if you convert to progressive video like DIVX.
You can de-interlace and save to DIVX all within VirtualDub.

• Start VirtualDUB
• Open DV file
• Load Video Filters in correct order:
o Optional: Hue/Saturation/Intensity Correction (by Donald Graft)
o Dynamic Field Order Correction (by Shaun Faulds)
o Smart DeInterlace (by Donald Graft)
o Optional: Dynamic Noise Reduction MMX (by Steven Don and Avery Lee)
o Optional: Smart Smoother (by Donald Graft)
o Optional: Shadow Smoother (by Valentim Batista)
o Smart Resize (by Donald Graft): resize to 512x410
o If you want to reduce to 16:9 widescreen resize to 512x288 and adjust cropping: Y1=86, Y2=85
• Video Compression:
o DIVX MPEG4 Codec: Control=100, Rate=1500, Keyframe=9999
• Audio Compression:
o MP3 128kbps 48000kHz
• Save as AVI file (DIVX)