Question, Re: Image restoration (can this be done?)

[takearushfan]

Hi all,
Many of you on this board (or any for that matter) knows that I have a bit of an obsession with the original version of "When A Stranger Calls"... just ask "Cornucopia"
I've been posting here so much that I can't recall if I mentioned this, but I'm trying to take the original trailer, which looks and sounds awful, and "remaster" it, for lack of a better term.
I've experimented enough to know that it should be pretty straightforward, except for one thing: The closing credits.
Can any of you assist me with this issue? I've attached a clip of what I'm referring to. You can make out some things, but my perfectionistic side would like to have everything be legible.
I've experimented with filters, but it seems pretty much like a lost cause, which really irks me. If I can't restore the image, is there a way to overlay what was originally there? For instance, find what colors and fonts were used and just recreate the credits? There must be something I can do.
I appreciate your help,
Justin

[takearushfan]

Edit - In case you're wondering what the credits say:

COLUMBIA PICTURES in association with
MELVIN SIMON PRODUCTIONS presents
A BARRY KROST PRODUCTION

CHARLES DURNING CAROL KANE COLLEEN DEWHURST TONY BECKLEY

"When A Stranger Calls"

Written by STEVE FEKE and FRED WALTON

Produced by DOUG CHAPIN and STEVE FEKE

Directed by FRED WALTON

(the last line is too much of a mess to make out, but it appears to be the standard copyright notice)

[manono]

You can pick the best looking frame and freezeframe it for the whole duration so it doesn't jump around like that. You could also create a frame with the text, recreating that frame as best as possible and either replace the original with it, or overlay it on top of the original. Using AviSynth, of course. FreezeFrameing it is easy. Recreating that frame might take a little work and since I have no interest in the project myself, I won't do it. But if you can make a good looking frame with the text, it's also pretty easy to overlay it. You could even do the FadeIn/Out, as with those end credits.

[poisondeathray]

a lot of your problems are from xvid compression, you should attempt to work with as good as source as possible


btw, there is a higher quality trailer than youtube
http://www.spout.com/films/When_a_Stranger_Calls/38053/971/trailers.aspx

your xvid sample


youtube sample, enlarged 2x with avisynth nnedi2


direct from the larger sample



yes, you can recreate the frame in photoshop or after effects, but it will look "too good", so you might have to add noise and compression artifacts to match the rest of the sequence

[takearushfan]

I only have Photoshop, so I can't use After effects.
I downloaded and installed avisynth, but have no clue how to use it, how it works, what it's for, etc.
You mean that in order to make sure it doesn't look too pristine, I'll have to add noise and compression? I don't understand how that'd work either.
Crap. I'd like to work on this, but I'm too clueless about the tools/techniques. Can you recommend a good starting off point? Perhaps learning avisynth?
BTW, where did you manage to find such a nice trailer?
Thanks,
Justin

[poisondeathray]

If you're doing this from scratch in photoshop, you basically use a black layer for the background canvas, then type the letters in using the fonts on a layer on top. That's it. The hard part is finding the font style, matching the typesetting / spacing / kerning

When you have your "still" , it will be too clean, so you have to add some noise or it won't match the other section - it will look to new or artificial. There are a bunch of plugins in photoshop and avisynth that can do this

You can make a video from a still (e.g. in avisynth) then join to your other segment. When you are ready to do that, do it all in 1 step, so you don't lose quality from compression lossess. If you have to divide up steps, then make sure you use a lossless intermediate (e.g. lagarith)

I just searched google for the trailer, it was one of the first websites, but I forget what search terms I used. I would use that portion from that website link above as a starting point for the actual trailer portion (not the credits), as the video is much cleaner than the youtube version (but you can still clean it up a bit)

[takearushfan]

Wow. In the second sample you can even (kind of) read the last line.
"Copyright (copyright symbol) (year in Roman numerals) SIMON FILM PRODUCTIONS INC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED"
Just so I can get another opinion, does it seem like I interpreted the last line correctly?

[takearushfan]

Is avisynth a plugin for something or what? I figure I'll ask while I'm still on the site. I'll research further later.

[poisondeathray]

it's hard to describe, but avisynth is a frameserver, and has many plugins, and can be used as an editor. It's hard to use because it's all code based (not GUI based), and the learning curve is a bit steep

to start, I would just type your credits out in photoshop. Maybe someone familar with typesetting and fonts can eyeball it and already knows the exact font style

"Copyright (copyright symbol) (year in Roman numerals) SIMON FILM PRODUCTIONS INC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED"

that's what it looks like to me

[takearushfan]

it's hard to describe, but avisynth is a frameserver, and has many plugins, and can be used as an editor. It's hard to use because it's all code based (not GUI based), and the learning curve is a bit steep

to start, I would just type your credits out in photoshop. Maybe someone familar with typesetting and fonts can eyeball it and already knows the exact font style

"Copyright (copyright symbol) (year in Roman numerals) SIMON FILM PRODUCTIONS INC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED"

that's what it looks like to me

Yeah, that's yet another issue. How do I figure out what types/sizes the fonts are? ... ugh! The colors too. I used Photoshop's dropper to determine that yes, the writing is plain white, but I can't be certain of the red. After all, these things have deteriorated over time. The best I can do is emulate and guestimate.

[takearushfan]

Since I'm still referring to the same film and this is the restoration forum, I'll veer a bit into the audio realm.
Watch clip 1. When boosted to an absurd volume, you can hear the clock chiming. Is this supposed to be virtually inaudible, as it is on the DVD, or should it be clearer but isn't due to deterioration?

[takearushfan]

Clip 2 - Again, when boosted greatly, this sounds acceptable. Is it so quiet due to deterioration? It's hard to believe that it should be as quiet as it is in the original clip.

[takearushfan]

Clip 3 - Curt's hiss between the words "Your blood" and "all over me". I recall it (on VHS!) being crystal clear. On the DVD you need to boost it to an outrageous volume. Surely this must be deterioration...?

[takearushfan]

Clip 4 - The music is too overpowering. You can hardly hear what Sacker is saying to Jill. Is this due to a poor transfer? I don't remember it being that bad on VHS!

[takearushfan]

BTW, on the topic of the trailer, did they use the widescreen or fullscreen version of the film? Logically, you'd assume the widescreen, right? Just wonderin'.

[lordsmurf]

Ask a printer or typesetter about fonts.
Those are likely commercial fonts, so don't expect to see them on some big free font site.

[poisondeathray]

RE: audio.

I only looked at the first pair. The boosted clip is clipping and distorting. Way too loud.

1) Open the "boosted" in audacity, look at the vu meters when playing , and examine the waveform amplitude.

2) Close , and do the same for "original" and compare

3) Now select "original" , effect=>normalize and look at the difference.

What you want to do is normalize peaks, not amplify by some random amount that results in clipping & distortion

And again, with all restoration efforts, you should start with the highest quality possible. Not some lossy mp3 format like you've uploaded here

[jagabo]

http://new.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/

You should clean the images up a little before sending them:

[takearushfan]

http://new.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/

You should clean the images up a little before sending them:


[Attachment 652 - Click to enlarge]

That's awesome, thanks!

[takearushfan]

I think I did a fair job here. Perfect, no... but even "the pros" don't get it perfect. I'm a bit peeved 'cause I noticed that I idiotically used the wrong font for "BECKLEY".
Any advice for how to improve? I wouldn't mind some constructive criticism, please

[Attachment 887 - Click to enlarge]
[Attachment 888 - Click to enlarge]

[AlanHK]

Any advice for how to improve?

It's pretty close.

I think that the original fonts are a bit heavier, both the sans and the title font.
Eg, if you're using "Regular" weight, try "Medium".

Also the original italic title font has a few degrees more tilt. But if you can't find a better match, don't try to distort the fonts, font design is a lot more subtle than that and it's better to use it as designed. The difference is only apparent when you see them side by side.

[manono]

Nice job. Better quality than the rest of the movie, I think. It might even look 'too good', as poisondeathray mentioned earlier.

There's no reason you can't fix the 'Beckley' by covering it with black and rewriting it using the right font.

[jagabo]

Cut and pasted letters for Beckley, tilted title a little more:

[poisondeathray]

The red fonts don't quite match.... for example the "g" in "stranger" is using a different style , and the strokes are thinner for the rest....Maybe you could use a "g" from a different font set. Anyways, I doubt many people will notice

Now only if you could make the rest of the trailer that squeaky clean

[AlanHK]

The red fonts don't quite match.... for example the "g" in "stranger" is using a different style , and the strokes are thinner for the rest....Maybe you could use a "g" from a different font set.

You should never mix fonts in the same word -- if you must have the other form of g, swap the whole font.

There are many, many variations on that style of font around -- it's called a Didone or Bodoni.

But since you are replacing the original text, it doesn't have to match exactly.

[takearushfan]

Yep, Bodoni is what I used, but I have a million variations of it installed and had trouble finding the "right" one.

[takearushfan]

Now only if you could make the rest of the trailer that squeaky clean

Well, since I have the DVD I figure I can just use the existing "clean" material and essentially rebuild the whole thing. I'm finding it a bit difficult to manage the frame count and placements though, such as how to determine where they began part of a clip. As for the audio, I can use the "clean" material as well, but only up to a certain point. There's a point in the trailer where the music changes from what's actually playing in the film.

One thing I noticed is that this trailer appears to be fullscreen rather then widescreen. That's pretty much a red flag that it was a TV trailer, right... since they'd want it to fit onto a "modern" TV set?

[takearushfan]

Oh yeah, another question. I can't help but obsessively wonder about the color of the title. When I use Photoshop's color picking tool, it comes up with an almost purple-like color. Surely this isn't what was originally used. I'm assuming that the color seen in the trailer is the result of deterioration, but that leaves me wondering what color to use ... that's why I just basically said "screw it" and used pure red. Then there's the question of if they used any effects... ie., bezels, etc. The white text does look like it has an effect applied, though I think I'm just seeing "ghosting", again from deterioration. As for the title, I don't know. It doesn't look like they used anything, but you'd think that they would... wouldn't you? Again, confusion. What was the trend in film trailers in '79? Am I making it more complicated than it actually is?
Again, thanks for all the help
- Justin

[takearushfan]

Well, here's the second half of my "restored" trailer. You'll notice that the audio isn't done yet. I started with the second part of the trailer 'cause the first part is much more irritating to emulate.

[lordsmurf]

You should never mix fonts in the same word -- if you must have the other form of g, swap the whole font.

Yes and no.

• Most people need to follow this rule. They lack design skills.
• Professional designers do not. I often mix fonts if the look necessitates hit. Sometimes I create my own, or outright edit them in vector/raster graphics editors.

The original designer may have mixed fonts, or custom-created this title font. That's very common, even pre-computer.