Free video enhancers recommendations?

[Paultx]

Dear fellows, please, help me!

I have some old videos of TV commercials and documentaries whose scripts I wrote that are low in quality, like:

- WMV, 320 x 240, 863 KB
- Same video above, converted to MP4, 640 x 480, 2,44 MB

I want to enhance them the most I can to publish on Vimeo as part of my portfolio.

I have DVDFab 11, which now has Enlarger AI, but I can't use it due to my incompatible PC specs.

So I'm seeking free alternatives to enhance those videos. I found a couple or two lists online, and tried only one: Shotcut. It's a bit confusing for a newbie like me. Besides, my first test with it, trying to enhance a 16 minutes documentary, had the following result:

- Original video: MP4, 1624 x 1080, 704 MB
- Converted video: MKV, 1624 x 1080, 26,7 GB!

The difference between the two is almost none, except for the file size.

So I ask you to please recommend me some free software for that task of enhancing those videos quality. And by that I also mean upscaling, if possible. TIA!

[davexnet]

Post some representative samples of your source here to the forum,
then you'll most likely get some recommendations

[jagabo]

- Original video: MP4, 1624 x 1080, 704 MB
- Converted video: MKV, 1624 x 1080, 26,7 GB!

You probably didn't select a video compression codec. Use MediaInfo to check the files.

So I ask you to please recommend me some free software for that task of enhancing those videos quality. And by that I also mean upscaling, if possible. TIA!

AviSynth. VirtualDub. AviDemux.

[Paultx]

Post some representative samples of your source here to the forum,
then you'll most likely get some recommendations

Guys, sorry I took long to get back here. You know, I'm unemployed, the pandemic and all...

Here's a sample of the old low res vids I have and want to improve/enhance for my portfolio. It's originally a 320 x 240 WMV.
▼

[Attachment 54280 - Click to enlarge]
https://youtu.be/m6BqGcGGyus

[davexnet]

Post some representative samples of your source here to the forum,
then you'll most likely get some recommendations

Guys, sorry I took long to get back here. You know, I'm unemployed, the pandemics and all...

Here's a sample of the old low res vids I have and want to improve/enhance for my portfolio. It's originally a 320 x 240 WMV.
▼

[Attachment 54280 - Click to enlarge]
https://youtu.be/m6BqGcGGyus

Post a sample of your source video. JPG is not useful

[Paultx]

Post some representative samples of your source here to the forum,
then you'll most likely get some recommendations

Guys, sorry I took long to get back here. You know, I'm unemployed, the pandemics and all...

Here's a sample of the old low res vids I have and want to improve/enhance for my portfolio. It's originally a 320 x 240 WMV.
▼

[Attachment 54280 - Click to enlarge]
https://youtu.be/m6BqGcGGyus

Post a sample of your source video. JPG is not useful

The video link is under the image.

[jagabo]

Youtube has further reduced the quality of your video. Upload a sample directly to this site using the "Upload Files/ Manage attachments" below the post editing window.

[Paultx]

Youtube has further reduced the quality of your video. Upload a sample directly to this site using the "Upload Files/ Manage attachments" below the post editing window.

Sent it attached. Hope it works.

VT-PMM_TRATORES_Amanhã Inaugura.wmv

[jagabo]

That wmv file much better than the youtube video. Maybe something like this AviSynth script:

LWLibavVideoSource("VT-PMM_TRATORES.wmv") 
nnedi3_rpow2(2, cshift="Spline36Resize")
QTGMC(InputType=2, EZDenoise=1.0, DenoiseMC=true)
aWarpSharp(depth=5)
Sharpen(0.3)
FrameRateConverter(framedouble=true)

[Paultx]

That wmv file much better than the youtube video. Maybe something like this AviSynth script:

LWLibavVideoSource("VT-PMM_TRATORES.wmv") 
nnedi3_rpow2(2, cshift="Spline36Resize")
QTGMC(InputType=2, EZDenoise=1.0, DenoiseMC=true)
aWarpSharp(depth=5)
Sharpen(0.3)
FrameRateConverter(framedouble=true)

Thanks, jagabo! That script enlarged the video with great quality, but it has no sound.

And allow me to remember I'm a newbie, so scripts and stuff are beyond my capabilities now, sorry.
Would you have a suggestion of sofware with UI that can get the same results? TIA.

[Paultx]

Today I remembered I had already converted that WMV file to MP4. I played it along with jagabo's MKV and found that they have the same screen size.
"With the naked eye" I think they show no visible differences. But the MKV has no sound and its size is a few MB bigger than the MP4's (2,94 MB versus 2,40 MB).


[Attachment 54645 - Click to enlarge]

[jagabo]

Since you were asking about video I didn't include the audio. The script can include audio:

a = LWLibavAudioSource("VT-PMM_TRATORES.wmv") 
v = LWLibavVideoSource("VT-PMM_TRATORES.wmv") 
AudioDub(v,a)
nnedi3_rpow2(2, cshift="Spline36Resize")
QTGMC(InputType=2, EZDenoise=1.0, DenoiseMC=true)
aWarpSharp(depth=5)
Sharpen(0.3)
FrameRateConverter(framedouble=true)

Open the script in any encoder/editor that supports AviSynth scripts. VirtualDub2, MeGUI, etc.

Regarding the two images, the mkv video is sharper and has less compression artifacts. But you didn't show the exact same frame so that's not definitive. And even if they were showing the same frame -- you need to look at more than just one frame to say something definitive.

[mammo1789]

Try https://topazlabs.com/video-enhance-ai/ it upscales and enhances to 4k and has trial version its not free (although personally I didn't had any satisfactory effect on home made vhs transfers) but maybe for your video will be different

[Paultx]

Try https://topazlabs.com/video-enhance-ai/ it upscales and enhances to 4k and has trial version its not free (although personally I didn't had any satisfactory effect on home made vhs transfers) but maybe for your video will be different

I'm trying Topaz to get a 200% enhancement for a 15" vid (same one posted before). It really seems to do a great job removing artifacts and stuff. I tried with the JPG output first, with a 300% preset.
▼

[Attachment 54668 - Click to enlarge]
▼

[Attachment 54670 - Click to enlarge]

I hope the final output video is also great. I'll post the result here tomorrow. So far Topaz is very promising for my needs.

[Paultx]

Fellows, here's the result of my experience with Topaz Video Enhance AI.

The first vid I tried was the one I posted here. It really made a better vid, with much less artifacts and stuff. But the first seconds became black, while the sound was playing. Then I tried with a second vid and all ended well this time. Now I don't know why that happened with the first vid.

As to the program itself, and probably due to my PC specs, each of these 15~16 seconds videos took more than one hour and a half to convert. So, although it does a great job indeed, it probably will be very hard for me to convert one of my documentaries, because it's eight minutes long. I guess it will take days to complete!