Dehaze plug-in for SVP? Alternative method?

Len Kaufman wrote on 10/24/2016, 11:44 AM

Hi all,

Just back from a trip on the Yangtze River in China, with LOTS of extremely hazy/smoggy clips. The "dehaze" filter in Adobe PS and Lightroom works incredibly well for still photos. I tried it on a video file (mts), and it enhanced the first frame, but when you go to play the enhanced video (still in PS), it plays as the original.

I saw one post online that says to covert the video file to a TIFF. I did that, and it opened and allowed the dehaze filter to work, BUT, when it came time to play the TIFF file, it doesn't work as a video. (No surprise). Is there a way to bring the TIFF file back to something that will work in video? Better yet, is there a plug-in that will work with SVP?

Back to post

Comments

Peter_P wrote on 4/11/2017, 10:47 AM

I see that Adobe Premiere Elements has the de-haze filter built in. I may do a trial version of Elements, process the necessary clips in there, and finish in Vegas 14. And Elements is on sale now ($69), so not much more than some plug-ins.

It would be interesting to compare the effectiveness of the Tiffen version to the Adobe Premiere Elements version.

Len, I did not conpare to the Tiffen version, but since I just have a PE15 trial running for a friend on my system, I compared a quick and dirty Vp13 Levels FX to the PE15 Dehaze with auto setting.

Edit, I made an other try with PE15 settings. See below :

NCARalph wrote on 4/12/2017, 3:54 PM

Did you try something simple like adding an Unsharp Mask FX and setting the radius to something big, like 1, and the amount low? I've seen that work wonders with hazy video.

It's just an alternative way to increase contrast, but it's simple to try.

Len Kaufman wrote on 4/12/2017, 4:19 PM

Trying that right now. Thanx.

Len Kaufman wrote on 4/12/2017, 5:03 PM

That definitely improved things. Using the "strong" pre-set, I added the unsharp mask to the plugins I was already using (colorfast2, smart sharpen, and contrast). I tried different strengths.

I also tried it alone, but this combination, just described, worked best. When I've gotten the video pretty much assembled, I will download the trial of the Tiffen filters, just to see if that produces a better result. I'll also try the Adobe Premiere Elements and try that filter too. But, so far, your suggestion has dramatically improved matters. Thank you again, NCARalph.

Len Kaufman wrote on 4/12/2017, 5:09 PM

Here is the end result: before/after, as described in my post above. I knocked down the bright sky somewhat, after doing these screen grabs. There is a little green tinge around the flag, however, in the video, the flag is fluttering, and I don't think it will be too noticeable. I may not have to spring for $500 for the Tiffen filters after all. (As if!) Thanks again NCARalph!

Len Kaufman wrote on 4/12/2017, 5:22 PM

I saved the above "brew" as a filter package. Gonna' be using it in the future, I'm sure.

GJeffrey wrote on 4/12/2017, 5:53 PM

Honestly, I find it way over sharpen. Too much halo around the edges. A lower radius would be better.

Len Kaufman wrote on 4/12/2017, 6:14 PM

Different strokes, different folks. I believe that some of what you perceive as halos (behind the closer 2 mountains?) are actually clouds behind those mountains and the pine trees, in the valleys. There was, however, as I mentioned, a slight green edge around the flag.