The VEGAS denoise Fx is not so old and I expect it will be improved in the future but it's not at the top of the list of issues users are complaining about.

You speak the truth, Roger_S.

And in the meantime, I'm happily, comfortably, and progressing with my narratives with Neat Video.

Some people go trough all the trouble to buy software to remove noise (Neat) or stabilize (Mercalli), some people want the opposite and use other plugins to add grain or add shake to simulate handheld... Where is the time you needed to glue 3 minutes of silent super 8 film together and that is all you could do.

I also use Neat Video. Works really well. I also received great and VERY FAST support from the makers of Neat Video when I was having some trouble with my old Radeon Vll video card. I would highly recommend them. No I do not work for them in any way.

Some people go trough all the trouble to buy software to remove noise (Neat) or stabilize (Mercalli), some people want the opposite and use other plugins to add grain or add shake to simulate handheld... Where is the time you needed to glue 3 minutes of silent super 8 film together and that is all you could do.

For the basic home 16mm / super 16mm hobbyist of decades past that is true. But in the professional film industry of the time (and even going back to the early days of film-making) there were many approaches to achieving VFX by other means - the most important choice being that of the film stock used. Filters in front of the lens were another popular approach often used to soften the image - think 5 layers of food wrap over the lens that must have been used to 'improve' Lucille Ball's appearance in the 1974 film 'Auntie Mame' (I saw it at the cinema at the time - it was horrendous).

Talented stage lighting also achieved what might be corrected today by NLE VFX to correct less better lit scenes - it's easy these days to correct in post. Going back to the very first days of film-making, film crews were incredibly inventive at creating effects (e.g "A Trip to the Moon" France 1902). Without entering into the issue about the treatment of particularly cast in the 'golden age' of Hollywood, I believe that the behind camera crew were craftsmen/women as they also were in the UK at the time (e.g David Lean, Freddie Young).

In the late 1970s, I was the producer of a TV commercial that involved a Star Wars-like intro (zooming stars) which was achieved by the animator rotoscoping (continuously re-exposing the same length of film) the stars image. So much easier to do these days with an NLE and the appropriate star images.

For the home hobbyist, the choice is to edit their video without any added VFX (as used to occur in 8mm/super 8mm days) or to use the VFX features available in an inexpensive NLE. Or to go stupid with super-cheesy Tik Tok VFX - yuk!

At least today, the choice is ours about how far to go or how restrained we want to be with applying VFX.