SmartSmoother and Dynamic Noise Reduction -> Fantastic

RichMacDonald wrote on 12/18/2004, 7:51 PM

Just in case people haven't downloaded and tried these two free filters from Mike Crash web site (fixed link), may I suggest you do so. I'm yet to become expert at either of them, but I am now producing some beautiful video thanks to them.

1) Some night shots of the moon over a lake went from noise and no detail to smooth, surreal, and detailed! (2) A very common color curve corection I make is to boost the mid-darks; this increases the contrast in the shadows which always causes noise, even if the footage was well-shot. These filters are eliminating that noise entirely. (3) Skin looks perfect; no blemishes, and without the price of blurriness.

In short, I've already (a) saved some footage that was unusable, *and* I can (b) create a "plush,soft" look that flatters people and scenery and maintains the critical sharpness. Reminds me of the Grain Surgery filter for photoshop. IMHO, these are the two best video filters since the Color Curve.

AFAICT these filters are idiot-proof. I've used extreme settings and haven't screwed up yet. I use the SmartSmoother for daytime footage and chain Dynamic Noise Reduction *and* SmartSmoother in series for night footage. Sounds sick, I know.

P.S. You'll need a top-of-the-line computer to see the effects in real-time. That *plus* RAM preview :-)

Comments

lba1214 wrote on 12/18/2004, 9:48 PM

Interested in this filter but the link you provided goes to Sony site. Have any further info?

nickle wrote on 12/18/2004, 9:58 PM

http://mikecrash.wz.cz/

B_JM wrote on 12/18/2004, 10:44 PM

you can see using only just these two filters why some of us have been using avisynth and virtualdub for years - with their 100's of filters ..

BillyBoy wrote on 12/19/2004, 6:45 AM

Just remember BOTH filters BLUR the video. So don't use if you don't need. Going for a 'plush soft' look is the same as Playboy Magazine photographers getting carried away with airbrushing the centerfold.

People DO have blemishes, wrinkles, warts and imperfections. Remove them all and your video can start to look phony.

Like with other FX filters don't make abrupt changes. Its best to SLOWLY apply and turn down an effect using keyframing over N time.

Spot|DSE wrote on 12/19/2004, 7:57 AM

for those of you that like and use these filters, I'd like to make a small reminder that while Mike does these cuz he loves to, a small donation goes a long way. He accepts Paypal now, so it's very easy to slip him a few bux.
I've ended up doing quite a bit with these in the past few days, and even more impressed with what I see. Given the cost of the plugins, it seems almost criminal. It's nice having them inside of Vegas rather than having to be frameserved.

RichMacDonald wrote on 12/19/2004, 8:32 AM

>He accepts Paypal now, so it's very easy to slip him a few bux.

Good point, it being christmas time and all :-) Money well spent.

From BillyBoy:
>Just remember BOTH filters BLUR the video. So don't use if you don't need.

Well my point is that these filters do a great job of blurring the burriable parts and leaving the important detail intact, else I wouldn't have mentioned it. I don't use any of the Vegas blurring filters because I think they all suck. (Not the Vegas implementation that sucks, its just the algorithms that are unsatisfactory.) These filters, OTOH, work when needed and provide a nice effect when NOT needed. That's what i'm getting at with this thread: Even if you don't need blur, try them anyway as you might like them on "normal" footage. I certainly do.

RichMacDonald wrote on 12/19/2004, 9:08 AM

Something just occurred to me: Perhaps the great quality I'm seeing is because the filter is removing the unnecessary noise which in turn allows the mpg renderer to spend its bytes on the detailed parts instead. Visually I'd guess this is happening. I'll play with this idea after my 24 hr render (for a 40 min project) completes :-) Did I mention these filters strain the computer a little?

BillyBoy wrote on 12/19/2004, 2:04 PM

Actually they can blur EVERYTHING, which was my point. There is no magic in that they only filter the "video noise" and just remove it. A more precise term would be the filters "hide" the noise by blending it into the ajoining areas. Sure, you get rid of noise, but you are also can effect everything else, which is why it appears the noise is gone. It is, at the expense of bluring everything a tad. Sometimes the right thing to do, sometimes not. Which is why I suggested keyframing it.