• Adobe After Effects

  Tips for Noisy / Grainy DVCPRO HD Footage

  Posted by Tobin Nageotte on February 16, 2007 at 11:19 pm

  Recently shot some footage (DVCPRO HD, 720p60) with an HVX200 that came back slightly noisy. I imported the trouble clips into AE and added a few filters…

  1) Magic Bullet DeArtifacter (I left the default settings)

  2) Remove Grain (Effect>Noise and Grain>Remove Grain), I adjusted…
  a) Temporal Filtering – Turn “On,” adjusted Amount and Motion Sensitivity as filter sometimes leaves trails with movement in shot
  b) Noise Reduction Settings – Adjusted Noise Reduction, Passes, and Channel Noise Reduction (increased Blue Noise for grain in blacks, Red Noise for grain in reds)
  c) Blend with Original – I left the Amount between 8%-12%, the Combine Matte to “screen,” and the Blur Matte between .3 and 1

  These filters tended to drop the general luminance of the shot (albiet aslo added a richness in tones), so I included a Shadow/Hilight filter (Effect>Color Correction>Shadow/Hilight) when the shot needed a boost.
  I was pleasantly surprised how well the footage reacted to these filters. Might help someone with a similar issue.

  Best,
  thirtysevenclick

  Justin Hawley replied 12 years, 4 months ago 4 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  Majorasshole

  February 17, 2007 at 1:29 am

  Get some lights.

  If it came back noisy you didnt have enough light. The HVX200 needs more light than the DVX100b. I have an HVX and have learned to NOT TRUST THE LCD OR VIEWFINDER. Shots that look well lit usually arent. The camera is not meant for shooting night interiors under available home lighting. Try using an external monitor to judge light levels, grain and focus.

  There is a wealth of HVX/DVX information here. Barry Green (who wrote your HVX book) and Jan Crittenden a Panasonic Rep read/post here all the time.
• 

  Mike Edge

  February 3, 2009 at 8:13 pm

  I’m having the exact same problem right now and just came across your article. It’s a lifesaver!
• 

  Justin Hawley

  March 27, 2014 at 8:22 pm

  Fan FREAKING tastic! I agree with Mike Edge on how great this is! I had footage that had plenty of lighting, no gain, and was still grainy on the default “flou” scene file. Your process (and I don’t even have magic bullet) worked like a CHARM! THANK YOU!!! I put the “remove grain” effect high in my effects order, seemed to work best here before any other effects.

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