Gain Grain… Help Please!

[Derek Hader]

Yep,

I have that plug-in.. Do u know of any on-line tutorials on using the Remove Grain plugin effectively?

There seems to be a lot of options and variables to set… Sampling, temporal filtering, ect, etc.. I could use some guidance on understanding what all of these do.

Thanks,

Skeets

[Steve Roberts]

Here are a few things that I recall from my old Grain Surgery days:

– enable temporal filtering, but you may need to reduce the amount to avoid seeing double images.
– take a snapshot before you apply the filter, then show the snapshot occasionally to check the difference between filtered/not filtered
– check the noise samples (viewing mode) to make sure they are on smooth, broad areas. If not, under Sampling, choose the sample areas manually. Also, if you have different shots on one layer, you may want to change the source frame to make sure you are sampling a frame that looks like your desired shot.
– the main setting to tweak is Noise Reduction.
– Blend with original works similarly to Noise Reduction, but was included to qualify as an AE plugin. Something like that.

When your grain gets really big and noisy, it starts to resemble the details in the shot. That’s when you see blurry details if you crank up the Noise Reduction too much. Since you want to reduce grain in the dark areas, consider applying Remove Grain to one layer, then compositing it with a non-affected layer using a transfer mode, so you only see the NR applied to the dark areas of the image. I hope that makes sense …

[Derek Hader]

Great,

Thank you for your detailed pointers! They’ve given me something to work from. It looks like I might be able to save some of this footage that I was almost ready to give up on.

Thanks so much!

I’ve said it many times before, but this CC is the best place on the web!

-Skeets

[Jim Arcon]

(I am on some cold-medication, so the following might just be a fabrication of my addled brain….)

I think that AE’s noise-reduction tool started life as an AE plug-in named “Grain Surgery” from Visual Infinity. You might also have some luck searching for tutorials from a few years ago.

In any case, the AE noise/grain tool is fantastic and for me has turned nearly unwatchable video into something viewable on several occasions.