Color Grading and noise reduction with Neat Video

[chris ware]

Hello

We have some noisy footage to work with, however not all the footage is noisy in our piece. Is it better to denoise before grading or after? Does anyone know how Neat Video changes the file, more contrast?

Thanks!

 

[Terry VerHaar]

According to a presentation I recently saw online, de-noising before grading is the way to go. I'll try to post the presentation...

EDIT: OK - here it is. It's a product presentation for Coremelt's new NoiseX but does mention the workflow issue of when to de-noise. Oh, and the part about the NoiseX iaround 18:50 and the de-noise recommendation at about 21:50 minutes.

 

[Elsie N]

According to a presentation I recently saw online, de-noising before grading is the way to go. I'll try to post the presentation...

EDIT: OK - here it is. It's a product presentation for Coremelt's new NoiseX but does mention the workflow issue of when to de-noise. Oh, and the part about the NoiseX iaround 18:50 and the de-noise recommendation at about 21:50 minutes.

There was a thread IIRC where this was discussed at length but I don't remember where it is located.

 

[jake blackstone]

What software?

 

[chris ware]

TY!

 

[paulherrin]

lots of softwares support neatvideo internally, meaning you can use it in the chain of a grade. if you get the openfx version you can plug it into resolve and try it before/after your primary grade. usually noise/texture stuff is at the end of the chain of finalization/finishing shots, but it can be helpful to go ahead and see the effect. there's not a whole lot of harm in doing a noise reduction (NR) pass on your material before a grading session as long as you're not compressing the material (noise can actually help fight compression); just realize that the fine details will be different between shots that have NR applied and those that don't. that's why i'd recommend doing it all at once and perhaps even using it on shots that don't necessarily need it just to get a consistent texture, especially if you need to use it heavily for a lot of shots. also realize that neatvideo does good sharpening as well (hint, separate luma and chroma sharpening)...

 

[Sabovic Adis]

Try this https://ni.neatvideo.com/download/noise-profiles if You didn't do this https://ni.neatvideo.com/download/calibration-target before the shoot! :biggrin:

 

[Marc Wielage]

I think it's a bad idea to try to noise-reduce prior to grading, because some shots (or scenes) are going to need a lot more noise reduction than others. You really need to do this on a scene-by-scene, if not shot-by-shot basis. There is no "one size fits all" setting that will work for an entire project. Too much NR on a good shot will introduce artifacts; too little NR on a bad shot will leave too much noise.

What I have done in some cases is add a temporary NR grade just so I can get an idea of where the levels are for color and contrast. Once the show is corrected, then I'll go back, take that off, and do a scene-by-scene adjustment on groups of shots, which is particularly useful when I opt to do sections of the project with no NR at all.

BTW, you'd be surprised how many broadcast shows are adding film grain on digital projects prior to delivery. At least that way, it's a pleasing "mild" kind of noise that's continuous and never changes.