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User's Guide (version 3.

5)

VideoCleaner can natively open a wide range of image and video files, including some that normally
require a proprietary player. For all other cases, VideoCleaner includes an optional screen capture
utility (CamStudio) that can dub videos as they play within their proprietary player.

VideoCleaner works best on videos that:


Are extremely dark (e.g. shot at night) or overly bright where the target details are located
Need only a small increase in resolution or focus to see the required details
Have poison noise (e.g. specks or artifacts that are randomly located on each video frame)
Need to be resized, cropped, trimmed, slowed down, or changed to a more common format
Have artifacts from a prior VHS-digital conversion
Depicts very faint motion or subtle (e.g. due to distance) color changes
Have compressed (washed out) or incorrect colors, or have incorrect lighting levels

VideoCleaner does little to help with videos that:


Are visually perfectly clear, but include noisy audio
Show motion smearing where video details blend into adjacent video details
Require a television crime show's fantasy level of resolution enhancement

ABOUT:
VideoCleaner is the world's most relied upon forensic video enhancement software because it:
Meets the highest evidentiary scientific standards validated by courts and experts worldwide.
Automatically maintains an audit trail of all filters and settings, and generates a metadata log.
Preserves evidence by applying industry accepted filters without altering the original recording.
Opens its source code for scientific scrutiny and is supported by hundreds of programmers.
Provides free updates and support, and is licensed for unrestricted usage for any legal purpose.
Is cost-free, ad-free, allows unlimited usage, and never collects any personal information.

With VideoCleaner, you can recover license plates and facial details, illuminate poorly lit scenes,
increase detail clarity, correct the viewing perspective, reverse lens distortion, repair VHS recordings,
improve color contrast, isolate channels, and so much more. VideoCleaner is created under the belief
that clear evidence should be available to all those who need it.

VideoCleaner can be redistributed and/or modified under the terms of each component's relevant
GNU General Public License, available in the VideoCleaner Support folder. VideoCleaner is provided
"as is" without any warranties or guarantees, and VideoCleaner installation or usage constitutes a
unilateral unlimited release of any and all related risks, damages and liability, actual or implied.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Topic Page

Cover page ........................................................................................................................................... 1


Table of Contents.................................................................................................................................. 2
Quick Start Guide .................................................................................................................................. 3
Usage Hints .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Main Interface ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Playback Controls ................................................................................................................................. 6
Saving Your Work ................................................................................................................................. 7
VirtualDub ............................................................................................................................................. 8
CamStudio ............................................................................................................................................ 9
MediaInfo ............................................................................................................................................ 10
Main Section ....................................................................................................................................... 11
Properties Section ............................................................................................................................... 15
Specialty Features Section ................................................................................................................. 19
Finalizing Features .............................................................................................................................. 21
Final ColorSpace/transparency ........................................................................................................... 23
Tutorial - Enhancing Sample Files ...................................................................................................... 24
References.......................................................................................................................................... 27
Glossary (definition of terms) .............................................................................................................. 29

Frequently check http://VideoCleaner.com for the latest version update.

This guide is Copyright, Forensic Protection, Inc. 2016


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QUICK START PAGE
Use the computer desktop's "VideoCleaner" icon, and then press the computer's F5 key to load an
image or video file. Leave the check in the "WORK ON THE SAME VIDEO" box (above all the
sliders) to avoid being asked to load your image-video again. Use the computer keyboard's right and
left arrows to move through the video to a specific time or frame.

Adjust the program sliders rightward to activate filters/features and immediately apply their effect.
Each filters/features group includes an OFF/ON slider to independently activate/deactivate that filter
group. The check boxes at the top of VideoCleaner toggle on/off additional filter/feature sections.

Once optimal video clarity is achieved, use the computer's F6 key to export the enhanced results to
VirtualDub. Within VirtualDub, press the computer's F7 key to save that video on the computer.

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There are a few computer keyboard shortcut keys worth remembering:


"F5" to open or reload a video. Each time a new copy of VideoCleaner is started (using the
desktop icon) the VideoCleaner program will remind the user to load a video. The "F5" key
opens a window where the user can navigate to the video that they want to work with.

"ESC" Useful if multiple open video windows appear, so that the extra windows can be closed.

"ctrl-Z" (hold down the "ctrl" key and touch the letter "Z") to undo the user's last setting change, then
press the F5 key to reload the video (useful to revert to the prior setting change or if a
settings change causes an error message to appear).

"F6" Exports the enhanced VideoCleaner video to VirtualDub (VideoCleaner can then be closed).

"F7" From within VirtualDub, the F7 key saves the enhanced video onto the user's computer.

NOTES:
If the user opens more than one session of VideoCleaner at the same time, they will interfere with
each other and the results can be unstable.
If the user's computer configuration prevents a specific VideoCleaner feature from working, an
on-screen message will denote that fact. All other VideoCleaner features will work as expected.
For technical support or feature requests, visit http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2461639

KNOWN ISSUE:
Sometimes, pressing the "F5" key can cause multiple file open windows to appear. This is an
unavoidable issue caused by Windows doing something else that momentarily steals attention away
from VideoCleaner, so VideoCleaner thinks that it hasn't yet offered the file open selection window.

If this occurs, select the "Cancel" button (or rapidly press the keyboard's "ESC" key) to close the
extraneous selection windows. Only the last remaining file open selection window determines which
video is actually loaded into VideoCleaner. If the user accidentally closes all the file open selection
windows, just press the "F5" key one more time to reload the file open selection screen.
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USAGE HINTS
Need a fast solution to a video enhancement and restoration problem? Here are a few examples,
along with their corresponding VideoCleaner solution (denoted as feature group - specific feature).

PROBLEM .................................................................. SOLUTION


Video details appear fuzzy .......................................... MAIN - TOOLS - Unsharpen Strength
Video details are compressed or expanded ................ MAIN - TOOLS - Video Contrast Strength
Video colors are compressed or expanded ................. MAIN - TOOLS - Color Contrast Strength
Video colors are too subtle or intense ......................... MAIN - TOOLS - Color Saturation Strength
Bright reflections and random pixels ........................... MAIN - TOOLS - Suppress Brightest Strength
Distracting flashing emergency lights .......................... MAIN - TOOLS - Suppress HotSpot Strength
Video appears extremely dark or overly bright ............ MAIN - TOOLS - Automatic Histogram.
Distant details are lost in the darker areas .................. MAIN - TOOLS - Backlight Compensation
Video is cluttered with tiny random specks ................. MAIN - TOOLS - Denoise
Portions of the scene are out of focus ......................... MAIN - TOOLS - Deblur Lens
License, words or logo are hard to see ....................... MAIN - FORENSIC - Canny, Sobel & Edge
Movement or color changes are too faint .................... MAIN - FORENSIC - RGBamplifier Strength
Hard to detect when objects/people are moving ......... MAIN - FORENSIC - Isolate Scene Changes
Can't read stationary signage or license plate ............ MAIN - FORENSIC - Frame Averaging
Only want to examine complete frames (iFrames) ...... MAIN - FORENSIC - iFrames isolation
Scene is too dark or too bright .................................... MAIN - EQUALIZER & MAIN - CURVE
Scene looks like a mosaic of tiny squares .................. MAIN - DEBLOCKING
Video contains repeated frames ................................. PROPERTIES - DUPLICATE removal
Audio is too quiet or shouldn't exist ............................. PROPERTIES - CORE - Volume
Video plays at the incorrect speed .............................. PROPERTIES - CORE - FPS speed
Only need a range of video frames ............................. PROPERTIES - CORE - Starting & Keep frame
Video plays in reverse order ....................................... PROPERTIES - CORE - Reverse Video
Fast moving objects look jagged ................................. PROPERTIES - FIELDS - Sep/Swap
Video jerks up/down or left/right (after Sep/Swap) ...... PROPERTIES - FIELDS - Nudge & Shift
Enhance stationary objects in an interlaced video ...... PROPERTIES - FIELDS - Horizontal alignment
Only a small portion of the video matters .................... PROPERTIES - CROP
Video is the incorrect size or perspective .................... PROPERTIES - RESIZE
Increase the video's fine details (demo version) ......... PROPERTIES - RESIZE - SuperResolution
Video needs to be flipped or rotated ........................... PROPERTIES - ANGLE
Remove frames inconsistent with reference frame ..... PROPERTIES - DESEQUENCE
Certain color channels contain greater noise .............. PROPERTIES - CHANNELS
Digitized video tape shows VHS aging defects ........... SPECIALTY - VHS
Video is distorted into a pincushion or barrel shape .... SPECIALTY - LENS
Camera perspective needs to be repositioned ............ SPECIALTY - VIEW
Video overall color is incorrect .................................... FINALIZING - COLORIZE
Need to highlight or pixilate a specific area ................. FINALIZING - ACCENT
Need to add on-screen text ......................................... FINALIZING - TEXT
Need to add frame numbers ....................................... FINALIZING - Apply NUMBER
Need to add a progressive time stamp ....................... FINALIZING - Apply TIMEstamp
Need to know which settings are active ...................... MAIN - List all active features
See what the enhanced version has changed ............ MAIN - All frames / mid frames / subtract
Need to quickly toggle enhanced-unenhanced ........... MAIN - Deactivate all enhancements
Need to compare enhanced to unenhanced ............... MAIN - Compare Original to Enhanced

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UNDERSTANDING THE VIDEOCLEANER INTERFACE:

Script code area: No need to "WORK ON THE SAME VIDEO" Section toggles: Simply check a
examine this area unless you Remove the check to load a new toggle box to activate and show
want to modify or understand video. Restore the check mark the features of that section. The
the VideoCleaner code. to avoid being asked again to program will automatically
load the same video. reload with the changes.
Program menu

Slider and its setting (min, max, current)

Playback controls. Feature description

Frame number. Frame position bar

Current frame # Playing time of current frame Video color space

Total number of video frames Video resolution and aspect Video playback frames per second
DRAG THE VIDEO WINDOW UP-DOWN LEFT-RIGHT TO MAKE
THE VIDEO & SLIDERS MORE VISIBLE (see blue arrows in the above image)
PLAYBACK CONTROLS

The playback bar is located immediately above the status bar, and includes basic playback controls.
The user can also use their computer keyboard to move through the video. The keyboard right arrow
moves forward a single frame, and the left arrow moves back one frame. Hold the arrow key down to
advance rapidly in either direction. Use the up arrow to advance the video by one second of playback
time, and the down arrow to move back by one second. The page-up and page-down move forward
or backward by one minute of playback time. These shortcuts, and dozens more, can all be
customized using the Keyboard Shortcuts option located in the Options menu.
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RIGHT CLICK MENU

A right mouse click on the video area will bring up the special menu. Use this menu with caution
as some changes (e.g. crop and trim) are irreversible until the user exits and restarts
VideoCleaner. Instead use the crop and trim features built into the VideoCleaner sliders.
However, there are some handy right mouse menu options, including:

"Zoom" which defines how each video is viewed. We suggest "Fits inside window".

"Save image as" which will save the currently viewed frame as a new BMP file.

"Copy image to clipboard" to then paste the viewed frame into Photoshop or Microsoft Word.

"Toggle the slider sidebar", useful if the sliders are not visible (or click the 3 mini arrows)

"Video information" which provides some additional information about the loaded video file.

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SAVING YOUR WORK

Each time VideoCleaner is closed, the user is asked if they want to save the changes (e.g. all the
settings for the file being working on). If the user selects YES, those changes will actually be
overwritten the next time VideoCleaner is launched. Your VideoCleaner settings are automatically
saved in a file ending in "VideoCleaner_settings.txt" located in the video's file folder and again in
c:\VideoCleaner. You can open this file using any text editor or the "Fileinfo" slider in VideoCleaner.

Prior to exiting VideoCleaner, the user will


likely want to save the enhanced video.
Simply press the computer's "F6" key (or
choose "External player" under the "Video"
menu) to export the video into VirtualDub.

To review the enhanced video from within


VirtualDub, use the keyboard right and left
arrow keys to move forward and backward
through that video, just as can be done from
within VideoCleaner.

There are additional free VirtualDub features and filters available through the internet. Unless the
user activates additional filters inside of VirtualDub (located under the "Video" menu), the side-by-side
before-after views of the video will be exact duplicates of the finished VideoCleaner results.

Inside VirtualDub, press the "F7" key (or select "Save


as AVI" under the "Video" menu) to save a copy of the
enhanced video in uncompressed format (a huge file
format that retains 100% of the video details). If a
smaller compressed file size is needed, press CTRL-P
(hold down the "ctrl" key and touch the letter "P") or
select "Compression" under the "Video" menu to
choose a compression Codec, and then press "F7" to
save the video. VirtualDub will ask for the file's name
and where the user wants to save the finished video.

Once the video has been exported to VirtualDub, the


VideoCleaner program can be closed. Once the video
has been saved, the user can close VirtualDub. The
user can relaunch VideoCleaner to work on another
video while Virtualdub is saving the prior video because
the two programs work independently of each other.

To save only a section of video, the user only needs to


select the first and last frames by simply moving to the beginning or ending range frame and then
selecting the relevant icon (see the red arrows above). Only the selected frame range will be saved
(see above for saving instructions). Likewise, pressing the computer's Delete key will remove the
designated range of frames. Pressing the Delete key without selecting a frame range, only removes
the currently viewed frame. If frames were accidentally deleted, pressing CTRL-Z (hold down the
"ctrl" key and touch the letter "Z") will undo the last change. Repetitively pressing CTL-Z will undo
successively prior steps. Alternatively, the user can close VirtualDub, and then use the F6 key while
in VideoCleaner to once again export the enhanced video onto a new VirtualDub session.
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VIRTUALDUB

When a video is open within VirtualDub, use the keyboard's right and left arrow keys to move forward
and backward frame-by-frame through the video, just like what can be done with VideoCleaner.
Unless additional filters are activated within VirtualDub, by pressing CTRL-F (hold down the CTRL
key while touching the letter "F") or selecting "Filters" under the "Video" menu, the side-by-side
before-after views of the video will simply be duplicate views of the open video.
VirtualDub includes dozens of built-in filters. A few specialty filters were installed as part of the
VideoCleaner installation. These include:

Deshaker v3.0
This filter can stabilize the shakiest video
from a handheld camera. The range of
setting options are beyond the scope of
this tutorial, but the user can accept the
defaults and "run video analysis pass"
(located under the VirtualDub File menu)
to allow the filter to auto-calibrate. Then
use CTRL-F to change this filter to
PASS2, and then simply save the now
stabilized video using the "F7" key. As
the file saves, the before and after views
of Virtualdub should show impressive
differences. The rightmost arrows identify
the PASS2 option to automatically fill the
missing visual data using data from adjacent video frames.

Histogram Equalizer -AND-


Easy_Histogram_Equalization_1_0
Activate the filter's Preview window and
adjust the sliders to get the desired results.

Refocus 0.1.3 (Y=Green)


A true optical refocusing filter. This is a
computationally intensive filter (aka slow).

xsharpen
This sharpening filter emphasizes the
luminosity difference between adjacent
pixels. Also available as "Sharpening" in
VideoCleaner's TOOLS feature group.

VirtualDub also makes it easy to export the


video as a series of independent images (first delete any unwanted video frames). The resulting
images can be saved as BMP, TARGA, JPEG, or PNG. For maximum detail retention and computer
compatibility, BMP or PNG is recommended.

VirtualDub's Hex editor (located under the Tools


menu) display's hidden metadata. This example
denotes that the loaded image file was last
saved using the Windows photo viewer.

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CAMSTUDIO

CamStudio can record videos while they are being viewed on a computer screen. This is a simple
method to convert a proprietary recording, as it plays, into a video that can then be saved, and later
enhanced in VideoCleaner. A low-resource using, ad-free version of CamStudio is ready to install
(Choose "Install - Camstudio screen capture", located in the VideoCleaner program shortcuts folder).
Once installed, follow these usage instructions:

Select the CamStudio program


shortcut. Under the "Options"
menu select "Video Options" to
select the desired compression.
In general XVID (http://xvid.com)
provides optimal visual quality in
a very compact file size (the VideoCleaner shortcut
folder also includes the XVID installation). Using "Max
Framerate" can help ensure that no video frames are
skipped or lost, but will result in a larger final file size.

To record a video, select "Window" located under the "Region"


menu, then select the Red record button. Now mouse click on the
proprietary video player's viewing window to select it, and then start playing the proprietary video. A
progress bar will indicate how large the dubbed copy is becoming. When the desired portion of the
proprietary video has finished playing, select the stop button in CamStudio to complete the recording.

Once the user presses the CamStudio Stop button, they will be asked for a file name and save
location for the newly created recording. The recommended name is "Screen.avi" since that matches
the default input of VideoCleaner. Be aware that screen captured recordings, while typically much
larger than the originating video file, they will not contain any additional details.

Once the newly dubbed video has been saved, it can be opened directly in VideoCleaner without the
use of any special viewing software. VideoCleaner can then be used to remove any duplicate
frames, thus creating a more accurate and compact dubbed video.

NOTE: If the CamStudio frame rate is set too fast, you may acquire blended frames (hybrids of two
sequential moments in time) that will compromise file accuracy, and VideoCleaner enhancements.
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MEDIAINFO

The first time a video is loaded, VideoCleaner will create one or two new files in the same folder as
that video. One of those files may have a name extension that ends in ".ffindex". If this file exists, it
is a temporary index created by FFDSHOW (the tool that opens most of VideoCleaner's files) to help
locate frames, and speed up future load times for that same video. The other file has a name
extension ending in ".Mediainfo.txt" and contains detailed video metadata and facts useful for creating
reports and analysis. The Mediainfo file may include GPS coordinates, camera settings, date/time,
the creating software name/version, and other identifying information. This file can be loaded directly
using VideoCleaner, or using a text editor. Below is a simple Mediainfo.txt file for example purposes.

The metadata file for your video


recording can be viewed within
VideoCleaner by moving the "File
information" slider (located in the
"Forensics" filter group) completely to
the right. Alternatively, you can
directly open the file ending in
".Mediainfo.txt" using any text or word
processing program to copy the
metadata into your own report.

NOTES:
Be sure to be on the video's first
frame prior to using the rightmost
position of the "File information"
slider. Then use the computer's right
arrow key to scroll through the
metadata file. If you attempt to use
the left arrow, you may get a seek
error (because VideoCleaner has
converted this text file into a video
file). Simply press the computer
keyboard's "F5" key to reload the
metadata file.

If your video is on a read only media


(e.g. a video DVD), you can access
the "Mediainfo.txt" file located in the
"C:\VideoCleaner" folder. That file
contains the latest video's metadata,
but it will be overwritten each time a
video is opened with VideoCleaner.

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SLIDERS AND SETTINGS
Within each VideoCleaner section, are groups of features. Each feature is controlled by sliders. On
the left is the slider's description and its default (inactive) value shown in brackets. To the right of the
slider's name is the actual slider control. The number on the left edge of the slider is the lowest
allowed value. The highest allowed value is listed to the right of the slider. The farthest right number
is the current value of the slider. Mouse clicking on this current value will reset the slider to the value
it had the last time the user pressed their computer's F5 key.
This is a group of sliders and NOT the
MAIN SECTION program's "Tools" drop down menu.

This section is always active, regardless of the TOOLS


other section check boxes. Most video Apply TOOLS settings (0=no)
clarification work will occur in this section. The A value of zero (0) disables all features in this
first sliders act as master controls. filter group. A value of one (1) will apply all
active features in this filter group.
List all active features (0)
When the slider is set to "1", the feature is Unsharpen Strength (0=off)
active and on-screen text will list the summary This filter applies a Gaussian blur to the video
name of every active feature group. This is an and then subtracts the original, which leaves
easy way to know which groups are being used the sharper high-frequency details. If set too
at any moment. high, object edging can appear exaggerated.

All frames / mid frames / subtract Although the filter's name is misleading,
When the slider is set to "0", all of the video unsharpening not only sharpens the video,
frames are available. A setting of "1" limits the but can provide pseudo-focus correction
video to the middle 100 frames, which is useful without causing any focus ringing artifacts.
if the user's computer is slow and they want a
faster way to test different VideoCleaner slider Sharpening Strength (0=off)
settings. A setting of "2" will subtract the Any value above zero (0) applies a sharpening
enhanced version from the original video to filter. Be mindful to not over-sharpen.
show what has changed.
Video Contrast Strength (0=off)
The rightmost setting is useful for A value of zero (0) turns this feature off. Any
determining how much a given filter has other value applies ever increasing or
affected the video (e.g. confirming that decreasing amounts of luminosity contrast.
critical details were not filtered away).
Color Contrast Strength (0=off)
Deactivate all enhancements (0) A value of zero (0) turns this feature off. Any
When the slider is set to "1", all enhancements other value applies ever increasing or
will be deactivated. This is useful for switching decreasing amounts of color contrast.
between the original and enhanced views.
This will not stop speed or size changes. Color Saturation Strength (0=off)
A value of zero (0) turns this feature off. Any
Compare Original to Enhanced other value applies ever increasing or
"OFF / Side / Atop / Sweep (0=off)" decreasing color saturation of the scene.
A value of zero (0) does nothing. If the value is
one (1), the original and enhanced views are Suppress Brightest Strength (0=off)
shown side-by-side. If set to two (2), the A value of zero (0) disables this feature. Any
original and enhanced views are stacked. If higher value mutes a greater range of the
set to three (3), the original and enhanced will brightest pixels. Useful to offset histogram
interchange over time in a sweeping motion. skewing and to look past window reflections.
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Suppress HotSpot Strength (0=off) EQUALIZER (lighting balance)
A value of zero (0) disables this feature. Any
higher value applies ever increasing amounts Apply EQUALizer Histogram settings (0=no)
of hotspot suppression (reduction of bright or A value of zero (0) disables all features in this
flashing lights). filter group. A value of one (1) allows the user
to expand illumination levels. This filter is
Automatic Histogram (0=off) especially useful for extremely dark scenes.
A value of zero (0) turns this feature off. A
value of one (1) will apply an automatic color Equalizer Strength (0=off)
histogram equalization to the entire video. Any value above zero (0) sets the intensity of
illuminating dark areas without blowout of the
Backlight, Denoise and Deblur can take brightest regions. The higher the value, the
several minutes to calculate with every greater the effect.
change in settings, especially when used in
combination. For longer videos, it is Intensity Reduction (0=off)
recommended that the user set the "All Any value above zero (0) reduces the
frames / mid frames / subtract" slider (one of luminosity threshold. The higher the value, the
the uppermost sliders) to the middle lower the maximum brightest level. Useful
position, so only the middle 100 frames are when the resulting difference between adjacent
processed during testing. Return the "mid brightness levels appears too intense.
frames" setting to the "All frames" once the
user is ready to process the entire video. Antiband Strength (0=off)
A value of zero (0) leaves the video untouched.
Backlight Compensation (0=off) A value of one (1) applies light antibanding,
A value of zero (0) turns this feature off. A while two (2) applies a stronger effect. This
value of one (1) will apply automatic back- feature interpolates to soften extreme
lighting correction to the entire video. luminosity transition of adjacent pixels.

Denoise: off / Large / Fine (0=off) Use Darkening Mode (0=off)


A value of zero (0) turns this feature off. A A value of zero (0) leaves the video untouched.
value of one (1) cleans larger sized noise and A value of one (1) inverts the equalizer's effect.
two (2) is for fine details (which is an extremely This mode is extremely useful for videos that
sophisticated degraining process that requires are "washed out" in excessive brightness.
more computer time).

Deblur Lens View (0=off)


A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
value of one (1) will apply automatic lens blur
corrections.

NOTE: Lens Deblur is extremely effective NOTE: In the TOOLS filter group, if either
when details are different distances from the the Denoise or Deblur filter respond with
camera's view. However, this filter has a "Feature not available", just go to the
minor risk of causing in-focus objects to lose VideoCleaner shortcut folder and RIGHT
focus. This feature should be used by itself click on the option for "VideoCleaner fix".
to test its effectiveness, especially since it Choose "Run as administrator" to allow the
can require significant processing time. solution. Since this process is only copying
two files to Windows, it will be instantaneous
and will never need to be repeated.

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CURVE (lighting balance) Deblock

Apply CURVE settings (0=no) Apply Deblocking settings (0=no)


A value of zero (0) disables all features in this A value of zero (0) disables all features in this
filter group. A value of one (1) allows the user filter group. A value of one (1) lets the user
to expand brightness contrast levels so details correct the square tiling artifacts found in over
become more visible without causing blowout. compressed videos.

Lowest Lumin in (0) Deblock Model (0=h.263)


A value of zero (0) is pure black and a value of VideoCleaner references ten (10) different
255 is pure white. This sets the darkest level of standardized block models, each using a more
lighting to be retained as being unique. If the aggressive structure. Model zero (0) has been
scene is extremely dark, try a lower value. If optimized for h.263 Codecs and is generally
the scene is extremely bright, select a higher the optimal choice for surveillance video.
value. If the value is set to high, any details
darker than the chosen value will be clipped. Filter Strength (0=lowest)
Higher values strengthen the attack on
Gamma Multiplier (1) blocking artifacts (the blocky boundaries
A value of one (1) is the normal luminosity between each mosaic tile of the video), but
curve. Values above one brighten the scene by does so at the trade-off of potential detail loss.
skewing brightness values upward. Lower
values will make darker regions appear more Adjust this slider until just prior to causing any
pronounced. Unlike brightness and contrast detectable losses in scene details. For testing,
controls, gamma does not cause clipping. set the "All frames / mid frames / subtract"
slider (near the topmost VideoCleaner slider)
Highest Lumin in (255) to its rightmost position "subtract" to view only
A value of zero (0) is pure black and a value of what is changing, and thus confirm that no
255 is pure white. This sets the brightest level significant details are being removed.
of lighting to retain as being unique. If the
scene is extremely dark, try a lower value. If Reference iFrames (0=no)
the scene is extremely bright, select a higher A setting of one (1) only examines "i" frames to
value. If the value is set to low, any details apply deblocking. This slider has no effect on
brighter than the chosen value will be clipped. the end result when iFrames are undetectable.
This feature can take a long time to process.

Reference Colors too (0=no)


By default, deblocking is determined by the
luminosity channel, which generally yields the
best results. A value of zero (0) does nothing
to the video. A value of one (1) includes the
color channels. In most cases, the difference
between these two modes will be undetectable.

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FORENSIC (iFrame can be slow) Isolate Scene Changes (0=no)
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
Apply FORENSIC settings (0=no) value of one (1) suppresses all pixels which
A value of zero (0) disables all features in this remain unchanged in the preceding and
filter group. A value of one (1) activates them. following 25 frames. Subtle actions become
obvious and, when something stops moving, it
Canny Edge Strength (0=off) simply fades away. This filter is only intended
Any value above zero (0) applies Canny edge for use with fixed position cameras.
filtering in an ever increasing hysteresis range
for the gradient threshold magnitudes. Frame Averaging Radius (0=off)
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
Canny Noise Sensitivity (0=min) larger value blends that number of preceding
The higher the value, the less Gaussian and following frames together to produce a low
blurring that is applied, and thus the greater the noise image for every video frame. Not
filter's sensitivity to image noise and artifacts. A compatible with the other Forensic filters.
value of nine (9) disables Guassian blurring.
iFrame isolation (0=no)
Sobel Edge (off/Luma/Chroma/both) A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
A value of one (1) applies Sobel edge filtering value of (1) removes any frames that are not
on only the Luma channel. Two (2) uses the iFrames. If the frame count does not change,
Chroma channels. Three (3) uses all channels. then all of the video frames are iFrames, or
iFrame extraction is not supported for the
Sobel Saturation (0=max) current video. iFrame isolation is time
Each value above zero (0) reduces the consuming, and thus the resulting file should
saturation limit of the edge mask used for the be saved, to then be re-opened in a new
Sobel filtering by an additional 10%. VideoCleaner session to then apply any
additional filters.
Edge Filtering Mode (0=off)
Any value above zero (0) emphasizes edges File information (0=off)
using different algorithms: A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
1=Inverse spatial differentials value of one (1) displays the video's luminance
2=Spatial differentials waveform, which changes with each frame to
3=Differentials display the allocation of luminosity intensities.
4='Y' channel of spatial differentials A well balanced scene will median at the
5='Y' channel intensities horizontal center line. A value of two (2)
6='U' channel intensities displays a Vectorscope of the color allocations
7='V' channel intensities using a color wheel. A value of three (3)
displays the Metadata (exactly as written in the
RGBamplifier Strength (0=off) "Mediainfo.txt' file located in video's folder, and
Any value above zero (0) sets the strength to again in the "Support" folder of VideoCleaner).
emphasizes each pixel's variance from that
same pixel's average RGB values among the You should be on the first video frame prior to
preceding and following 25 frames. reading the metadata on screen (setting value
of 3), and then scroll through the video to read
the metadata. If the user is not already on the
very first video frame prior to selecting this
setting, and then attempts to navigate to an
earlier video frame, a error will occur requiring
the user to press their computer's "F5" key (or
menu choice "Video" and then "Refresh
Preview") to refresh the scene and try again.
Page 14 of 29
PROPERTIES SECTION

DUPlicate frame removal CORE Settings

Apply DUPLICATE Removal (0=no) Apply CORE settings (0=no)


A value of zero (0) disables this filter group. A A value of zero (0) disables all features in this
value of one (1) lets the user remove frames filter group. A value of one (1) will apply all of
that replicate successive frames. the active features in this filter group.

Removal Threshold Strength (0.1) Volume (0=ignore 1=mute)


This setting is the percentage of difference A value of zero (0) leaves the audio alone. A
(threshold) between successive frames for value of one (1) mutes the audio and higher
each frame to be considered unique. For values result in higher volumes. This is a
forensic purposes, the default value of 0.1 is convenience feature since VideoCleaner does
the suggested testing value. not play audio. The user will need to press F6
to export and hear the audio using VirtualDub.
Auto-adjust Framerate (0=no)
A value of zero (0) leaves the video's framerate FPS Speed (0=same)
unchanged. If duplicate frames were removed A value of zero (0) leaves the playback speed
the video will then play over less time. A value as is. Any other value sets the value as a new
of one (1) reduces the framerate so that the frame rate. Frame rates below 1 frame per
video plays over the original time, even though second are not supported.
it will now have fewer video frames to display.
FPS Millisec (DVD=29.973)
It is recommended that you perform Use this value to set the millisecond portions of
duplicate frame removal by itself, and the playback speed. The value of this slider is
save the results to a new video. Open added to the value of the previous slider. For
the new video to apply additional filters. example, if set to 500 the playback frames-per-
second rate will end in .500 (a half second).

Starting Frame (000=all)


Set the frames (in thousands) to trim from the
beginning of the video. If set to two, the first
2000 frames of the input video will be ignored.

Starting Frame Num (0=all)


The value of this slider is added to the value of
the previous "Starting Frame" slider.

Keep Frames (000=all)


Sets the number of frames (in thousands) to
retain. If set to two, only 2000 frames of the
current video (beginning from the Starting
frame number) will be retained.

Keep Frames (0=all)


Set the frames to retain. The value of this slider
is added to the value of the previous slider.

Reverse Video (0=no)


A value of 1 reverses the video's play direction.
Page 15 of 29
FIELDS Retain Which Fields (All/Even/Odd)
A value of zero (0) leaves the video untouched.
Apply FIELDS settings (0) One (1) retains only the even numbered fields,
A value of zero (0) disables all features in this while two (2) retains the odd numbered fields.
filter group. A value of one (1) allows the user Useful when one field set is blurrier than the
to change the video's interlacing. other.

Fields: off/Separate/Swap (0) Display Alignment Overlay (0=no)


Each frame of an interlaced video is composed Displays an overlay to assist the user with the
of two interlaced fields, thus representing two "Horizontal alignment" slider. Vertical lines will
independent moments in time in one image. A become thinner as the alignment improves.
value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
value of one (1) separates ("deinterlaces") the Restore Original Size (0=no)
fields, thus creating a half height video with A value of zero (0) leaves the video untouched.
twice as many frames. A value of two (2) works A value of one (1) will use bicubic resizing to
the same way, but swaps the field pair order. restore the deinterlaced video's height to its
size prior to the field changes.
Hint: Use the keyboard's right-left arrow keys
to advance through the video and, if the
movement seems to oddly jerk forward-
backward, try a slider setting of two.

Nudge Fields (off/Up/Down)


A value of zero (0) leaves the video untouched.
A value of one (1) nudges the even numbered
fields, of the now deinterlaced frames (requires
the prior slider), upward a half-pixel. A value of
two (2) will nudges half a pixel downward.

Use this slider is the video slightly alternates


up/down as you use the computer right-left
arrow keys to advance through the video.

Nudge Fields (off/Left/Right)


A value of zero (0) leaves the video untouched.
A value of one (1) will shift the even numbered
fields, of the now de-interlaced frames, leftward
one-half pixel. A value of two (2) will shift the
even numbered fields rightward half a pixel.

Horizontal alignment (0=off)


A value of zero (0) leaves the video untouched.
A positive value shifts the fields from the
center, with even fields moving rightward. A
negative value shifts in the other direction.
Higher values will invoke a greater shift.

Page 16 of 29
CROP RESIZE

Apply CROP settings (0=no) Apply RESIZE settings (0=no)


A value of zero (0) disables all features in this A value of zero (0) disables all features in this
filter group. A value of one (1) allows the user filter group. A value of one (1) allows the user
to zoom in by cropping the viewable video size, to resize the video in multiples of four pixels.
rounded to the nearest multiple of four pixels.
Snap to a Common Size (0=no)
Crop by Percentage (0) A value of one (1) lets VideoCleaner select the
A value of zero (0) uses pixels to define the closest common video size relative to the
following values. A value of (1) changes the user's selected New width and New height.
following values to a percentage of the video's
original dimensions. New Width (0=same)
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. Any
From Left (0) other value resizes the width to the closest
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. Any allowed even value.
other value trims away the designated portion
of the left edge of the video. New Height (0=same)
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. Any
From Right (0) other value resizes the height to the closest
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. Any allowed even value.
other value trims away the designated portion
of the right edge of the video. Add SuperResolution (0=off)
Applies a demo watermarked (diagonal lines)
From Top (0) version of Infognition's SuperResolution. A
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. Any value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
other value trims away the designated portion value of one (1) increases the video resolution
of the top edge of the video. by 50% in both dimensions. A value of two (2)
doubles the resolution. Visit HERE to read
From Bottom (0) more or purchase your own license.
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. Any
other value trims away the designated portion NOTE: You are under no obligation to use
of the bottom edge of the video. SuperResolution or purchase a license. This
enhancement feature is offered solely
because it produces extremely clear results.

Page 17 of 29
ANGLE CHANNELS selector

Apply ANGLE settings (0=no) Apply CHANNELS settings (0=no)


A value of zero (0) disables all features in this A value of zero (0) disables all features in this
filter group. A value of one (1) allows the user filter group. A value of one (1) allows the user
to change the viewing angle. to specify which RGB channels should be
retained.
Turn: Off/Right/Left (0)
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A Due to the way videos are recorded, noise
value of one (1) turns the video 90 degrees (e.g. random tiny specs, distracting artifacts,
clockwise and a value of two (2) turns the etc...) can exist more prominently in specific
video 90 degrees counter-clockwise. color channel. VideoCleaner provides the
ability to ignore a given channel. Any color
Flip This Video (0=no) corrections can be adjusted later using the
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A "Colorize" filter (in the "Finalize" section).
value of one (1) flips the video horizontally.
This can be required when a video Codec Turn Red OFF (0=no)
incorrectly determines the video's left edge. A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
value of one (1) disables the RED color
Rotate Video Angle (0) channel.
A value of zero (0) leaves the audio alone. Any
other value rotates the video clockwise by the Turn Green OFF (0=no)
value's number of degrees. The video is A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
cropped to retain the video's dimensions. This value of one (1) disables the GREEN color
can be used with the "Turn" filter to create a channel.
vertical flip.
Turn Blue OFF (0=no)
Add Rotation Borders (0=no) A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A value of one (1) disables the BLUE color
value of one (1) adds borders to the image size channel.
so the rotated video is still visible without the
need to rescale the video pixels. Convert to Grayscale (0=no)
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
DESEQUENCE value of one (1) converts the video to
monochrome.
Apply DESEQUENCE settings (0=no)
A value of zero (0) disables all features in this Convert to a Negative (0=no)
filter group. A value of one (1) allows the user A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
to remove inconsistent frames, including those value of one (1) inverts all active color
from a sequenced video. channels, thus creating a negative.
NOT INTENDED FOR PANNING VIDEOS.
TIP: Videos that are extremely bright
Frame to use as the reference or extremely dark can often be easier
Set this to the first frame that shows the scene to analyze in their negative form.
that you wish to retain. The range is 0 to 99.

Retention strength (15=default)


The higher the number, frames with greater
variance will be retained. A value of 15 is a
good starting point.

Page 18 of 29
SPECIALTY FEATURES SECTION

VHS Toolbox LENS Fish Eye Barrel Correction

Apply VHS settings (0=no) Apply LENS settings (0=no)


A value of zero (0) disables in this filter group A value of zero (0) disables all features in this
while one (1) applies the active features. These filter group. A value of one (1) will apply all
filters are effective with digitized VHS tapes, active features in this filter group to correct lens
without any benefit to other types of videos. distortion in the originating video, and apply
automatic resizing to pixels locations that are
Repair Chroma Lines (0=no) either expanding or contracting.
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
value of (1) applies automatic Chroma repair Lens Curve (0=off)
and applies line strength. A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
positive value applies a barrel lens effect (to
Lines Strength (0=off) undo fish-eye lens distortion), while a negative
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. Any value applies a fish-eye lens effect (to undo
value above zero (0) sets the strength of line barrel lens distortion).
repair.
Focal Curve (0=off)
Jitter Size (0=off) A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. Any
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. Any other value pulls or pushes the center point.
value above zero (0) sets the strength of scene When inversely used with the previous slider,
jitter correction. three dimension distortions can be corrected.

Threshold (0=off) Zoom Factor (0=off)


A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. Any A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
value above zero (0) determines the sensitivity positive value pushes the center of the scene
threshold required to incur scene correction. farther away, while a negative value pulls it
closer. The effect on the video is nearly
Synch Signal Width (0=off) indistinguishable from the 'Focal' filter settings.
A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. Any
value above zero (0) proportionally shifts the Axis ratio (0=off)
video synch horizontally. A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone.
From my testing, so does any other value.

Page 19 of 29
VIEW Perspective changer

Apply VIEW settings (0=no)


A value of zero (0) disables all features in this
filter group. A value of one (1) allows the user
to change the video's viewing perspective.

Top Left (X) 0=default


The default value (0) leaves the video alone.
Any other value moves the viewable area away
from the top left corner along the horizontal (X)
axis. The resulting view will be the exact same
size, but from the new perspective. Resizing is
used to expand the remaining pixels to fill the
screen.

Top Left (Y) 0=default


Same as above, but referencing the top left
corner's vertical (Y) coordinate.

Top Right (X) 100


Top Right (Y) 0
Bottom Right (X) 100
Bottom Right (Y) 100
Bottom Left (X) 0
Bottom Left (Y) 100
These six slider all work in a similar manner to
the previous sliders on their respective corner
coordinates. Each slider name ends with the
default value for that specific slider.

Page 20 of 29
FINALIZING FEATURES

COLORize section ACCENT an area

Apply Colorize settings (0=no) Apply ACCENT settings (0=no)


This feature adds a translucent color layer to This feature highlights an area by brightening
adjust the overall image colors. A value of zero or darkening a user defined region and/or the
(0) disables all features in this filter group. A remaining area. A value of zero (0) disables all
value of one (1) will apply all active features. features in this filter group. A value of one (1)
will apply all active features in this filter group.
Filter Strength (10)
Sets the visibility of the color overlay. A value Use an Oval (0=rectangle)
of zero (0) effectively disables this entire A value of zero (0) keeps the highlighting
feature group. This filter defaults to ten (10). accent shape as a rectangle. A value of (1)
changes the shape to an oval.
Low Tones Strength (10)
Sets the visibility of the color overlay's affect on Highlight Inner (0=neutral)
the contrasted muted levels. A value of zero (0) The default value of zero (0) leaves the video
effectively disables this feature. alone. A positive value lightens the highlighted
area while a negative value darkens the
Add/Subtract Red (0) highlighted area.
A positive value adds a red tint while a
negative value reduces red. Pixilation Strength (0=off)
The default value of zero (0) leaves the video
Add/Subtract Green (0) alone. A positive value reduces the highlighted
A positive value adds green tint while a area's resolution. Higher values invokes a
negative value reduces green. more intense level of pixilation.

Add/Subtract Blue (0) Highlight Outer (0=neutral)


A positive value adds blue tint while a negative The default value of zero (0) leaves the video
value reduces blue. alone. A positive value lightens the non-
highlighted area while a negative value
darkens the non-highlighted area.

Unless an Inner or Outer highlighting value


has been set, no changes will occur or be
noticed (except for pixilation).

Percent from_Top (0)


Any value above zero (0) defines the
percentage from the top of the video that is to
be ignored by this filter. Thus allowing the user
to target what area is to be affected.

Percent from_Bottom (0)


Percent from_Left (0)
Percent from_Right (0)
Similar to the above slider, and only affect their
respective boundary when defining the area to
be accented.

Page 21 of 29
NUMBER Frame Numbers
TEXT Annotate
Apply NUMBER settings (0=no)
Apply TEXT settings (0=no) This feature places an incrementally increasing
A value of zero (0) disables annotation while a frame number on the left edge of each video
value of one (1) activates this filter group. frame. A value of zero (0) disables all features
in this filter group. A value of one (1) allows the
This feature annotates the video with the
addition of frame numbers.
exact text listed in the file named
'VideoCleaner.txt' located in
Percent From Top_(0)
C:\VideoCleaner folder. The default
The value defines the percentage from the top
annotation word is "Target".
edge to place the frame numbers. The default
is zero (0) the top left corner of the video.
Relative Size (0=smallest)
The larger the value, the larger the relative size Starting Number (0)
of the text annotation. Depending on the size of The value is the starting frame number to be
the target video, the default value of zero (0) used. This is especially useful if the current
may make the text too small to even see. video is a brief continuous portion of a much
longer video.
Percent From Top (0)
This value defines the percentage from the top
edge of the video that the annotation is to be
placed. The default is zero (0) the top edge of
the video.

Percent From Left (0)


The value defines the percentage from the left
edge of the video that the annotation is to be
placed. The default is zero (0) the left edge of
the video.

Text Color (0-white)


The available options range from zero (0) to
nine (9), which each value representing a
different font color. The default is zero (0)
which shows white text. Select the most
readable color against the background video.

Angle (0=horizontal)
A value of zero (0) leaves the text horizontal. A
positive value rotates the annotation text
clockwise, while negative is counter-clockwise.

Page 22 of 29
Add a TIMEstamp

Apply TIMEstamp settings (0=no)


This feature places an incrementally increasing
timestamp on the left edge of each video
frame. A value of zero (0) disables all features
in this filter group. A value of one (1) allows the
addition of timestamps.

Percent From_Top (0)


The value defines the percentage from the top
edge to place the timestamps. The default is
zero (0) the top left corner of the video.

Starting Hours (0)


The value is the hours in 24 hour format to
begin the timestamp. A value of zero (0) will
display a starting hour of zero.

Starting Minutes (0)


The value is the minutes to begin the
timestamp. A value of zero (0) will display a
starting minute of zero.

Starting Seconds (0)


The value is the seconds to begin the
timestamp. A value of zero (0) will display a
starting seconds of zero.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FINAL ColorSpace

Convert to YUV (0=no) Enhancement transparency (0=none)


VideoCleaner works in RGB colorspace. If this VideoCleaner displays the enhanced video, but
slider is set to one (1), the final colorspace is there are times when some details become
changed to YUV, which significantly reduces weaker as the critical details become stronger.
saved file size. It is common practice that, if the As this slider value increases, the enhanced
originating video was in YUV colorspace, so video layer becomes transparent and the
should the resulting enhanced video. original video layer becomes more visible.

Page 23 of 29
TUTORIAL (Enhancing sample files)

The "VideoCleaner" folder on the user's computer includes a sub-folder named "Samples" which has
three practice files. Each file is listed below along with the recommended enhancement steps to
apply. First, use the desktop icon to launch the VideoCleaner program. When VideoCleaner loads,
the user presses their computer's "F5" key to load the desired file to work with.

Remember that, if more than one "OPEN" sub-window appears, only the last one remaining will have
any effect. The user can now close any extra sub-windows by selecting the "Cancel" button or
pressing their computer's "ESC" key.

Also, it is recommended that the user install the Xvid Codec and Lagareth Codec, both of which are
listed as links in the VideoCleaner program shortcut menu on their computer.

Dark.jpg
Open the image file named "Dark" (or "Dark.jpg" depending on the computer configuration). It is so
dark that it is almost impossible to see anything, so first activate the TOOLS filter group by moving
the slider named "Apply TOOLS settings" rightward.

This is a very dark scene, so first lets balance the lighting and color levels. To do this, activate the
HISTOGRAM filter by moving its slider to the right. Since the text appears faint, move the Video
contrast Strength slider rightward to about "14" to emphasize the luminosity differences between
adjacent pixels (screen dots). Next, you make subtle improvements by moving the Backlight,
UnSharpen, or Deblur sliders all the way rightward to improve clarity. We suggest applying them all.

NOTE: The Deblur filter can take minutes or even hours to process a video (which is why you should
always test it with the "MID FRAMES" mode setting, see the top sliders). Since "Dark.jpg" is just an
image (a one frame video), the Deblur results will be nearly instantaneous.

Turn ON the FORENSIC filter group (by moving Apply Forensic settings slider to the right) and set
Sobel to position "2". This filter will automatically locate and emphasize edges. Since position 2 is
for Chroma, and the image is nearly black/white, the resulting image takes on a green hue. To
remove the color, you need only turn ON the CHANNELS filter group and move the Convert to
Grayscale slider to the right.

Now let's save the finished result. Under the "Video" menu option (or simply right clicking on the
enhanced image), select either "Save image as" (which saves the image as a lossless BMP or TIF
file) or "Copy image to clipboard". Alternatively, the user can press their computer keyboard's "F6"
key to send this image into VirtualDub, where it can be saved in a wider range of image (FILE -->
EXPORT --> IMAGE SEQUENCE) or video file formats.

Page 24 of 29
XVID.avi
The "XVID.avi" video demonstrates an extremely dark video from a stationary camera. For this video,
you will need to have previously installed the XVID Codec. If this was never done, there is an
installation shortcut in the VideoCleaner program shortcut folder to resolve this issue now.

Load the "XVID.avi" video, which is located in the Samples folder of VideoCleaner on your
computer's C drive. As you play or scroll through this video you will see nothing except darkness.
We can fix this by turning ON the TOOLS filter group (by moving the slider named "Apply TOOLS
settings" rightward) and move the "Automatic Histogram " slider to the right to activate the feature.
Now moving through the video we see a license plate, but each frame is not very readable due to
noise.

Since this noise is random, we can average the video frames to suppress their effect. To do this, turn
ON the FORENSIC filter group (by moving the slider named "Apply FORENSIC settings" rightward),
and then move the "Frame Averaging Radius" slider to its rightmost position, "50". Immediately the
random noise is suppressed. Since this setting will average the prior and succeeding 50 frames,
advancing the video to frame number 50 will maximize the effect.

You will find that additional VideoCleaner settings will provide even greater results. For example, just
turning ON the DEBLOCK filter group (by moving the slider named "Apply DEBLOCKING settings"
rightward) will apply a subtle effect that leads to a clearer result.

You can also move the "Video Contrast Strength" slider, located in the TOOLS filter group, to a
position of "10" to gain additional subtle improvements, and move "Color Contrast Strength" to a
position of "10" to give the image a more visually pleasing appearance. That is the power of having
access to such an extensive toolbox.

Now let's save the finished result. Under the "Video" menu option (or simply right clicking on the
enhanced image), select either "Save image as" (which saves the image as a lossless BMP or TIF
file) or "Copy image to clipboard". Alternatively, the user can press their computer keyboard's "F6"
key to send this video into VirtualDub, where you can use the "F7" key to save your enhanced video.
If you use the Control-P (or "Compression" option under "Video" menu) before the F7 Save, you can
choose a compression option to save file size..

There is a slider named Deactivate all enhancements located above the Tools filter group. Move
that slider to the right to see what the image looked like prior to the applied enhancements.
Alternatively, the user can use the transparency slider located at the bottom, or the OFF / Side /
Atop / Sweep near the top to compare the before and after results.

Page 25 of 29
Noise.avi
Open the "Noise" video file. We can see that there is a lot of distracting noise in the Red and Green
color channels. Before we turn off color channels, we will need to ensure that the luminosity levels
will remain balanced. Turn ON the TOOLS section (by moving the slider named "Apply TOOLS
settings" rightward) and activating the Histogram feature (by moving its slider rightward).

Move down several filter groups to locate and turn ON the Channels filter group (Apply CHANNELS
settings) and within that group turn OFF (move the slider rightward) both the Red and Green
channels, leaving a blue channel image. In this same filter group, activate Convert to a grayscale
by moving that slider Rightward. The image should appear much clearer but upside down.

In the Properties section is the ANGLE filter group. Turn this group on (Move the Apply ANGLE
settings slider rightward) and then change the Rotate video angle to a setting of "180". The image
has a pattern noise created by the scanner. Change the rotation value to "181" and notice how the
resulting interpolation reduces this patterns effect. We can clean this up further by adjusting the
image's resolution using the RESIZE filter group. Turn ON that group (also in the Properties section)
and adjust the Width to "1024" and Height to "692". This can be improved upon setting Denoise
(located in the TOOLS group) to setting "1" (large) to remove the remaining large noise.

At the top of all the sliders, mouse click a check mark to activate the Toggle "Finalizing" Section and
be patient while the new feature groups load. Turn ON the COLORize feature group and set Filter
strength to "12", Low tones strength to "9", Add/Subtract red to "5", Add/Subtract green to "-3",
Add/Subtract blue to "5". These settings restore a more natural color to the image.

We can use the ACCENT filter group to define an area for highlighting (set the Use an oval to "1",
Highlight inner to "9", Highlight outer remains at "0", percent from_top to "60", percent
from_bottom to "24", percent from_left to "33, and percent from_right to "37") and the TEXT filter
group to place the word "Target" on the image (set the Relative size to "6", Percent from top to "55",
Percent from left to "27", Text color to "4", and Angle to "-18"). The actual text word (defaults to
"Target") is stored in the "VideoCleaner.txt" file located in the C:/VideoCleaner folder.

Just to familiarize yourself with VideoCleaner's power, you might wish to go to the top of all the sliders
and mouse click a check mark to activate the Toggle "Specialty" Section. Move down to the LENS
Fish Eye Barrel Correction section and use the top slider to turn this filter group ON. Now play with
the settings to see their effect. You can also try the VIEW section to change the perspective (set the
Top left (x) to "2", Top left (y) remains at "0", Top right (x) remains at "100", Top right (y) to "4",
and all other settings remain at their default).

You may wish to experiment with additional effects to see if the final results can be further improved.
Since this video is only one image long, as with the prior sample, the user can "Save image as" listed
under the "Video" menu or simply right clicking on the enhanced image.

Page 26 of 29
REFERENCES

Legend
A. Anil. K. Jain, Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing, Prentice Hall, 1989
(isbn:0133325784)
B. Marcus Weise & Diana Weynand, How Video Works, 2nd edition, Focal Press, 2007
(isbn:0240809335)
C. Vlado Damjanovski, CCTV Networking and Digital Technology, 2nd edition, Elsevier
Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005 (isbn:0750678003)
D. Bernard Grob & Charles E. Herndon, Basic Television and Video Systems, 6th edition,
McGraw-Hill, 1999 (isbn:0071163093)
E. Nosratinia, Enhancement of JPEG-Compressed images by re-application of JPEG, Journal of
VLSI Signal Processing, vol. 27, 2007 (issn:0922-5773)
F. J. Canny, A Computational Approach to Edge Detection, in IEEE Transactions on Pattern
Analysis and Machine Intelligence, vol. 8, no. 6, 1986 (issn: 0162-8828)

Feature References (in order of their appearance within VideoCleaner)


Subtract......................... A. pp. 240 ...................... B. pp. 57 ............ C. pp. 47 .................D. pp. 241
Unsharpen .................... A. pp. 249
Video Contrast .............. A. pp. 49, 51, 120, 235... ........................... ................................D. pp. 51
Color Contrast ............... A. pp. 235, 262............... ........................... ................................D. pp. 51
HotSpot ......................... A. pp. 240 ...................... ........................... C. pp. 202 ...............D. pp. 82
Suppress Brightest ........ A. pp. 240 ...................... ........................... C. pp. 202 ...............D. pp. 82
Automatic Equalization . A. pp 241-244, 344, 396 B. pp. 268
Backlight Compensation A. pp. 234-241 ............... ........................... ................................D. pp. 86
Denoise/Degrain ........... A. pp.273
Deblur Lens................... A. pp. 322 ...................... ........................... C. pp. 58
Equalizer Histogram ...... A. pp 241-244, 344, 396 B. pp. 268
Curve ............................ A. pp. 240 ...................... ........................... C. pp. 202 ...............D. pp. 82
Deblock ......................... ....................................... ........................... ................................E. pp. 69-79
Canny Edge Filtering .... ....................................... ........................... ................................F.
Sobel Edge Filtering ...... A. pp. 347-357
Edge Filtering ................ A. pp. 71 & 234-241 ...... B. pp. 57 ............ C. pp. 47 .................D. pp. 241
RGBamplifier................. A. pp. 234-241 ............... ........................... C. pp. 197
Isolate Scene Changes . A. pp. 522 ...................... B. pp. 167
Frame Averaging .......... A. pp. 234-241 ............... ........................... C. pp. 197
iFrames ......................... A. pp. 485 ...................... B. pp.166
Duplicate Removal ........ A. pp. 521
Framerate ..................... A. pp. 521 ...................... B. pp. 127 .......... ................................D. pp. 41
Trim ............................... ....................................... B. pp. 218
Crop .............................. A. pp. 253
Resize ........................... A. pp. 255 ...................... B. pp. 123, 145 .. C. pp. 205, 479 .......D. pp. 51
Fields ............................ A. pp. 81 ........................ B. pp. 19, 126 .... C. pp. 112, 265 .......D. pp. 45
Angle ............................. A. pp. 255, 320
Desequence .................. A. pp. 521
Channels ....................... A. pp. 234-241
Page 27 of 29
Grayscale ...................... A. pp. 71
Negative ........................ A. pp. 238
Chroma ......................... A. pp. 65 ........................ B. pp. 257 .......... C. pp. 241
Jitter .............................. A. pp. 81, 93 .................. B. pp. 268
Synch ............................ A. pp. 81 ........................ B. pp. 26 ............ ................................D. pp. 44
Lens Fish Eye / Barrel ... A. pp. 320
Perspective ................... A. pp. 320
Colorize ......................... A. pp. 234-241 ............... B. pp. 57 ............ C. pp. 48 .................D. pp. 52
Annotate........................ ....................................... B. pp. 223 .......... ................................D. pp. 479
Frame Number .............. A. pp. 521 ...................... ........................... ................................D. pp. 479
Color space ................... A. pp. 60, 73 .................. B. pp. 109 .......... C. pp. 172 ...............D. pp. 329
Metadata ....................... ....................................... B. pp. 147
Sharpen ........................ A. pp. 249
Deshake ........................ A. pp. 81 ........................ B. pp. 268
Refocus ......................... A. pp. 276-284
Dubbing ........................ ....................................... ........................... ................................D. pp. 368

SCIENCE, MATH and CODE (continued reading)


Additional and optional components (AviSynth, CamStudio, Codecs, VirtualDub, xvid)
Color and luminosity (AutoGain, Histogram Adjust, Histogram Equalize, RgbAmplifier)
Edge detection (Canny, Sobel)
Opening a file (DGDecode, Direct Show Source, ffms2, MPEG2Dec3, Rawsource)
Perspective filters (DeBarrel, Rotate)
Sharpening filters (LSFmod, Unsharp, Sharpen)
Spatial noise filters (Chroma Shift, Remove Grain, SmoothD2, Vague Denoiser)
Specialty tools (3dFourier, Debanding, Dejitter, Deshaker, Subtitler, VideoCleaner)
Support tools (ExpLabo, GScript, MaskTools, Mvtools, Mvtools2, Nnedi2, RT_Stats)
Temporal noise filters (3d, Degrain, Denoise, Smoother, Wavlet)
Demo license filters (SuperResolution) {purchase a license here}*

*The development team of VideoCleaner is not compensated in any manner for the inclusion of filters
with a demo license. These filters do not include any advertising or tracking, are fully functional in
demo mode, and are included because they deliver proven superior results.

VideoCleaner filters are always applied in this order:


DUPLICATE, FIELDS, ANGLE, CROP, RESIZE (except SuperResolution), DESEQuencer,
CHANNELS, DEBLOCK, TOOLS (except contrast & sharpening), FORENSIC, EQUALIZER,
SuperResolution, contrast, CURVE, VHS, LENS, VIEW, COLORIZE, ACCENT, TEXT, NUMBER,
TIMEstamp, sharpening, FINAL

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
VideoCleaner would not be possible without the selfless open source efforts of others. If you
appreciate their work, consider donating to the respective programmers (see the SCIENCE, MATH
and CODE section above).

Page 28 of 29
GLOSSARY (definition of terms)

Codec - An abbreviation of the words Compression Decompression, and it defines (in computer
code) how a given video is to be saved and later reconstituted. Nearly all Codecs are lossy;
meaning that details are irreversibly discarded to reduce file size. These losses can appear as
muted brightness, an out-of-focus appearance, strange artifacts, and tiling (when the video looks
like a mosaic of tiny rectangles). VideoCleaner provides the option to save files uncompressed,
which preserves the available file details, thus creating very large file sizes. The noted defects can
be suppressed using VideoCleaner's Tools and Deblocking sliders.
Color space - There are different standards to record visual luminosity and color values. The
color wheel is based upon RGB (Red, Green, Blue) where each value is that color's contribution to
a given pixel. If all the RGB values are zero, the pixel appears black. If all the RGB values are at
their maximum, then the pixel appears white. Television, and thus nearly all security cameras, use
a planar color space, where pixel brightness is one value, and the color values are often shared
with their neighboring pixels. YV12 is the most common planar color space used with surveillance
video. The 2nd to last VideoCleaner slider transforms the enhanced video into YV12 color space.
Contrast - Linearly expand or contract the value difference between adjacent pixel. If the critical
details blend together, then VideoCleaner's video contrast (luminosity) and color contrast
adjustments can expand the subtle differences to make the visual details easier to recognize.
Adjust contrast with caution because, as contrast is increased, details located in the darkest or
brightest areas of the video can become clipped as they try to exceed the allowed values. Videos
that lack both very bright and very dark areas will benefit the most from contrast adjustments.
Histogram equalization - Non-destructively increases the global contrast of the entire video by
more evenly distributing the intensity differences between adjacent pixel values. Videos that are
extremely bright (e.g. details are washed out) or extremely dark (e.g. a nighttime video with
insufficient lighting) will benefit the most from this process.
iFrames - Frames that contain the entire scene and thus are the truest to what the camera saw.
All other types of video frames are composites made by adding or subtracting pixels from the
closest iFrames. Depending on the video Codec, non-iFrames can introduce additional visual
defects. VideoCleaner's Forensic tools includes an option to isolate iFrames.
Interlaced - When video broadcasting was invented (over 70 years ago), images from two
consecutive but independent moments in time (called fields) where simultaneously displayed as
one frame by interlacing these fields in a vertical weaving pattern. While newer systems use
progressive systems that avoid this (e.g. 1080i for interlaced and 1080p for progressive), most
security systems still record interlaced video. When those systems use proprietary playing
software, that software will often deinterlace (undo the interlacing) by blending both moments in
time, which creates distortion and a false set of facts. VideoCleaner's Field filters (located in the
Properties section) can isolate the interlaced fields and correct for their proper alignment.
Pixel - A video or image is actually displayed as a grid of dots called pixels. Each pixel is denoted
by values that, depending on its format, may include details about luminosity (brightness), color
and transparency. VideoCleaner uses 32-bit RGBa color space to retain maximum pixel details,
and the status bar seen below the video displays the relevant values for the pixel located under
the current computer mouse pointer position.
Document version: April, 2016 Page 29 of 29

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