video enhancer/clarify software

[jpmomo]

Does any one have any recommendations for enhancing video recordings? I have looked at video cleaner but could not get it to work effectively. I also found motiondsp but it looks like it was sold off and now is subscription based and may be very expensive. There was also amped five but also looked expensive. I would like to be able to clear up blurry videos so that I can see faces and license plates that may have some distortion. Not sure if adobe after effects would be suitable for this task or not.
Thanks for any suggestions,
jp

 

[SouthernYankee]

get better cameras, better lighting, better camera placement, better parameter tuning.

This is not TV, it is the real world.

 

[CCTVCam]

Consider the PPF value of your camera at the required maximum distance using a PPF calulator: IPVM Camera Calculator V3

Ultimately one of the biggest factors in quality is the pixel density. Beyond that, consider buying quality cameras. Quality cameras = good sensors and lenses, plus the right combo for the job / capture distance required. Bottom line is the picture you get out is only as good as the pictured captured and that equals a good sensor lens combo + sufficient pixel density.

As for improving a picture, you can only alter it a little. Any decent video editor will have eg sharpening tools. However, these still require a quality capture as all they do is sharpen the edges of each pixel. Over sharpen and all you'll get is artefacts and picture degradation not improvement. The only way to get a quality picture is to capture a quality picture.

 

[jpmomo]

thanks for the guidance. I just purchased the latest dahua 4K ptz and hope to have it mounted properly soon. I had some older cameras that were not that good at night and was trying to clean up a video from one of them. There seems to be some software apps that claim to be able to deblur and enhance less than ideal captures. I just wanted to check if anyone on this forum had any actual experience with any of the video forensics sw that are available.
Thanks again,
jp

 

[SouthernYankee]

The 4K PTZ will need a lot of light to work well at night. If you want license plates, set up an LPR camera to do the job. See the LPR forum posts.

 

[pozzello]

yup. if you want plates, plan to dedicate one or more cams for that purpose, cuz once dialed in for plates at night, that's ALL you'll see...

 

[looney2ns]

thanks for the guidance. I just purchased the latest dahua 4K ptz and hope to have it mounted properly soon. I had some older cameras that were not that good at night and was trying to clean up a video from one of them. There seems to be some software apps that claim to be able to deblur and enhance less than ideal captures. I just wanted to check if anyone on this forum had any actual experience with any of the video forensics sw that are available.
Thanks again,
jp

Start your education here: Wiki

 

[CCTVCam]

I just wanted to check if anyone on this forum had any actual experience with any of the video forensics sw that are available.
Thanks again,
jp

Apart from the limitations you may encounter, it's cheaper to follow Looneys advice: Amped Five | American Cop Magazine

That's a review of ampedfive, one of the cheapest commercially available programs @ only around $4K!

 

[tangent]

Amped 5 has some samples on their website of the sort of enhancement that's possible: Amped FIVE Samples | License Plate Enhancement
Typically when someone posts here dreaming of CSI style video enhancement, the video they've got is much worse than the sources in these examples.

The money you could spend on expensive video enhancement software is better spent on better cameras and more light.