When to apply filters/level adjustments?
 

Hello! I have seen some mixed info on posts over the years and wanted to ask for some clarity.

Is it suggested to capture my video in lossless format (already have huffyuv installed on VirtualDub) without any brightness/sharpness adjustments, and then edit that capture to adjust? Or should I play around with filters/level adjustments and capture my video like that? Thank you!

Best practice is to capture "Flat" (blacks not too dark , whites not too whites), and you adjust in post capture (many filters for that: ylevels, gradation curve, autoadjust.... amongst others), the limiting factor being the 8 bit depth of SD captures , tweaking will fatally introduce noise. (the good idea would be to work in 16 bits in avisynth during that stage), myself i don't bother ( the noise) that much except in rare occasions

Not an absolute rule. If you have quality proc amp, that's the main exception. Anything you do in the capture card "virtual proc amp" is generally repeatable easily in software (with better nuance), as it's just software itself, so generally just leave it alone. The analog domain correction is the place to adjust.

All rules have exceptions, but exceptions never overrule the rule.

Thank you for the info! I really appreciate it. That's what I was leaning towards. As an aside, is there any information out there that discusses different Virtualdub filters included in the 1.9.x download? I had issues locating a list.

I've spent quite a while going through the forum over the last few weeks and it feels like I'm talking to a legend!:D