How to remove flashing date/time from VHS capture?
 

All,

I've successfully captured a VHS tape and it looks great, however, the date and time flash on the bottom right hand corner. It appears that the person videoing (back in 1996) didn't turn that "feature" off.

I've done some research and the most I've found so far is that I can either crop the video OR blur out the flashing.

What I'm hoping for is that there's a plugin (for Adobe Premier Pro) or application that can remove the flashing date/time; I'm hopeful because there is data for the application to potentially sample as the date/time stamp doesn't remain on the screen the entire time.

Does anyone know if this is possible? Maybe there's another option that I haven't found? Open to suggestions and thank you!

No, Not without damaging the area that displays the clock. It is possible to do a frame by frame manual restoration with minimum damage but it could take you years.

I had hoped this wasn't the case (because I did have some of the background) but understand. It looks like the crop method produces a cleaner looking video than the blur method.

Thanks again.

Maybe it could be possible to interpolate the area of the video that has the flashing date?

That's what I was hoping for; any idea how?

No. :disagree:

All that happens is you'll replace a distinct clock with an amorphous blurry blobs that's more distracting that the clock was. Humans (all animals, actually, like birds and cats) can ignore static or semi-static objects -- aka a clock on screen -- while they cannot ignore periphery that moves, wobbles, wiggle, fades in/out, etc. We just can't.

You screw up video when you do this.

Don't do this.

It's part of the video now. At best, you can crop out that entire are of the video, but you'll lose video to hide the onscreen text, logo, whatever.

Makes sense.

I decided to zoom and crop the video to hide the time/date stamp on the screen. Thankfully you can't really tell that it's gone as it's a home video (so no super tight shots)

Loosing 20% or more of the picture information just to hide a time display? Not to mention the blurriness due to fewer scan lines, Wow.

Something like this?

Depending on how much action is in the video and the flash rates and duty cycle you might be able to kludge a repair of sorts using a NLE. Placing a copy of the video under it offset by the flash duration. So the underlying video shown no date time when the top video shows date/time. In the date/time area only, luma key in the underlying video. This will replace the date/time with the video offset video in the date/time spot. Adding a bit of blur might help make any motion a bit less obvious.

Not a great solution, especially for video with fast camera moves and motion, but it may be better than the losses induced by cropping/scaling.

I should have said mask. Cover with black, a photo "crop".

Zooming is ... ugh. There go any quality you may have had, especially with interlaced VHS. What a mess. :sick:

So, the upside to doing things digitally is that I can provide/keep multiple file formats and let people choose which one they want to watch.

This is a family wedding that was shot on a standard camcorder of the time. Obviously, with the quality not being the greatest to start with (and my capture setup being "ok") I need all the resolution I can get.

I do agree that the cropped version does look worse, however, some people might deal with "worse" to not have to watch the time/date blinking.

So I tried this method. When it works, it works VERY well. But the problem is that it doesn't really work. At all. There's a few spots where you can't tell the date/time was there at all.

But most of the short clip I did, you can absolutely tell that there was something there. And (someone else in this thread mentioned this) when it's done poorly it's *even worse* than just having the time/date blink in the bottom.

My game plan now that I know what I know is to render two files; one with the date/time blinking and another with the date/time cropped out (and yes, I know the quality tanks; see my above reply).

A big THANK YOU to everyone who offered help/suggestions/etc and if anyone has any other ones, I'm all ears.

Cay you post maybe 10 typical seconds of the video for others to play with?

It can be done, well effectively masked beyond the perception of most casual observers but it's not especially easy, it's time consuming work.

My method involves working in AE (there's a few tricks you can use, it doesn't have to be frame-by-frame, but it's a slow process) then a bit of finishing that my recipe is judicious use of Topaz and various extra AE stages. I did get an "80%" quick job once blowing out the OSG then using it at a luma matte but that was a pretty quick job to mask it. You'll need a fair chunk of PC horsepower once you start playing with advanced bits in AE with real-time previews and adjustments.

You can't get back what's not there, but yes it's possible to make it practically imperceptible, you'll just need a lot of time, a bit of experience and pricy software if you don't have it to hand.

I'll see if I can get clearance to post a sample of how I've done it before.

If you post up a few seconds I'll see what I can do.

As requested, here is a link to the video only.

https://youtu.be/46SLp57UVPc

It's not a minute (as requested) but there's enough movement and flashing that it's a good starting point.

That bit of a very simple task in AE.

Trouble is the rest of the footage, anything with action taking place 'behind' the clock? That's the challenge!

Is the whole video the Jan 1, 12 AM flashing, or does the date change?

At least if it was the actual date/time of the event it would service some purpose.

Agreed; from the little I tested AE does a great job when the camera isn't moving. When it is... AE makes some interesting choices that (sometimes) look much worse than just a flashing clock.

The ENTIRE video has the same date and time flashing.

If it were the date and time of the event, I wouldn't care about it at all. But, the flashing time/date stamp really makes this a perfect example of 90's recording.

Then the simplest fix might be to overlay the date/time with something useful such as names and date as in the attached example. This is a simple overlay of the video with a masking gray rectangle and a still title.

A more elegant solution would the to create a precise mask of the date time and use it rather than the rectangle.

However, some video AGC effects can be seen in your posted video immediately to the right of the date/time - the scan lines brightness drops a bit when the date/time is displayed. This may be a product of the capture device used and if so using a capture device without AGC enabled may eliminate it.

The attached uploaded file is a second, very quick and dirty, demo of setting the mask to (roughly) follow the outline of the date/time stamp rather than using a rectangle. More of the underlying video can show through.

More patience building the mask, and careful selection of the new text font and size would improve the effect. I used Photoshop to create the mask, and my NLE (Edius) to do the overlays.

Note that you can see some of the AGC effect in the slight variation on brightness to the right of the text.

It's pretty good, though I can still see the faint outline of the blinking words.

Though that does give me an idea to possibly box off the blinking words and put what I want on top of it; that would look better than cropping.

Ugh, that quality.

The idea to partially remove (masking in AE/whatever), and/or adding your own logo/info over it, is sound. But with this footage, that conversion, it won't work well at all.

You need to convert this video with a line TBC, at minimum the ES10/15 recorder in passthrough. All of the wiggle needs to be straightened out.

That capture card is likely also blowing our your highlights/whites, and at a glance it looks like really ugly oversharpen halos.

Right now, the flashing clock is the least worry.

What is your capture workflow? What VCR, TBC, capture card?

I think youtube is adding a layer of crappiness to the video but yah the wiggle, the chroma rainbow, the white edges are not youtube's fault. If editing intended the capture has to be done right in the first place.

Definitely the case, I did rip from YouTube the sample and try and do some fiddling in After Effects but to be honest, it's tricky with footage of that quality.

Although blowing highlights might help with the technique I propose, (and the first thing I would do to create a matte) - it's hardly helpful for the other 95% of the image area! When I had a test it would need several layers to try and build the matte and for footage of that quality, I'm afraid I haven't the time to investigate further.

Might be worth having 'another bite at the cherry' before further testing.

GE VG4275 (VCR), Canopus ADVC 110 (Capture Box), Syba SY-PEX30016 (Firewire Card), Pasow FireWire 800 to 400 9 to 6 pin (Firewire Cable), Adobe Premiere Pro (Editing).

Right now I'm doing minimal editing in Adobe; it's more adding effects than "cleaning up" (I can, but have no idea how I would "clean up" video)

That's all what you can get out of a low end VCR using composite and ADV110, It's okay for generating quick videos for watching but not adequate for a proper archival project, Keep the tapes in case someone comes after you and wants to do it right.

Ok, lets get a few things straight.

This is a HOBBY for me. I'm TRYING to digitize old VHS tapes before they are no longer playable. Not everyone has $200+ to put down on a VCR that they're going to use to transfer ~20 VHS tapes.

I get it that my equipment isn't "professional grade". I'm full well aware of that fact. But this is because I don't have the time, talent, or FUNDS to have equipment so I can "do it right" according to you.

There's a right way and a wrong way to tell someone that they equipment could be better and you absolutely chose the wrong way to do so.

So either put up (and send me the equipment you feel I should be using) or shut up (and let someone else explain in a manner that isn't condescending)

Many of the people here are what some might describe as obsessive about quality in the capture and restore of consumer analog video tape content. The concept of "good enough" is a sacrilege. As you browse the forums and information resources you will discover that there are rather specific recommendation for (and against) specific equipment, software, and work flows that the main contributors feel will give the best results. Please don't take the terse assessment of your system personal; its not about you, its about the gear..

Except for physical damage due to malfunctioning gear, improper storage, or the use of very poor tape stock initially, VHS degrades very slowly. While digital works or it doesn't (no middle ground), the analog formats degrade very gradually over decades. I have VHS tapes from 40 years ago that still play OK with decent (for the era's gear) color. If the content is important to you than as suggested keep the original tapes in proper storage should you, or someone else, want to revisit them.

Quality gear is not easy to find; VHS, Video8, Beta, etc. have been out of production for years, and most is beyond factory support, parts are hard to find, as are technicians with the skills and special equipment needed to repair it. Working quality gear not cheap, but can be bought, used, and resold usually at minimal net cost. Auction site gear is a crap-shoot at best. Sellers are often clueless about the actual condition of the gear.

While working this as a hobby you may find that as you progress your standards become more demanding and you decide you would like to revisit and redo some of your earlier efforts. That is OK, it is a learning experience.

It boils down to how good is good enough for you and the people with whom you will shared the results, and how much time, effort, and money are you willing to devote to the project..

No one is forcing to do it in any other way than the way you did it, all what I said is keep the tapes for someone else, This is true because my Uncle left the family tapes to me since he wasn't tech savvy enough to handle such job nor he has the right gear, Good Lord.

And a big THANK YOU for explaining things in a way that doesn't make it sound like I'm drooling on myself while using a "My Fisher Price First Tape Transfer" kit to digitize these tapes.

I did not have any plans on getting rid of the tapes themselves, but now I have a logical reason (beyond "they're sentimental") to keep them.

If I ever do come into better funding, is there somewhere on this site I should be looking to see what the better equipment is for tape transfer?

The way I see it, personally, having some sort of transfer is better than no transfer at all. I'm sure that there's plenty of people on this forum who would disagree with me, but I also know that there's plenty of people on this forum whom I would disagree with over they way they do things that relate to my profession.

Thank you again for your explanation.

Edit: Found the link to recommended hardware: http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/vid...k-hardware.htm

Having a transfer to usable media, even if of mediocre quality, is a plus in that it saves wear and play risk on the original tapes, and it can be shared with others. After all, content is king, and most people can see past the image flaws if the story is compelling. That doesn't mean getting a better transfer would be wasted effort, it is a personal call, and has to be weighted against what else you would do with the time and other resources that would be devoted to getting better transfers. Warning: The process can also be addictive as a hobby.

The consumer analog video formats were limited by the technology of the time and designed to provide what most people would consider an acceptable image in the TV sets of the time at the lowest price point. The systems are complex electronic/mechanical/magnetic marvels and as with all such systems there are differences, some times major, in performance of individual machines, brands, tapes, and of course the environmental conditions and aging of components. Tapes that play well on one machine may not play well on another, which is why the people seriously into transfer typically have several different makes model VCRs. (BTW: Its not unusual for an old VCR to eat a tape - gear should be tested before trying an important tape.)

One last thought, for transferring a small number of tapes it may be easier to "hire it out" to a reputable service provider. The main issue is vetting potential providers to find one that can do a good job at a reasonable price. There are a lot of companies that will do no better than you can do yourself.

Enjoy!

So if I'm reading this right, even if I were to plunk down $200+ on the recommended hardware from this forum the tapes may still not transfer "correctly", (due to incompatibility issues with the tape/tape player) correct?

If I were re-doing all of the tapes I have that I care about I'd have about 20-30 tapes (possibly). At that point, I feel like it would be cheaper to buy the equipment (when I can) but that leads me back to my above point.

They may not play as well, as cleanly, as reliably. And there is no real way to predict in advance beyond some general trends. Its generally not an issue of will-not-play-at-all, more like fitting shoes (VCRs) to feet (Tapes), where some size 10s may fit individual feet better than others - Dick likes ASICS, Tom prefers Nikes.

That makes sense.

Is there any service you can recommend that I can get pricing from? For the amount of tapes I have I don't think it makes sense to buy (potentially multiple) VCRs to transfer these tapes.

Plus, honestly, what I have already might just been "good enough". I'd hold on to the original VHS tapes but I'd be shocked if anyone else in my family expresses any interest in trying to transfer these tapes using a higher quality setup.

Might help if you let us know where in the world you are, it seems to be mostly a North American forum but there's a few of us dotted about the globe. I can make some suggestions if you're UK based.

It was a good analogy - I agree.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Some of the participants here do provide transfer service (Personally I do not.) You could contact them, and upon agreement to details including cost and delivery format send them a tape to transfer for you. Compare the results and then decide if the improvement is worth it.

Yep, North America here.