Script to improve bad Super8 film scans?
 

I have been shared this super8 content in an mp4 format which looks like 20fps in MediaInfo.

I'm familiar with basic avisynth scripts for VHS, but can someone please help with some suggestions to improve this?

The source resolution is very odd at 1728x1296 (no idea on the digitisaton project used). I'm aiming for a 1440x1080 output for YouTube.

Would appreciate any advice on how to improve. These 3 samples are from different sections of the captured file from different events in different conditions.

We dont have the original Super 8 camera films to properly compare but these transfers appear poor. Highlights such the white Escort's bonnet are badly washed out, and there is much noise in all samples, which looks like electronic noise rather than original Super 8 film grain. I suspect you'll be trying to undo faults in someone else's poor transfer.

It may not be what you want to hear but as a rule any "restoration" work builds on the solid foundation of an excellent transfer of good original picture or sound. The original footage may well be good but the transfer doesnt appear to do it justice.

Non-basic Avisynth scripting will be needed, plus an NLE for best color correction (or VirtualDub ColorMill as runner-up).

For Avisynth: For interpolation, johnfps(). Then some sort of heavy denoise.

Somebody really screwed up the quality of that conversion. I bet this was "captured"/scanned with a cheap POS "Wolverine" type USB dongle scanner, and then oversharpened to 11 (on a 10 scale). It's a terrible capture, and not too much can be done at this point. Lots of loss is already baked in.

That "grain" is actually digital "mosquito noise". I also detect some GOP decay.

Did you really capture to H.264 ?

I didn't do any capture, an MP4 was sent to me as you see it here. No idea on the process used but sounds like it wasn't a good job at all.

Best thing you could do with something like this is process it through seedvsr2 or similar.
Conventional filtering won't really help. (conventional filtering can remove the dirty, but not add details; so a combination might be a good idea)
Those files are just compression artifacts,...

Cu Selur