Any way to remove lens smudges in post?

Abaddon

Abaddon

Well-known member
I have some video footage that has some really bad smudges due to a dirty lens. They're not smears, but more like spots which brighten up when the light hits he lens at certain angles. Is there any software or filter that can recognize the spots on each frame and correct them? I've tried some dust removal in FCP but that doesn't do much but blur the image slightly.
 
Between colour grading/correction and rendering, export the sequence as dpx and open up the affected frames in Photoshop. Use the healing tools to get rid of the spots. It's a pain, but at least you will never forget to clean the lens again.
 
Pickthorne said:
Between colour grading/correction and rendering, export the sequence as dpx and open up the affected frames in Photoshop. Use the healing tools to get rid of the spots. It's a pain, but at least you will never forget to clean the lens again.
Click to expand...

Hundreds of frames are affected. There's no way I can edit each photo one by one. I'm trying the automate process now and will report back on that.
 
So far it's a no go with automate. It actually made the video much worse.

What would be great is a filter that can recognize spots that remain stationary as the image moves, and then do a kind of content-aware process to remove the spots.
 
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I know it sounds like hell on earth, but look at it this way: Once comfortable with keyboard shortcuts, you can spot heal the flecks, save and open the next tab in a minute. That's 2 sessions of an hour and a halfish per 200 frames.
Daft Punk helps.
 
Look into Mocha Pro. Treat it as an object removal. I used this on the show I used to work for and it worked great
 
In Photoshop Extended, you can open the movie or image sequence & use Photoshop's tools to fix it.

Or you could use a very small window or custom shape in a color corrector like DaVinci or SpeedGrade.

Or a small roto matte in AE or Nuke or even Shake (if you have a system that will still run it).

I'd have to see the problem to see if and how to best fix it.
 
Abaddon said:
I have some video footage that has some really bad smudges due to a dirty lens. They're not smears, but more like spots which brighten up when the light hits he lens at certain angles. Is there any software or filter that can recognize the spots on each frame and correct them? I've tried some dust removal in FCP but that doesn't do much but blur the image slightly.
Click to expand...

BorisFX Continuum Complete; Image Restoration; Pixel Fixer (or wire removal) will do it. I've got the complete package but I think you can buy the Image Restoration unit individually . . . http://www.borisfx.com/units/image-restoration.php
Nice thing is you can get the trial and see for yourself before spending a cent.
 
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