Upscaling XL1 footage - Video

roxics

roxics

Veteran
So I directed my first feature (title: Falling Apart) back in 2003 and we didn't get it finished for release until 2005. We didn't have a lot of money and cameras back then were not like they were today. The DVX100 was new on the scene but we had to use what we could get our hands on, which was a Canon XL1. A $3000 (used) camera that used a 3CCD 1/3" sensor system shooting 60i standard defintion footage at 4:1:1. Released in 1998.

2015 will be the 10 year anniversary of the film and I decided to go back to the original tapes, recapture and attempt to do an HD recut/remastering of the film. At least that is the goal if all the testing goes well.

Here is the first test:

Now obviously this is SD interlaced footage. It's never going to look as good as native HD by a long shot. So instead I've been focusing more on just trying to get it to look better than it did before and more like maybe 16mm film. Very wide 16mm film (2.35:1) lol. But not to focus so much of sharpness and resolution since it will never have that, but instead more of the organic quality of an indie 16mm feature.

I think it looks pretty good for what it is. I'm happy with this first test. There is a lot going on here.

Upscaling to 1920x816
Deinterlacing
Film curve/color grade in Speedgrade
Slight sharpening
Subtle film grain overlay (to help offset the sharpening)
Very slight gateweave done in after effects to give a little more sublte organic motion to the frame.
24fps conversion
 
Edit .....

I really like the feel. I like his look, almost Neo in the Matrix. She looks punk too ... I can see how he would struggle in suburbia ...

I need to watch on my desktop before I comment more, but ....

The background & bricks are taking the sharpening well, but I think they are pulling the eye into the background, instead of on their faces.

You may need to mask & sharpen them separately from the background?

I know I have played with sharpening & then blurring faces in the past in close-ups/portraits. By first sharpening the face aggressively, and then leaving only the lips/eyes/eyelashes and some hair sharp. Although male faces can take a lot more sharpening

You might see if you can "split" how you handle the background sharpening/depth of field/blur versus the face treatment for close-ups? I used to know how to do that in Photoshop .... but it has been a while, about 8 years now ...



Otherwise I think it looks great. I don't mean to be hyper critical. If that level of effects is too much work/overwhelming, just go with it!

No need to obsess about perfection . At least you have done the work, and having the work seen is **way** more important than small details.

Cheers!
Michael
 
Last edited:
unadog said:
Edit .....

I really like the feel. I like his look, almost Neo in the Matrix. She looks punk too ... I can see how he would struggle in suburbia ...
Click to expand...

Lol actually neither are punk, they are at a wake just after a funeral. She is a friend from college (in the city), his struggle with them being back in his small home town has to do with his history there.

unadog said:
I need to watch on my desktop before I comment more, but ....

The background & bricks are taking the sharpening well, but I think they are pulling the eye into the background, instead of on their faces.

You may need to mask & sharpen them separately from the background?

I know I have played with sharpening & then blurring faces in the past in close-ups/portraits. By first sharpening the face aggressively, and then leaving only the lips/eyes/eyelashes and some hair sharp. Although male faces can take a lot more sharpening

You might see if you can "split" how you handle the background sharpening/depth of field/blur versus the face treatment for close-ups? I used to know how to do that in Photoshop .... but it has been a while, about 8 years now ...


Otherwise I think it looks great. I don't mean to be hyper critical. If that level of effects is too much work/overwhelming, just go with it!

No need to obsess about perfection . At least you have done the work, and having the work seen is **way** more important than small details.

Cheers!
Michael
Click to expand...

Yup one of the things about shooting with a 1/3 sensor camera, the deep DOF all the time unless you push in on the long end of the zoom. Which looking back we probably should have done for these close-ups. We did do that for certain shots. Why not here, I don't know. I know this was one of the first scenes we shot, so maybe that had something do wth it. It's hard to remember 11 years ago.
But it's amazing how much you learn after doing your first feature and just reexamining it as you learn new things over the years.

I don't know if I'm willing to go as far as masking/blurring and attempting to change the overall focus of a scene like this. Seems like it might be more hassle than it is worth. I'm actually surprised I was able to push the footage as much as I have so far. But I may play around with it if I ended up having time. For the time being it's probably best to jsut set this as the overall look and move on recutting the rest of the film before tweaking each scene ad infinitum.

Thank you for the comments/suggestions :)
 
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